"I'm sure they're thrilled in China"

Doug Ferguson considers the state of the World Golf Championships and it isn't pretty.

The longer the "World" Golf Championships are anchored in America, the more they look like any other tournament. As more PGA Tour events keep raising their standards, the more they rival WGC events that were meant to be special.

"I don't see them moving forward," Adam Scott said, an opinion shared by many of his peers. "It's not different for the money.

"They're not playing them on great golf courses. It's just another event. They've lost some of the lustre they once had."

How could he say that about The Gallery or Mount Juliet Conrad or Valderama or The Grove or Bellerive or Capital City Club?

"It would be great if, like their name, they actually were held around the world," Lee Westwood said. "It's a disgrace.

"You might as well call them the World Golf Championships of America. They're just like any regular U.S. tour event. It's a good way for getting players to come to the states more regularly. But they're not World Golf Championships."

Doug's being charitable here...

The WGCs lost their momentum the first time all three were held in the United States, in 2003, particularly an atrocious site north of Atlanta that delivered all the excitement of an NFL preseason game. A rotation that once featured Spain, Ireland and Australia now has settled into Arizona, Miami and Ohio.

There is a practical side to this. The corporate sponsor footing the bill gets more value from the U.S. market. TV money comes from America, and ratings shrink when a tournament is held five times zone away, if not more.

"While it's called an international golf series, it probably hasn't represented that in terms of venues," said Gary Beckner, a senior marketing director for Accenture. "But for the most part, the players have been truly international."

Accenture suffered when Match Play went to Australia in 2001. It was held a week after the Christmas holidays, and some two dozen players didn't bother going.

"The contiguous U.S. works well for us," Beckner said.

Finchem will argue that the "world" component of this series comes from the players in the field and television beaming their birdies and bogeys into homes of golf fans around the globe.

"I'm sure they're thrilled in China," Westwood said.

Comments

[Sandman]

Was Capital City club that bad (2003 Amex)? I remember it being a fast running course with hard greens, that was played on maybe a few years too early?

[Hawkeye]

I thought the course was a good test, but there was absolutely no one in attendance.

[Eddie G.]

Last years WGC held at Doral, Tiger won with 278, -10 under. A player from Japan who finished last, 64th, shot 308, and was +20 for the tournament. This player not only finished 30 shots behind Tiger in four rounds, but was paid $35,500 in the process. I bet the fans in Japan were tickled about this.

[John]

And so much for being a tier below the Majors, they dont even have play by play (or Tourcast or anything!) for this WGC Matchplay event. (previous 3 years all had Tourcast, but its dead now or something, go pgatour!)

So if youre a fan of anyone besides Tiger or Phil (and perhaps Vijay or Els), you'll have no idea wtf is going on in your favourite golfers match.

What a joke.

[Matt]

There is an inherent disconnect between Golf Championship, TV money and TV ratings. Obviously, what might be good for ratings, doesn't necessarily mean it is good for golf, nor a good championship. I am sure you would get different opinions from American players that don't see a need to travel to China to make it a 'world' championship...not that there are many American players that have an eye out for what's good for the game, either. It would be interesting to see a well-thought out survey of all of the players on this issue, as well.

[RM]

Capital City is one of the worst, most bland Fazio courses you would ever have the misfortune of playing. It was almost impossible to screw up such a great piece of property, but Fazio had the talent and vision to pull it off! There's a difference between a course playing hard and fast, and a course that's rock hard because it's brand new. It was only about a year old when it hosted the Amex. Grow the rough, pinch the fairways and then watch balls bounce off of concrete greens. What a concept.

[JackM]

Matgt wrote "...not that there are many American players that have an eye out for what's good for the game"

What, exactly, is good for the game? That sounds like an awfully broad topic and the response will vary dramtically depnding on who is answering.
For instance, a Callaway shareholder would feel differently than a USGA director or a CBS executive or a real estate developer or a Tour event sponsor or Tiger Woods.

Or me. I could argue that golf would benfit from fewer golfers and fewer lousy golfers because courses would be emptier and a round would take 3 1/2 hours.

After defining the "good of the game", please explain American golfers are obliged to go overseas to help Chinese real estate developers sell golf course lots.

[John in NY]

There's a simple solution to this. Stop calling them WGC events. Just call it the Accenture Match Play Invitational and throw a boatload of money on the table. That should shut Lee Westwood up fast. I'd bet he still shows up to play, however.

[bogey boy]

Lee Westwood on playing golf in the US "can't live with it, can't maintain my lifestyle without it"