TURNING TO more immediate matters, golf's fifth most important event takes place this week, when the so-called 'strongest field in golf' will gather at Sawgrass for the PGA Tour's so-called 'flagship event', the Players Championship.
Of course, all of the above has even more of a hollow sound than normal this year because of the absence of the world's best player. Recuperating from his recent knee surgery, Tiger Woods will be the elephant in the tour's living room as all those 'f
ifth major' columns get written by a largely devoted American press eager to stay in commissioner Tim Finchem's good books. Tiger, it should be noted, does not miss majors, even those held soon after the death of a parent.
All of which is not to say that the Players is not a terrific event – it is – played on a terrific golf course – it is – or that the title is not one that any player would want to add to his curriculum vitae – it is.
But Tiger did the event no favours by scheduling his surgery immediately after the Masters – a real major – at a time that will allow him to recuperate fully before the US Open – another real major.
Add in the inherent daftness and lowbrow appeal of the island green 17th hole, a circus-like golfing gimmick where any pretence at sophistication is notably absent, and the Players won't be making any steps up in status any time soon.
Sorry Tim. Maybe you'll have better luck in your next life as an unelected tin-pot dictator in a 'fifth-world' country. Oh… hang on, that sounds suspiciously like this life.
The full article contains 291 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
