Tournaments succeed even
when the big names stay away
Hal Sutton's smile turned
into a snarl after two questions.
How could a tournament
with so much tradition, played on a quality golf course, attract so few of the
top players from the Official World Golf Ranking? What does it say for a tournament
when Tiger Woods doesn't come?
"Everybody in this field
is a bigger star than any of you will ever be," Sutton shot back at a room full
of reporters.
Over the past two weeks,
complaints could be heard from Greensboro to Houston that the fields were better
suited for the Buy.com Dakota Dunes Open than the elite PGA Tour.
Sutton was at both tournaments.
He won at Greensboro. But his sharp rebuke came two years ago at the Canadian
Open, where the gallery lined the 18th fairway at Glen Abbey Golf Club to watch
an amazing finish. Billy Andrade made a 30-foot par putt to force a playoff,
then won on the first extra hole by strategically chipping into a bunker to protect
par.
All of which proves two
things.
The PGA Tour rarely lacks
great theatre from great players, even if they aren't familiar names. And complaining
about MVPs who are MIA is nothing new.
Jack Nicklaus was the premier
player in golf. He won three majors his first three years -- then never played
more than 22 times a year on tour.
Woods, by the way, played
21 tour events last year.
Tom Watson was a star when
he won The Masters and British Open in 1977. He played 24 tournaments the following
year and never more than 22 after that.
David Duval played 21 times
last year, and is on pace to play a couple of more this year.
"It's always been an issue,"
commissioner Tim Finchem said today. "When I became commissioner six years ago,
it was Fred Couples and Greg Norman. If a tournament didn't have those players,
there was some level of disappointment."
Neither Woods nor Duval,
the top two players in the World Ranking, were at Greensboro or Houston. Neither
is in New Orleans this week.
Somehow, the Compaq Classic
will go on without them. Most of the corporate packages were sold long before
the field was announced. Tournament director Rick George was busy tending to
last-minute details Monday night.
"It's shaping up to be
a great tournament," George said. "It doesn't matter who comes. It's still going
to be the greatest players in the world."
Sure, any tournament would
love to have a Tiger Woods. He not only is the biggest star in golf, but the
biggest in sports today. Who wouldn't want to see him launch a drive or hear
that exquisite, ripping sound of the ball coming off his 2-iron?
"I'd love to have them
all," George said.
If anything, the recent
furore over weak fields is a product of the World Ranking.
Until The Masters and the
Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship started using the rankings to issue
invitations, no one really cared. Now, tournaments are judged by the number of
players from the top 10 or the top 20, even if few people understand how those
players got to be ranked that high -- or low -- in the first place.
Couples is ranked 26th
this week. Norman is 57th. Think any tournament wouldn't love to have them in
the field?
Finchem is concerned about
some tournaments getting the short end of the draw, but he also points out that
none of those events has gone under. Purses are going up, along with charitable
contributions.
"We've had fewer complaints
raised by title sponsors over the last few years," he said.
Clearly, there is enough
talent to go around. There were 17 tournaments last year that featured at least
five of the current top 10 players in the world. Nine were won by players outside
the top 10.
The Sony Open in Hawaii
didn't get Woods. It had to settle for Paul Azinger winning for the first time
since his battle with cancer. The Honda Classic had its weakest field ever, but
got a Nicklaus-like finish when Dudley Hart birdied the last four holes.
Jim Carter won at Tucson
while the best players were at the Match Play Championship, yet his 19-under
269 was the same score Duval had when he won Tucson in 1998.
No one saw Woods at Doral,
just a Tiger-like finish by Jim Furyk when he overcame a six-stroke deficit with
seven holes to play.
For such a weak field,
the Shell Houston Open produced an unforgettable finish when Robert Allenby stayed
alive with a bogey from the water in a playoff and won on the fourth extra hole
after Craig Stadler squandered three great chances.
Nicklaus and Watson didn't
go to every tournament. Neither will Woods and Duval. Instead of worrying about
who's not there, pay attention to who is.
