Hiding Appearance Fees

Add Lee Westwood to the short list of good players that will be missing the European Tour's finale event, the Volvo Masters, in Andalucia this weekend because of a conflict between the Euro and Asian Tour schedules. Westwood, along with Ernie Els and four of the remaining world top 20, committed to play in the $4 million Singapore Open. In this piece, Westwood talks about the unfortunate nature of the scheduling conflict and says the Euro Tour mismanaged their scheduling by having the season finale put up against the Singapore Open.

More interesting than that, though, is this quote from Asian Tour executive chairman Kyi Hla Han:

It's good to see that this tournament is a priority on their playing schedules. It's a top-class tournament which is good for us, it's a full-field Asian Tour event and it's great to see that they are coming over and playing here. A lot of players look at the stature of the event, the golf course and the city that they're visiting. If it appeals to them more than other tournaments then it's great for us.

That's garbage speak. In pieces quoted on this blog - including about the Australian Open - and elsewhere, Ernie Els and Philly Mick have openly said that they would go to Singapore to cash in on big appearance fees. It has less to do with the quality of the tournament, Singapore, or the stature of the event, and more to do with flashing cash in front of the world's best.

If Mickelson is willing to skip the former Western Open with a $7 million prize pool and no guaranteed appearance fee, then what would motivate him to travel halfway around the world to play in an Asian Tour event worth almost half the Western's prize pool? That's right - guaranteed money. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with cashing in on your fame. I would too, if I had any. But, let's not kid ourselves about the motivation.