slickpitt
Well-Known Member
- Aug 15, 2006
- 2,706
- 3
oops, I mean who gives a rats ass! Mr. imaginary #1 at it again! I really wish he would just shut his yap and go away!
Lee Westwood to skip The Players Championship - ESPN
Lee Westwood, the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world, said he will skip the PGA Tour's signature event, The Players Championship, due to restrictions placed on non-members.
Playing his first European Tour event of the year at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the 37-year-old Westwood told reporters he will miss the May event because he does not want to go to Florida from his home in England for just one event. The tournament takes place at the TPC Sawgrass at PGA Tour headquarters.
"I'd go over for The Players if I could play in the tournament the week before, but I don't want to pitch up at The Players cold, having not played for four weeks since [the Masters at] Augusta," Westwood said. "So I'll play a couple of tournaments on the European Tour instead."
At issue are the restrictions placed on those who give up PGA Tour membership.
Westwood, who was a tour member in 2009, is allowed to play only 10 PGA Tour events, seven of which are taken up by the four major championships and three World Golf Championship events played in the United States.
Late last year, the PGA Tour added a stipulation that The Players Championship would not count against the 10. So, in essence, Westwood has 11 tournaments if he heads to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
But Westwood likes to play the week prior to the majors, meaning he will play at the Shell Houston Open the week before the Masters and at the FedEx St. Jude Classic -- where he is defending champion -- the week before the U.S. Open.
Because the WGC Match Play and the WGC Cadillac Championship are two weeks apart, Westwood has chosen to play the Honda Classic during the week between.
In order to play the week prior to The Players, he'd have to skip Honda, Houston or St. Jude.
So it appears that Westwood would like to have 12 PGA Tour starts -- but not the 15 necessary to be a PGA Tour member. He is required to play 13 to retain European membership, but the event majors/WGCs count on that tour as well.
"This sums up what's wrong with golf at the moment," Chubby Chandler, Westwood's agent, told reporters at the Abu Dhabi event. "There are too many people in power thinking only about their own interests rather than what's good for the game. It does my head in to think the world No. 1 in his sport can't play in a tournament he wants to play in, and which the sponsor wants him to play in."
Due to an oversight, Westwood exceeded the number of events he was allowed in 2010, playing in 11. He withdrew from the WGC Bridgestone Invitational with a calf injury and missed the following week's PGA Championship.
Westwood is tied for 15th, five strokes back of first-round leader Charl Schwartzel in Abu Dhabi.
Lee Westwood to skip The Players Championship - ESPN
Lee Westwood, the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world, said he will skip the PGA Tour's signature event, The Players Championship, due to restrictions placed on non-members.
Playing his first European Tour event of the year at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the 37-year-old Westwood told reporters he will miss the May event because he does not want to go to Florida from his home in England for just one event. The tournament takes place at the TPC Sawgrass at PGA Tour headquarters.
"I'd go over for The Players if I could play in the tournament the week before, but I don't want to pitch up at The Players cold, having not played for four weeks since [the Masters at] Augusta," Westwood said. "So I'll play a couple of tournaments on the European Tour instead."
At issue are the restrictions placed on those who give up PGA Tour membership.
Westwood, who was a tour member in 2009, is allowed to play only 10 PGA Tour events, seven of which are taken up by the four major championships and three World Golf Championship events played in the United States.
Late last year, the PGA Tour added a stipulation that The Players Championship would not count against the 10. So, in essence, Westwood has 11 tournaments if he heads to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
But Westwood likes to play the week prior to the majors, meaning he will play at the Shell Houston Open the week before the Masters and at the FedEx St. Jude Classic -- where he is defending champion -- the week before the U.S. Open.
Because the WGC Match Play and the WGC Cadillac Championship are two weeks apart, Westwood has chosen to play the Honda Classic during the week between.
In order to play the week prior to The Players, he'd have to skip Honda, Houston or St. Jude.
So it appears that Westwood would like to have 12 PGA Tour starts -- but not the 15 necessary to be a PGA Tour member. He is required to play 13 to retain European membership, but the event majors/WGCs count on that tour as well.
"This sums up what's wrong with golf at the moment," Chubby Chandler, Westwood's agent, told reporters at the Abu Dhabi event. "There are too many people in power thinking only about their own interests rather than what's good for the game. It does my head in to think the world No. 1 in his sport can't play in a tournament he wants to play in, and which the sponsor wants him to play in."
Due to an oversight, Westwood exceeded the number of events he was allowed in 2010, playing in 11. He withdrew from the WGC Bridgestone Invitational with a calf injury and missed the following week's PGA Championship.
Westwood is tied for 15th, five strokes back of first-round leader Charl Schwartzel in Abu Dhabi.
