Key players skipping the PGA Tour’s curtain raiser: Hyundai Tournament of Champions
The Hyundai Tournament of Champions is facing the absence of several top players from the event this year too.
A total of 11 players have excused themselves from appearing in the tournament, which makes almost one third of the total players who qualified.
The major winners, Darren Clarke, Charl Schwartzel and World Golf Champions Luke Donald and Phil Mickelson, along with major and WGC winner Rory McIlroy are among the 11 absentees.
Kapalua is now featuring only 28 players that include nine golfers, who are even out of the top-100 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Moreover, Steve Stricker and Webb Simpson are the only two players listed among the top-10 players.
The four-time major winner Phil Mickelson has not played the Tournament of Champions since 2001. On the other hand, Tiger Woods has also been skipping the event since 2005.
After Mickelson and Tiger Woods started bypassing the event, other players are not showing much interest in the tournament either.
Brandt Snedeker, Dustin Johnson and Fredrik Jacobson are the ones who justified their absence through the injury problems they are currently facing.
Meanwhile, Justin Rose recently celebrated the birth of his second child and wanted to give time to his family.
Undoubtedly, all of these players have their reasons. However, what about the others?
The tournament is now confronting the same question, which is, why are so many elite players bypassing the season-opener?
The answer is very simple. They are not playing because they have an extensive choice of tournaments they can play throughout the season.
Players now prefer big tournaments to play and save their energy by bypassing the relatively small tournaments.
This is actually the bright side of the game of golf. It is a game where players choose when to start and when to end the season. They are not bound to adhere to the schedule.
Some players prefer playing each and every tournament, while others only choose the ones with no cuts and earnings that put them in lower positions on the money list.
The only way to make players appear in the curtain raiser event is to make it mandatory for the eligible players. However, this will again go against the decorum of the PGA Tour.
Conversely, the PGA Tour cannot compel a player to appear in the event he does not want to play. This will, in fact, decrease the popularity and spirit of the tournament.
To overcome this problem, the organising committee is considering some options to expand the tournament and attract more world class golfers.
There are currently two options under consideration. One is, sending invitations to the major winners of the last two years and tournament winners.
However, if players are skipping the current format, they will do the same, even if the management changes the eligibility criteria.
Another option that officials are considering is to change the dates of the tournament, as it currently conflicts with the NFL Super Bowl week. This will help the officials attract more fan following and avoid decline in revenues.
No matter what decision officials come up with, it should be strong enough to attract the golfers to the tournament.
It seems that the event is fading with the passage of time and if the concerned officials do not act, a time will come when the PGA Tour will have to take the difficult decision of dissolving the event.
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