FrankoSport
New
Greetings ...
News Article: Ernie Els-Tim Finchem PGA Tour Matter -- News Opinion: I'm on Els' Side
Let's crunch through the various facts in detail.
A PGA Tour member who plays at least 15 official PGA Tour events is allowed 3 "releases" a season - that is, he can play in an International event that is played the same week a regular event PGA Tour is played on three different occasions in the same season. For each additional five PGA Tour events played, one additional International release is allowed. However, for each extra "release" a player is granted beyond the first three, he must ADD one additional PGA Tour event to his schedule.
The count of 15 "official PGA Tour events" includes the 4 Grand Slam Majors and the 3 non-team World Golf Championships. Those add up to 7, which leaves eight from the remaining 41 on the schedule to pick and choose from. Of course, among those 41 are the Mercedes Championships, Players Championship and Tour Championship. Assuming you add those three to the seven other prime events already mentioned, then the count becomes 10, now leaving only five events out of 38 to choose from.
It is those 38 "regular events", such as Ford-Doral, Pebble Beach, Nissan-Los Angeles, Wachovia, Michelin-Las Vegas, Heritage, Memorial, Byron Nelson, Chrysler-Tampa Bay, along with the Mercedes, Players and Tour Championships, where the release policy is applied. The release policy also applies to events opposite the British Open, World Golf Championships, Ryder Cup or Ryder Cup (specificly, the Tucson, Reno-Tahoe, BC, Southern Farm Bureau events) only if the player desires to play some other International event.
The release policy does not apply to Challenge Season (aka "Silly Season") events played after the Tour Championship.
A player is allowed unlimited releases on one SPECIFIC International tour (Europe, Japan, Australiasian, South African) if he officially lists the particular Tour as his Home Tour. The release policy would then be applied to events on the tours NOT listed, if my understanding is correct.
The four Grand Slam majors and three non-team World Golf Championships are recognized as official events on the US, European, Australasian, Japan, South Africa and (just assuming) Asian PGA Tours. The US PGA Tour's Players Championship, which includes among its invitation categories the Top 50 players on the Official World Ranking, is not recognized as official by the non-US Golf Tours.
No other PGA Tour event is recognized as being official on any of the non US Tours, either on a continuous or rotational basis. I believe the one exception to that may be the Canadian Open, which would be recognized by the Canadian Tour, a tour incidently which is NOT currently a member of the International PGA Tours Federation - the overseers of the World Golf Championships and the Official World Rankings.
With the addition of the three non-team World Golf Championships in 1999, there are now eleven annual events - Masters, US Open, British Open, PGA Championship, Players Championship, Accenture Match Play, NEC Invitational, American Express Championship, Mercedes Championships, Tour Championship plus either of the two Biennial Team Events (Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup) - that have a profound effect on the rest of the PGA Tour schedule, in so far as high quality player fields are concerned.
At one time the Western and Canadian Opens were considered the next best events after the four Grand Slam Majors. The Canadian Open in particular has suffered from a lack of good schedule dates plus the close presense of two late season WGC events and either one of the Biennial Team events (Ryder, Presidents).
International events played after the conclusion of the regular PGA Tour season used to have several top US players in their fields. The heavy presense of Challenge Season events is now keeping many PGA Tour (and other) stars here in the USA.
The World Cup Team Championship used to have a larger International participation. The current WGC-World Cup format now leaves out many nations. Also, many top US and International players are skipping the event.
So - there are some facts. Now you can draw your own conclusions
Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Sport
RELATED BONUS MATERIAL
The Real World Golf Championships - Prior to 1999
Unofficial and Extremely Alternative 2005 PGA Tour Schedule
News Article: Ernie Els-Tim Finchem PGA Tour Matter -- News Opinion: I'm on Els' Side
Let's crunch through the various facts in detail.
A PGA Tour member who plays at least 15 official PGA Tour events is allowed 3 "releases" a season - that is, he can play in an International event that is played the same week a regular event PGA Tour is played on three different occasions in the same season. For each additional five PGA Tour events played, one additional International release is allowed. However, for each extra "release" a player is granted beyond the first three, he must ADD one additional PGA Tour event to his schedule.
The count of 15 "official PGA Tour events" includes the 4 Grand Slam Majors and the 3 non-team World Golf Championships. Those add up to 7, which leaves eight from the remaining 41 on the schedule to pick and choose from. Of course, among those 41 are the Mercedes Championships, Players Championship and Tour Championship. Assuming you add those three to the seven other prime events already mentioned, then the count becomes 10, now leaving only five events out of 38 to choose from.
It is those 38 "regular events", such as Ford-Doral, Pebble Beach, Nissan-Los Angeles, Wachovia, Michelin-Las Vegas, Heritage, Memorial, Byron Nelson, Chrysler-Tampa Bay, along with the Mercedes, Players and Tour Championships, where the release policy is applied. The release policy also applies to events opposite the British Open, World Golf Championships, Ryder Cup or Ryder Cup (specificly, the Tucson, Reno-Tahoe, BC, Southern Farm Bureau events) only if the player desires to play some other International event.
The release policy does not apply to Challenge Season (aka "Silly Season") events played after the Tour Championship.
A player is allowed unlimited releases on one SPECIFIC International tour (Europe, Japan, Australiasian, South African) if he officially lists the particular Tour as his Home Tour. The release policy would then be applied to events on the tours NOT listed, if my understanding is correct.
The four Grand Slam majors and three non-team World Golf Championships are recognized as official events on the US, European, Australasian, Japan, South Africa and (just assuming) Asian PGA Tours. The US PGA Tour's Players Championship, which includes among its invitation categories the Top 50 players on the Official World Ranking, is not recognized as official by the non-US Golf Tours.
No other PGA Tour event is recognized as being official on any of the non US Tours, either on a continuous or rotational basis. I believe the one exception to that may be the Canadian Open, which would be recognized by the Canadian Tour, a tour incidently which is NOT currently a member of the International PGA Tours Federation - the overseers of the World Golf Championships and the Official World Rankings.
With the addition of the three non-team World Golf Championships in 1999, there are now eleven annual events - Masters, US Open, British Open, PGA Championship, Players Championship, Accenture Match Play, NEC Invitational, American Express Championship, Mercedes Championships, Tour Championship plus either of the two Biennial Team Events (Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup) - that have a profound effect on the rest of the PGA Tour schedule, in so far as high quality player fields are concerned.
At one time the Western and Canadian Opens were considered the next best events after the four Grand Slam Majors. The Canadian Open in particular has suffered from a lack of good schedule dates plus the close presense of two late season WGC events and either one of the Biennial Team events (Ryder, Presidents).
International events played after the conclusion of the regular PGA Tour season used to have several top US players in their fields. The heavy presense of Challenge Season events is now keeping many PGA Tour (and other) stars here in the USA.
The World Cup Team Championship used to have a larger International participation. The current WGC-World Cup format now leaves out many nations. Also, many top US and International players are skipping the event.
So - there are some facts. Now you can draw your own conclusions
Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Sport
RELATED BONUS MATERIAL
The Real World Golf Championships - Prior to 1999
Unofficial and Extremely Alternative 2005 PGA Tour Schedule