The Stayaway Six

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

What took you so long, gotcha. :thup:

nah you didn't - I just needed to remind you - as I will keep reminding folk who accuse me of abandoning my homeland for the riches of the south (I wish)

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Players work out there schedule months in advance and to be honest, it is only a glorified pro-am. Not sure what the lure of the Dunhill would be to them

 

[lobthewedge]

Agree with much of the original post, and have to say it saddens me to see the cream of European talent hot foot it over to America as soon as they taste a little success in Europe.

I wish they would all show a little more loyalty to their home tour but can you really blame them for chasing the dollar? One thing that really would grind on me though, is if they were refusing to cross back over the Atlantic due to sponsors not paying enough appearance money for them to show up. I don't know of any specific players or instances, but am fairly sure it goes on. To see the top players stoop to such a level and be so driven by greed would depress me greatly.

At the same time the thread also highlights some of the problems with the European Tour in its current form. Are there too many mediocre tournaments? Is it too widespread/global and subsequently lost its European identity? With the likes of Peter Uilhein and Brooks Koepka starting to come over and do so well, is the European Tour destined to become just another feeder tour for America?

 

[lobthewedge]

Players work out there schedule months in advance and to be honest, it is only a glorified pro-am. Not sure what the lure of the Dunhill would be to them

The chance to play on three of the finest courses in Scotland with your best bud celeb mate and potentially scoop a healthy share of a £5,000,000 prize pot?

Where do I sign up?

 

[BTatHome]

If there was an event with a £10 million purse in UK/Europe do you thin the stay away 6 plus Woods, Mickleson etc would be there? I'd say yes.

How many £10million events are there in the world? The Open prize fund is only half of that, and Phil walked away with a lot less due to taxation ... and there lies much of the problem.

 

[williamalex1]

nah you didn't - I just needed to remind you - as I will keep reminding folk who accuse me of abandoning my homeland[oil ]for the riches of the south (I wish)

:thup SLH. correction naw ye didnae you've been away too long. but your weClome back anytime not so sure about foxy [ aka Winston ] ??. I feel a " for these are my mountains" moment coming over me.
Bring back Andy Stewart , Calum Kennedy, Fran n Anna, what a night that was. say no more.

 

[Siren]

Wales open prize pot was 1.8 million same weekend there was the Deutsche Bank Championship where the prize pot was 8 million.

Not hard to see why they dont play over here really.

 

[Imurg]

And as almost all the events are in America they can all get home on Sunday night, spend Monday doing what they want, maybe some of Tuesday too, arrive at the next event on Tuesday/Wednesday - sometimes even get home each day depending on where they live.

Try getting home from Thailand just in time to catch the flight back out to Malaysia - only option is to spend 2-3-4 weeks out there away from Family.

No brainer really.

 

[bozza]

Just to add i saw a few golf writers/commentators complaing on twitter today about European players not making themselves available for the Seve Trophy even though they went on about how they "won the Ryder Cup for Seve"

I do know Paul Lawrie was picked and he said he would always make time to play in it if he got picked.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Seems from almost ALL of the above that it is more the structure and format of the ET that we outside the cosy cabal of the players see to be the problem - rather than the money (though that is always going to bias one side of any decision a player has). The ET is all over the place because money drawa them all over the place and want it that way. But how long will the advertising sponsors fund a second rate tour - none of the really top European players, and TV showing tournaments with few spectating unless the tournament is in the UK.

 

[mcbroon]

I'd question the statement that the European Tour made these guys. It didn't. They made themselves and then the ET rode on their coat-tails for as long as they were around to exploit.

It's the nature of the game. Most of the time, these guys are only playing for themselves, so in competitive terms they are their first and often only priority. They're going to go where it suits them to be and if the money, sunshine and tax advantages are in Florida, then it's a no-brainer.

 

[azazel]

Might be slightly off topic, but part of the reason they wouldn't turn out for more UK-based events is to do with tax. I don't know the specifics but if they enter a certain number of events, or win over a certain amount of money, then the UK government demands a fairly high percentage of the TOTAL earnings.

There was talk a couple of years ago about Wimbledon being under threat due to it and it's also why Usain Bolt rarely runs over here.

 

[mcbroon]

Might be slightly off topic, but part of the reason they wouldn't turn out for more UK-based events is to do with tax. I don't know the specifics but if they enter a certain number of events, or win over a certain amount of money, then the UK government demands a fairly high percentage of the TOTAL earnings.

There was talk a couple of years ago about Wimbledon being under threat due to it and it's also why Usain Bolt rarely runs over here.

Hey azazel, this is nothing to do with the topic at hand, but I see from your sig that you are familiar with Team of the Decade.

"Watson...ooh, the bar!"

 

[Snelly]

They can play where they like. It is up to them. However, one would think that they could show some loyalty and support the Euro Tour, especially the Seve Trophy as they would not be where they are were it not for the great man.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

They can play where they like. It is up to them. However, one would think that they could show some loyalty and support the Euro Tour, especially the Seve Trophy as they would not be where they are were it not for the great man.

Was rweading about that today - Paul Lawrie unhappy (or furious?) that none of the Big Six are turning up for the Seve. Now even although I generally veer away from attaching 'respectful' or 'disrespectful' to things - usually because the 'thing' doesn't in my view merit such considerations - I'm verging on considering using 'disrespectful' in context of the Seve Trophy and a complete no-show by the BS.

 

[Bucket92]

From what I could see the crowds at Celtic Manor (welsh Open) weren't very big, but Italy & Holland both had loads of people following the home favourites.

The crowds for the last day of the Welsh Open were actually quite big and it was a really good day of golf