The Valspar Championship is set for tomorrow and the buzz around the PGA Tour is that Tiger Woods will make an appearance for the first time in his career. Of course the tournament organizers are thrilled to have Woods in the field because of his star power. However, the field was already strong as players like Rory McIlroy are trying to find their swing before The Masters. Schedules of the top players is designed around Major preparations and why not; winning a Major is the new benchmark for professional golfers.
As I read more about how Woods qualified, I found out something I did not realize existed: the PGA Tour Priority Rankings. “Each PGA TOUR player has earned a position on the priority ranking system that will be used to select tournament fields” says the PGA Tour. And, “Players gain access to an event through a variety of routes. For players who have earned their PGA TOUR card through past achievements or from the Web.com Tour, there is a priority ranking used for each tournament which orders players in terms of accessing the tournament based on the field size. In addition to this ranking, most tournaments have a small number of sponsor exemptions and open qualifying spots which are available each week.”
How I understand it: each tournament field is set by past performances and a professional golfers priority can vary from week to week. In the case of the Valspar Championship, Tiger Woods had a very high priority because he won the Players in the past 5 years (2013). Regardless of how he has played in the past 3 years, he still has a high qualifying priority, so he is in the Valspar Championship.
Personally, I am not fussed by the use of the priority list. It makes sense that the PGA Tour has to have a process for determining the field and this is as good as any. I am sure Valspar is thrilled to have so many top players vying for their trophy. As the event unfolds, I predict that Justin Rose will take home the trophy over Adam Hadwin (last years champion) on Sunday. Also, I see Rory McIlroy finishing in the top 10.
Do you have any musings on the Valspar Championship?
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
Jim,
Just getting to this now….your Rory prediction didn’t age well, but Rose and Hadwin had good weeks! I believe Tiger also shattered our expectations which was exciting.
Cheers
Josh
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Josh
I agree. Tiger played much than expected. We will see as the fields get stronger as The Masters approaches.
Cheers Jim
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Jim, Valspar is a nondescript tournament in most years. Tiger’s appearance has breathed new life into it. Given Tiger’s recent performance at Honda, you can tell he’s gearing up for Augusta and knows he needs the reps. So Valspar benefits, and I’m sure he will play Bay Hill. It’s all about Tiger. Let’s get it on!
Thanks,
Brian
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Brian
It is all about Tiger for sure. He has comitted to Bayhill and is gearing up for the Masters for sure. The next couple of weeks will likely shape his season. Should be interesting to watch.
Cheers Jim
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Hi Jim, very bold predictions, as Rory looks like he is on a permanent slide down, followed closely by Justin Rose. Neither of them have played well recently. Rory due mainly to dumping his tried,tested and winning caddy. Justin seems to be struggling with the claw grip, no one actually has putted well consistently using it. When it fails it seems to drain the player of any confidence with his putter.
Looking forward to this tournament, and maybe having to eat my words.
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Pete
If nothing else, I like to try to make bold predictions. Your assessment is spot on, but this week it is time to change their luck.
Cheers Jim
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Justin is looking good, but so is Corey. Do you think he will stand up to the pressure, Shubhankar wilted last week.
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Pete
Not sure. The Tiger affect will ne in play and I think that playing with Rose is the best think for him. I bet more tv tome will be on Tiger than Corey, That should help. I would like to see the rookie win.
Cheers Jim
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This is going to be awesome. Tiger, Spieth, and Stenson are playing together Friday and teeing off at 7:56. I just downloaded my ticket. You can view the rest of the pairings here: https://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/valspar-championship/tee-times.html
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Thanks Kevin. Have a great time and say hello to Tiger, Jordan and Henrik for me. 😉
Cheers Jim
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I have nothing useful to say about how the Tour makes their choices about who can play in a particular tournament. I haven’t seen any major gripes about it so I assume it at least has a semblance of fairness about it.
But your article caught me by surprise. I can’t remember a time when I let the Valspar tournament sneak up on me like this. It even came up in conversation on the course this past week but I was in my game I guess and it didn’t sink in. I just remember saying something about how Tiger never plays it. lol oops. I guess I better get on the ball and get myself a ticket for Friday so I can be sure and see Tiger play. That will be a first for me and certainly worth the price of admission. The course is only an hour away and I’ve mentioned to you that I’ve played it dozens of times over the years because a family member used to work for a company that did a partial sponsorship of the tournament and got us 6 free rounds every year. I really miss those. I can’t justify the 350 dollar greens fees it would cost me now.
I just checked the weather and it should be interesting play out there. We have a bit of a cool front coming through tonight so we’ll have some slightly stronger winds and the temps are dropping, but just to levels that make playing and watching better. Thursday morning it will be on the cool side, but the afternoon should be pretty. Friday is supposed to have a high of 69 and Sunday we’ll be back up to a high of 78 degrees F. Low humidity and the winds will be around 13 mph gusting up to 20 the rest of the week. It doesn’t get much better than that around here for golf.
I’m excited already!!
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Kevin
Sounds awesome. Going to watxh the pros, Tiger Woods included, ay a course you are very familiar with. It will be interesting to compare how you play vice them. I hope you can get a ticket.
Cheers Jim
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