by Jeff
Scott Verplank has already qualified for the Masters

by Tony Infante
Why complain about a smaller field at Doral? Can't you feel all the excitement of the FedEx Cup and WGC building buzz at the same time?
The unmitigated greed of the PGA Tour and it's imperial commish are working hard for golf's elite. At the same time the new order is clearly driving away television audiences with production values that haven't changed in decades and demanding more from loyal sponsors and delivering far less in terms of reach and value. But heh-let's just build more hospitality skyboxes -ain't that good for the game?
Doral seems to have shared a fate similar to LA Open -events that used to draw great fields are now compromised be either an invitational format or (in the case of LA) a bad spot on the schedule where a bunch of good players skip it because of huge appearance fees in the Middle East.
The U.S.-centric kleptocracy of the PGA Tour and a lack of willingness to collaborate with other major tours (Europe & Australasia) might actually be holding back the power of marketing golf as a spectator sport. At a time when participation is growing on virtually every continent with the exception of N. America the PGA tour is finding ever more ingenious ways to extort a larger piece of the pie.

by Jimbo
The World Golf Championships have become what Timmy wants - attracting the "worlds" best golfers coming to the US for more than the Masters and the US OPen - which aren't PGA (his) tournaments. What's even more ironic, the WGC were, for all intents and purposes, the brainchild of Greg Norman - Timmy was threatened by this concept, chastised the Shark for trying to dilute the PGA Tour, then, later made the idea his!
The reason the events are held in the US is because - that's where the money is. Most top players from all the world tours choose to play here because that's where the money is. (Did I say "that's where the money is"?) Example - When the World Match Play tournament was held in Australia - nobody came ... Why travel half way around the world for a measly mil? A windfall for Steve Stricker. That's what the tour has come to. The tag line has to change from "These Guys are Good" to "These Guys are Rich" (That Championship will not survive anyway - TV and advertisiers can't afford to air a couple of second tier Europeans viewers don't know and won't watch.)
If you think Norman's WGC idea put Timmy's panties in a pinch, Here's the real theat: The Tiger Tour! Talk about limited Fields! When does the Tiger Tour start? Networks will love it. Tiger having his own tournaments every week, inviting who he wants, playing is own schedule at the places he likes - Networks, sponsors and advertisers will pay anything because that's what the American viewer wants to see... and, that's where the money is. It will happen.

by BJ
Name a sport that hasn't been perverted by money. The only one that used to come to mind was golf; i.e., the PGA Tour. It used to be exciting to see if a no-name could pull off the win and become somebody overnight against the 'world's best'. There are quite a few on tour today whose life was changed doing just that. It will happen less, as will my viewing of only the 'world's best'; i.e, a bunch of priviledged millionaires playing for Timmy's millions at the events that they choose to play.