players say golf schedule is in a mess

Lee Westwood and Ernie Els are just two of the game’s biggest names who are unhappy about the current schedules of tour golf.

Ernie has said he might miss this year’s President’s Cup because it clashes with the South African Open, while Westwood has confirmed he may skip the so-called fifth major because he isn’t allowed to play in the USA the week before.

South Africa’s Sunshine Tour announced over the weekend that the South African Open will be played Nov. 17-20 “as a result of the congestion on the worldwide golfing calendar.”

There’s just one problem. Not only is Els very much South African, he is the defending champion and a five-time winner of his national open. The date change means the South African Open will be held the same week as the Presidents Cup in Australia. Els is the premier global player of his generation, yet even he hasn’t figured out how to be two places at once.

And right now, he’s not sure which one to play.

Would he skip the Presidents Cup to defend his title in South Africa? His body language – an angry stare and raised eyebrows – suggested he is seriously thinking about it. Remember, Els missed the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994 to play in the British Masters and honor a commitment to longtime supporter Johann Rupert.

The timing of the decision is even more peculiar considering how the last South African Open turned out. It was a 1-2-3-4 finish by Els, Retief Goosen, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, with Tim Clark in a tie for ninth. Those five South Africans currently occupy the top six spots in the Presidents Cup standings.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Els said. “This is my national open. I don’t get a chance to play there often. I don’t know about the timing of this, but I’m sure the U.S. tour had the date set already for the Presidents Cup. Then the European Tour comes in and … why are they trying to (mess) with myself and Retief and Tim? Don’t they have any regard for the Presidents Cup?”

Europe is involved because it co-sanctions the South African Open and is trying to play its season in a calendar year. The South Africa events that once kicked off a “new” year in December have been brought forward a month so the European Tour season can end in Dubai, which has been moved back because of the Presidents Cup and World Cup.

As for Westwood, who two years ago resigned his American card, he would play the £5.9m Players Championship, but feels the rigid rules are stopping him when put alongside his own scheduling demands.

“I’d go over for the Players if I could play in the tournament the week before, but I don’t want to pitch up at the Players cold, having not played for four weeks since Augusta,” Westwood told The Independent. “So I’ll play a couple of tournaments on the European Tour instead.”

The news prompted this from Westwood’s manager, Chubby Chandler: “This sums up what’s wrong with golf at the moment,” said Westwood’s manager, Chubby Chandler. “There are too many people in power thinking only about their own interests rather than what’s good for the game. It does my head in to think the world No 1 in his sport can’t play in a tournament he wants to play in, and which the sponsor wants him to play in.