One problem solved another created
BY Bruce Young | 13 Apr 2011
The prospects of leading South African players staying on to compete at the Australian PGA Championship the week following the Presidents Cup later this year appear to have taken a nose dive this week with the reported announcement that the South African Open will now be played the week following the Presidents Cup.
The decision to change the dates of the South African Open, although yet to be officially confirmed, came after discussions between the European Tour, the Sunshine Tour and players during meetings at this past week’s Masters.
With the SA Open originally scheduled for the week of the Presidents Cup, action was needed to appease an angry Ernie Els and others who felt the clash between their own National Open and such a significant international event as the Presidents Cup made it an impossible decision for the several South Africans who are likely to be included in the International side for Royal Melbourne.
At this stage five are all but assured of their place in the team with Rory Sabbatini also an outside chance. With the decision now apparently made, the possibility of South African golfers being forced to make that choice has been averted and they are now free to play a key role in the International Side.
Earlier this year a decision was made by the PGA of Australia to play the Australian Open and the Australian PGA Championships on either side of the Presidents Cup in the hope that such events might attract stronger fields to both events. The availability of so many of the game’s leading players in the country during that period was attractive and the chance to capitalise on their presence appeared to be too good an opportunity to overlook.
Clearly the South Africans would have been on their hit lists given their standing in the game and with their now likely unavailability for either supporting event the best laid plans appear to be coming unstuck.
Now, with the lucrative Singapore Open to run opposite the Australian Open Championship at the Lakes Golf Club, the South African Open to run opposite the PGA Championship at Hyatt Regency Coolum and Thanksgiving in the US on the same week as the PGA Championship, the rapidly declining availability of non-Australian Presidents Cup team members for surrounding events is a concern.
Japanese stars such as Ryo Ishikawa and Yuta Ikeda have domestic events in their homeland to play either side of the Presidents Cup and so appear unlikely to be targeted. K.J. Choi is another but the World Cup is on in China the week following the Presidents Cup and might present a problem not to mention an incredibly busy schedule generally through November and early December.
Mind you if all four of the current Australian members of the Presidents Cup side were to play at Hyatt Regency Coolum including Jason Day it would be the first time that has happened. Day has not played an Australian summer of golf since leaving for the US in 2006 mainly due to injury, family, PGA Tour qualifying and surgery issues.
Day’s runner-up finish in last week’s Masters has moved him to 24th in the world ranking and to 5th in the Presidents Cup rankings.
Whether any members of the American team will see any value in playing the Australian Open at the Lakes Golf Club in the lead-up to the Presidents Cup is questionable given the disparity between the Lakes layout and that of Royal Melbourne. The only benefit for them to do so would be as an acclimatisation process.
The South African Open decision has certainly avoided a major issue for the South African players but as it stands right now it has not aided the cause of strengthening the fields for two Australian flagship events.
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