Why Are There No DP World Tour Events For a Month

View From The Fairway by Derek Clements

I OWE the DP World Tour an apology. In my first published version of this View From The Fairway article, I questioned why there were no tournaments until the middle of August, at a time when Ryder Cup qualification is coming to an end. And I blamed the tour. Incorrectly, as it turns out.

Steve Todd, the Deputy Communications Director of the DP World Tour, was quick to get in touch and set the record straight. And I am happy to do so too.

Steve said: “The reason for the break is that it was something the players requested via the Tournament Committee last year - to build breaks into the season. There was one around The Masters and then again after the final Major of the season following a busy period.”

So, to the DP World Tour I offer an unreserved apology.

However…..

I find it utterly astonishing that the players should be asking for a break in the middle of summer and with just three Ryder Cup qualification events left.

I understand why those we might regard as the tour’s leading lights may want a week or two off. But surely the rank-and-file, those struggling to keep their playing privileges, should be out there fighting for titles. Don’t get me wrong - I fully understand that the tour may struggle to find blue-chip sponsors for tournaments where they know the fields are not going to be the strongest.

But time off in July and August? With courses in their very best condition? Really?

It truly is famine after feast, and a huge disappointment for avid golf fans such as myself - and many others, I suspect.

Why would somebody who plays a summer sport want a break - at the height of summer!

It seems quite extraordinary to me that at a time when there is so much interest in our sport that we will not see any further action until the ISPS Handa World Invitational at Galgorm Castle in Co Antrim.

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

And while there is a period of inactivity at the height of the summer in Europe, over on the PGA Tour they are heading towards the FedEx Cup Playoffs, with vast sums of money at stake and gut-wrenching pressure as players vie to either keep their playing privileges or make it to the playoffs, which are limited to just the top 70 golfers this year as the PGA Tour mix things up yet again.

It means that a host of golfers who are on the cusp of Ryder Cup qualification must now pin all their hopes on three tournaments with limited prize money and points on offer. European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald will have six players who gain automatic qualification and a further six wild-card picks. Several of those are pretty obvious but I would have thought that the likes of Victor Perez and Adrian Meronk would want to be pounding the fairways, honing their form. Clearly I am wrong.

The Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship in September will both attract strong fields, with Rory McIlroy having already committed himself to playing in his home open. In all truth, it is likely that we will be watching McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry and Viktor Hovland battling it out for both these titles. And in any event, Donald will have announced his team by then. 

I have to wonder at the wisdom of that decision. What happens if somebody who has been on the fringes of selection but is not picked then goes ahead and wins the Irish Open or BMW PGA Championship?

My fear is that Europe will go to Italy with a team featuring six or seven world-class golfers who have spent the year competing against America’s finest and five or six rookies who could well be overwhelmed by everything the Ryder Cup stands for and may head into the contest feeling horribly undercooked.

And this huge gap in the playing schedule is doing nothing to assuage my concerns.

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