Another Classic Championship

It's Final Series time. In its inaugural year in 2013 the European Tour ruled that a player must play in two of the first three events to qualify for the extremely lucrative Tour Championship, with its generous bonus pool for the top-15 in the Race to Dubai. That seemed like a very sensible precaution to ensure that the fields were of sufficient quality to keep the Tour's crucial sponsors happy. For the pampered few at the top of the world game though, that was a serious infringement of their rights as individuals and "self-employed businessmen". They whinged and the Tour (foolishly in my book) relented.

So this year Rory McIlory, won’t play until the Tour Championship. From his point of view, he doesn't need to. He's so far ahead he's going to win the Race to Dubai anyway. But from the Tour's and their sponsors' point of view, it's a disaster and disasters have a nasty habit of seeing sponsors run for the hills. Companies such as BMW and HSBC provide the lifeblood of the professional circuit. The pampered few are taking selfishness to a new level. Let's hope it doesn't end in tears.