What does it say about the WGC-Mexico Championship this week that its field is missing three of the top 10 players in the world ranking?
No Brooks Koepka. No Patrick Cantlay. No Tiger Woods. Not to mention no Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson or Jason Day, among others.
Compare that to the field at the Genesis Invitational last week, where nine of the top 10 in the world showed up at Riviera Country Club to create the strongest “regular” tour event field in seven years.
Does it say something about the World Golf Championship events?
A little perhaps but not a lot.
Does it confirm how much players really love Riviera?
That part is true. As golf love affairs go, they don’t get much better than tour players and Riv.
Could it be as simple as there are too many tournaments now?
Bingo.
Like the game itself, it comes down to simple math. There are more good tournament weeks now than players are willing to play.
This isn’t auto racing where everyone shows up every week. Tour golf is the ultimate professional buffet. Pick where you like to play and skip the rest.
Nobody has done that better than Woods and Jack Nicklaus, but not everyone is wired like them or as good as them. Still, it has become easier for top players to skip top events, this week being a prime example.
That doesn’t mean the World Golf Championship events don’t work. It just means that given the abundance of opportunities and a schedule that runs for more than 11 months, players have more options than ever.
The PGA Tour (and the European Tour, which has a stake in the WGC events) did the right thing slotting the Mexico stop between the end of the West Coast swing and the start of the Florida swing, but that’s one of the reasons some players aren’t teeing it up this week.
With a four-week run through Florida starting at the Honda Classic next week and with the Players Championship creeping closer, this is a convenient week off for some players who are able to sacrifice the guaranteed payday and world ranking points.
There’s another WGC event, the Dell Technologies Match Play, two weeks after the Players, which means big-event season has arrived. From now through the FedEx Cup playoffs in late summer, there aren’t many extended breaks for the top players.
While the WGC events resonate with the players because of the extra money and ranking points, they aren’t seen the same way by the public, who may understand those events come with more built-in gravitas, but they don’t drive viewing traffic like a major. They feel like one more benefit for the game’s most privileged class, though their goal of bringing the top players together more often is admirable.
Some eligible players are likely to say thanks but no thanks to their spot in the 64-player Dell Technologies Match Play field next month. By contrast, no one willingly misses the majors or the Players Championship.
That doesn’t mean the World Golf Championship events don’t work. It just means that given the abundance of opportunities and a schedule that runs for more than 11 months, players have more options than ever.
The PGA Tour would be better with fewer tournaments, but that’s not going to happen. Imagine if the schedule had 30 events including the majors. It’s one of the selling points of the proposed Premier Golf League, just 18 events that bring all the best together. That part is particularly intriguing.
For the PGA Tour, more is better. More playing opportunities for players, more charitable dollars, a broader canvas to showcase the product. It provides television content and something to fuel the non-stop appetite of social media, no matter how little nourishment is included.
The guys at the top of the tour pile get to pick their spots. The blue-collar players, meanwhile, want every chance they can to make a check and maybe win a tournament, even if it’s the Barracuda Championship rather than the Memorial Tournament.
Throw in international opportunities – appearance fees are a powerful inducement, as the field in Saudi Arabia last month demonstrated – and there’s too much to choose from for the top players. That’s a great luxury even if it means skipping the WGC event in Mexico City this week.
In other words, it’s a nice problem to have.