Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy not interested in Players Championship while Phil Mickelson thinks otherwise
The 2010 Masters Champion, Phil Mickelson isn’t quite on the same page as World Number 1, Lee Westwood, and Rory McIlroy. Their difference in opinion in this case is basically on the Players Championship which is scheduled to take place this weekend at TPC
Sawgrass in Florida. With both Westwood and McIlroy opting out of what’s known as the fifth major, Mickelson didn’t really agree with their thought process.
The Players Champions is the world’s richest tournament, equaling £5.8million in total prize money. When asked if the tournament means something to Mickelson, he said that it surely does. Mickelson, also known as lefty, said that its one of those tournaments
that he would like to win the most along with the majors. Surely, Westwood and McIlroy not taking part in such a prestigious event was shocking.
The main reason for their absence was the busy schedule of the players. The reason for Westwood not appearing was somewhere along the lines of non PGA Tour member restrictions. It is true that if a golfer is not part of the PGA Tour, he only gets to play
in ten PGA Tournaments.
The Players Championship however, as announced by the PGA last year, would not be counted against that number. It’s also true that most American players are fonder of the tournament than are the Europeans. Westwood even said that the European Tour’s BMW
Championship is what he considers to be the ‘fifth major.’
With Westwood not taking part, the top rank would be open for conquer this weekend. If Mickelson wins the tournament, he can become the number one golfer in the world, but being number one is not Mickelson’s main goal.
“It's certainly what everybody strives for, but it's not really something that's on the forefront of anybody's minds. I think the most important thing is to win tournaments and to compete in a tournament like this week, play against the best players. There's
a lot more satisfaction over beating the best players in the world on a challenging test like this than there is to say you're ranked 'X' on the world rankings,” said Phil Mickelson.
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