Europe Reclaims It's Tour
The European Tour is in danger of hitting a major shank if it continues to allow marquee players to pick-and-choose the tournaments they play in according to some seasoned tour pro’s.
The long-standing issue was highlighted further when last years Order of Merit winner Justin Rose teed it up in a miserly 12 events, the lowest tally by an Order of Merit winner since Seve Ballesteros played in the same amount in 1978.
So no change you’re thinking? Well, Rosey’s 11 events consisted of the three Majors in America and the four World Golf Championships, which all count (since 1999) to the minimum requirement of playing in 11 tournaments to gain full tour membership. This meant Rose, and other high-ranked players could choose four lucrative tournaments to make up the 11. Seve’s 12 were all standard tour events.
The minimum events required to retain tour membership is likely to increase from 11 to 13 after players lodged their concern over the future of the regular tour events.
“It’s hardly asking a lot to play what is basically once a month in Europe. When I was winning my eight Order of Merits, I did it because of what happened in Europe, not America,” said a concerned Colin Montgomery.
So will raising the minimum required events be enough to save historic tournaments as if they struggle to attract good fields? Consequently, the sponsors will become more and more reluctant to brush the cobwebs off their money and support events.
You cannot heap the blame on the players though, because while they have the freedom to choose where has the most £ signs, then ultimately they will. If the choice is taken away then they have to commit to more regular events to preserve their longevity.
The casualties that are already in the morgue are evidence for George O’Grady, the European Tour executive director, of the dangers that potentially lie ahead. The Belgium Open, German Open and the English Open are now just a piece of golfing history.
“We need our bigger players to commit to more of the bread-and-butter continental tournaments like the Irish and French Opens because right now we are in danger of losing them,” said Paul McGinely. Here here Paul, here here.
1/23/2008 5:17:23 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00) 
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