The headline act for a stellar cast at the Australian Open, Adam Scott says his countrymen shouldn’t be judged harshly for missing other big events on their home tour.
World No.2 Scott is expected to play four weeks straight – in the Australian PGA Championship, Australian Masters, World Cup of Golf and the Australian Open – on a virtual celebration tour after winning Australia’s first Masters green jacket.
But the next tier of Australian stars have been forced into limited appearances at home by scheduling conflicts.
The US PGA Tour moves away from its traditional calendar-year season to a new wrap-around season on October 10, when it opens its season-long points race at the Frys.com Open in California.
That means Australia’s big events no longer fall in the US tour’s off-season.
There are six US events scheduled before the World Cup at Royal Melbourne, three of which directly clash with the European Tour-sanctioned Perth International, the Australian PGA and the Australian Masters.
With the European Tour’s final series also clashing with the PGA and Masters the depth of talent playing in Australia is set to be tested.
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However, there’s a strong chance Australia’s No.2 drawcard Jason Day will team up with Scott to play for Australia in the World Cup after announcing on Monday that he’ll play the Australian Open the following week.
Geoff Ogilvy is planning on an Australian Masters-Australian Open double however Marc Leishman (Aust PGA), Greg Chalmers (Aust Open), Aaron Baddeley (Aust Open), Matt Jones (Aust Open), Stuart Appleby (Aust Open) and Robert Allenby (Aust Open) are among the big names likely to be seen just once.
The next wave of players including soon-to-be US PGA Tour rookie Bronson La’Cassie and second-year member Scott Gardiner might not even get home at all.
With US tour cards hard to earn, the Australian players cannot afford to let the majority get a huge jump on them by missing the early American events, particularly as many of them faced close battles this year and almost lost playing privileges.
That’s even before factoring in the harsh reality that US event purses are far more lucrative and wins there afford players entry to the Masters, a two-year tour exemption and other career-changing possibilities.
Scott, who hasn’t played all of the big three Australian events – PGA, Masters and Open – since 2009, and before that 2002, was happy to shoulder the load this summer and urged home fans not to be critical of his peers.
“Playing the PGA Tour is very tough, it’s a fine line week to week and it’s players’ careers at stake,” Scott said.
“You can easily be off the tour and it would be unfair for these guys to jeopardise their careers for a couple of events at home.
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“It is too much to ask.
“I am in a fortunate position where I can play and I am happy about that.”
While he is aware of the issues the PGA of Australia chief executive Brian Thorburn said home fans would still have plenty to excite them.
Most of the world’s top tier players won’t play the early American events, making them potential targets for Australian organisers.
“We understand the situation that some of the Australian players find themselves in and we are respectful of their needs to play in the US,” Thorburn said.
“We might not have all the Aussie guys early but we will have most of them at the Open.
“We remain excited for a huge summer of golf. We have Adam returning, we already have American stars like Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler committed to events and expect to make some more exciting announcements of big names in the near future.
“With the World Cup also in Melbourne, we’d like to think plenty of the stars from the field will be interested in joining some of our events.”
Thorburn was hopeful next year’s schedule would be a little friendlier for the overseas Australian players but was somewhat hamstrung this year due to broadcast windows and sponsor opportunities due mainly to the Ashes cricket series.
“This year is a bit unique,” he added.
“We are always working to set up the best schedule for all involved and we will hold meetings with the players in the process.”
