Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald no-shows upset Arnold Palmer
Luke Donald’s and Rory McIlroy’s absence from the Arnold Palmer Invitational made the owner of the tournament sad.
Arnold Palmer sent invitations to both the top ranked professionals before the event, but both declined and planned not to play the tournament.
"I'm disappointed that they are not here, no question about it,'' Palmer said. ''They are the top players on tour right now in the positions that they are in. And I'm disappointed".
This tournament is staged by the Professional Golf Association every year and is owned by the 82-year-old Arnold Palmer.
He wants to take this event to the top of the popular event list and for this purpose, he invited all the high ranked players of the world.
There were many other famous players, like Tiger Woods, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Bubba Watson and Ernie Els, who graced the event.
However, Donald and McIlroy, who are ranked on the first and the second positions in the world rankings, decided not to play.
Both of them have huge fan ship and followers. Their presence in the field always generates a positive response and spectators love to see them on the course.
Palmer sent an invitation letter to both the players, but their response was negative. Both are in the Masters field and are practising for the first major of the year.
"I had a letter from Rory that told me he wasn't coming. Of course that made me feel great. And, if you believe that, I'll talk to you outside after," Palmer said in sorrow.
"I'm certainly not happy that those fellas chose not to come this year. We are doing everything we can to entice them to come and play," he added.
Donald is on a lay-off period and will return to the Masters. He won the title of the Transitions Championship on March 18, and displayed a tremendous performance there.
Similarly, McIlroy is also gaining huge respect and honour, as he won the Honda Classic title with enormous scores.
Moreover, he finished the Accenture Match Play Championship on the second position and the Cadillac Championship on the third.
Despite all the facts, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a $6,000,000 purse tournament, is over now.
Their absence caused Palmer and their fans great sorrow. Now Donald and McIlroy will return to golf for the Masters at Augusta in Georgia.
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