‘BIG THREE’ LOOK SMALL
FedEx format discourages stars
THE first event since the new Big Three emerged took place at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston, and concluded last evening.
Jordan Spieth missed the cut, Rory McIlroy missed every putt going and Jason Day went missing from a final-day leaderboard for the first time since May.
Now you could put this down to being typical of golf — the nightmare sport for favourites — or mental fatigue in two instances and lack of game time regarding McIlroy. But maybe the format of the FedEx Cup play-offs had something to do with it as well.
McIlroy won two of these four events in 2012 but it still didn’t matter a damn in the race for the $10million jackpot when Brandt Snedeker won the last one.
What’s the betting all three are switched on once more for the finale in Atlanta later this month?
Meanwhile, it was no great surprise when tournament organisers announced l ast week that the Grand Slam of Golf would not be staged in 2015.
The PGA of America said in July that it was moving the 36-hole showcase for major champions away from Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles after owner Donald Tr u mp’ s controversial comments about Mexican immigrants during his ongoing US election tour last June.
The event was originally scheduled for October 20-21 and the PGA explored other options, but said on Thursday the ‘timing and logistics needed to stage the PGA Grand Slam of Golf to the highest standards’ meant they were unable to conduct the event this year.
The big question now is what happens with the tournament going forward? After all, Trump still has three years remaining on his deal with the Grand Slam.
The outspoken businessman is seeking the nomination of the Republican Party to run for US president next year, with the election taking place in November.