Few U.S. players playing in BMW PGA Championship
Last year Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood were heavily criticized for skipping the flagship event of the PGA Tour — the Players Championship. They dutifully returned in 2012.
When it comes to Americans skipping the flagship event of the European Tour, however, there is little outcry. When the BMW PGA Championship tees off Thursday, there will be only three Americans in the field — Ben Curtis, Shaun Micheel and Rich Beem — all exempt as former major champions.
Also exempt are all players ranked in the world top 50. Of the 20 Americans eligible, 12 opted for the Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas. The other eight U.S. players in the top 50 are sitting out, including No.?4 Bubba Watson, No. 7 Tiger Woods and No. 9 Phil Mickelson.
| Up next |
| BMW PGA Championship |
| When » Thursday-Sunday |
| Where » Wentworth Club, |
| Virginia Water, England |
| TV » 9 a.m., Golf Channel |
“It’s considered our Players Championship of the European Tour,” defending champion Luke Donald of England told reporters two weeks ago at the Players. “I would have thought that would incite some interest in some of the big Americans.”
The BMW has drawn 18 players ranked in the world top 50, including No. 1 McIlroy, No.?2 Donald and No. 3 Westwood. But the Colonial also boasts 18 of the world’s top 50, including No. 5 Matt Kuchar, No.?6 Hunter Mahan and No. 14 Jason Dufner, who has won two of the last three weeks on the PGA Tour.
Other than the British Open, the BMW is the biggest tournament in Europe. It carries more world ranking points for the winner than any other event on the European Tour. The BMW was legitimized in 1975 when Arnold Palmer won at age 45, but he remains the only American to capture the championship. Few others have even tried.
U.S. resistance to the tournament might be more about dollars and sense. While prize money for the Players totaled $9.5 million this year, the BMW pays only $5.7 million. Even the Colonial, a mid-level purse by PGA Tour standards, pays more at $6.4 million.
“You don’t have to travel far to play in a $6 million event at a great course at Colonial,” Donald said. “But I’ve always been a proponent of, to get the most out of your game, it’s important to travel and experience new places. I think at least go try it once, and if you don’t like it, fair enough.”
Last year, European Tour regulars Anthony Kang and John Daly were the only Americans in the BMW field. Kang was the only American who played at Wentworth Club in 2010.
Players from the United States aren’t the only ones dismissing the BMW. None of the five Australians in the top 50 is in Virginia Water, England, this week.
“Obviously being a European, I hold the BMW PGA in high regard,” Westwood told reporters at the Players. “After the four major championships, I would put the World Golf Championships, [the Players] and the BMW PGA in another category just below that.”
Westwood and Donald wish more of their non-European counterparts felt the same way.
