Colonial's Field Woes
Hello. Bob Casper, son of golf great Billy Casper, writes for si.com. His topic was how next year the Byron Nelson Championship will be moved to April, and the Colonial will still be in May, so players will not be able to stay in one house or hotel for 2 weeks and play both tournaments.
Well, Bob, the following names (in money list order) played the Byron Nelson, then skipped Colonial:
Geoff Ogilvy
Vijay Singh
Luke Donald
Trevor Immelman
Adam Scott
Tim Clark
Scott Verplank
J.B. Holmes
The gentlemen mentioned above are in the top 25 of the PGA money list. Here are the ones that did the "Nelson, skip Colonial" from the World Golf Ranking top 25 (not already mentioned above):
Ernie Els
Sergio Garcia
Why didn't these guys play both tournaments? Singh probably won't play Colonial again after his 2003 comments about Annika Sorenstam's participation. What of the rest? Why couldn't they stay a week longer, and support this event? The purses are about the same ($6.2 Million for the Nelson, $6 Million for the Colonial). Why the big difference?
If I'm a PGA player, I'd feel obligated to play both. I'd consider it offensive to not go in both. Maybe this mindset makes me a dinosaur, I don't know.
The Colonial people have to be baffled as to why the gentlemen above aren't coming. And I heard in a Golf Channel interview that Mastercard will no longer be the title sponsor after this year. They're doing what Bell is doing with the Canadian Open, just becoming a minority sponsor.
As an aside, the Canadian Open purse is $5 Million this year. Why would the top guys come to another country for that small a purse if they aren't going to Colonial for a million dollars more? Get on the ball Canadian Open! Only 3.5 more months to go. What, no title sponsor yet? Surely you jest. You guys are hurting BIG TIME!
Anyway, my theory of Colonial's woes may be the thing they're the most proud of - the golf course. Apparently some players shy away from it because it's a "shotmaker's course". It's not long relatively speaking, and it's got lots of mature trees. Not exactly what today's crop of players are excited about. They prefer to bomb it out there into the wide open fields.
Should the Colonial change courses? Increase the purse? Cater to the players more? Pack it in? Tough questions indeed.
All I can say is my heart goes out to them. And if you find the answer, Colonial, please let the Canadian Open know what it is. Thanks.
Regards,
Steve
Well, Bob, the following names (in money list order) played the Byron Nelson, then skipped Colonial:
Geoff Ogilvy
Vijay Singh
Luke Donald
Trevor Immelman
Adam Scott
Tim Clark
Scott Verplank
J.B. Holmes
The gentlemen mentioned above are in the top 25 of the PGA money list. Here are the ones that did the "Nelson, skip Colonial" from the World Golf Ranking top 25 (not already mentioned above):
Ernie Els
Sergio Garcia
Why didn't these guys play both tournaments? Singh probably won't play Colonial again after his 2003 comments about Annika Sorenstam's participation. What of the rest? Why couldn't they stay a week longer, and support this event? The purses are about the same ($6.2 Million for the Nelson, $6 Million for the Colonial). Why the big difference?
If I'm a PGA player, I'd feel obligated to play both. I'd consider it offensive to not go in both. Maybe this mindset makes me a dinosaur, I don't know.
The Colonial people have to be baffled as to why the gentlemen above aren't coming. And I heard in a Golf Channel interview that Mastercard will no longer be the title sponsor after this year. They're doing what Bell is doing with the Canadian Open, just becoming a minority sponsor.
As an aside, the Canadian Open purse is $5 Million this year. Why would the top guys come to another country for that small a purse if they aren't going to Colonial for a million dollars more? Get on the ball Canadian Open! Only 3.5 more months to go. What, no title sponsor yet? Surely you jest. You guys are hurting BIG TIME!
Anyway, my theory of Colonial's woes may be the thing they're the most proud of - the golf course. Apparently some players shy away from it because it's a "shotmaker's course". It's not long relatively speaking, and it's got lots of mature trees. Not exactly what today's crop of players are excited about. They prefer to bomb it out there into the wide open fields.
Should the Colonial change courses? Increase the purse? Cater to the players more? Pack it in? Tough questions indeed.
All I can say is my heart goes out to them. And if you find the answer, Colonial, please let the Canadian Open know what it is. Thanks.
Regards,
Steve
posted by Irrelevant at 5:33 PM
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