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By John Nestor PA SportsTicker Golf Editor
If you are a young talented player that has not lived up to the hype or
expectations thus far in your career do you keep on playing the same
tour as the top player in the world? Not if you are Adam Scott or
Sergio Garcia.
It appears that Scott and Garcia both intend to amend their
transatlantic schedules this season, opting for the European Tour over
the PGA Tour.
Part of me says who can blame them? Tiger Woods appears primed for a
record run and he will be snapping up titles at all the big events, the
ones where Garcia and Scott have failed to make their mark so far.
The other part is hardly surprised. It's a pair of guys, who have not
lived up to their potential and hype, shying away from taking on the
best in the world. We've certainly seen this before.
The two have combined for 11 wins - six for Garcia - but no majors.
Each year they are prominently mentioned among players predicted to
break out or capture their first major or challenge Woods. It just
never happens.
Garcia's move will be qualified as an attempt to pick up Ryder Cup
points and earn a place in Nick Faldo's side later this year at
Valhalla. While Scott says he retains an affinity to the tour which
gave him his start.
It would also appear that they both maintain an affinity for playing in as many events that don't include Woods as they can.
"I will probably play more in Europe," said Garcia, the world's
12th-ranked player. "I've been slowly playing more in Europe over the
last two or three years.
"I enjoy playing in Europe. It's my home tour, and I really enjoy it -
so I will probably play a little bit more. I can't do a full schedule
of maybe 20 or 22 events - because then it's too many. But definitely,
the goal is to add maybe one here or there."
Six-time European Tour winner Scott last played enough events on it in
2004 to finish 24th on the Order of Merit, but he has already notched
up two appearances this month, teeing off in Abu Dhabi and Qatar.
His three-stroke victory in Qatar last week saw the 27-year-old move to fourth place on the Order of Merit.
Garcia and Scott may soon be forced to play more events in Europe to
qualify for the Order of Merit, with a proposal floated by European
Tour committee member Paul McGinley that would increase the figure from
11 to 13.
"Being from Australia, I see myself as a global golfer," the
27-year-old Scott said. "Over the last couple of years, unfortunately
through different events, I've not been able to play the schedule I
wanted - which would allow me to play 11 in Europe.
"This year I had the chance to come over here and get a couple of
events early - to make it easy to get my 11 and join the tour and, I
hope, get back up the Order of Merit by the end of the year."
Scott believes that the improvement in the European Tour is a big plus.
"The tour is growing, and the money is increasing - and I think
whenever you see that happen, you see the guys a little more hungry and
competitive," he said. "We're playing in areas of the world that are
emerging, and it's certainly attractive to me.
"In the past it's helped a lot of champions and put them in a good
position - and they have gone on to benefit from playing in Europe or
wherever it might be in Asia. If I can do that and get my membership
back, that's what I want to do."
RYDER CUP UPDATE: Tiger Woods is way out in front in the Ryder Cup
standings for the American team, much to the relief of captain Paul
Azinger.
With the way Woods is playing, maybe Azinger can get him cloned or just
have him play every match come September at Valhalla. However, rules
dictate that Azinger take the top eight players in the standings and
then make four captain's picks, so here is the rest of the team as of
today.
Woods has 4,366 points with Jim Furyk in second at 1,773. Zach Johnson
(1,525), Steve Stricker (1,311) and D.J. Trahan (1,311) round out the
top five and are the only other players with more than 1,000 points.
Stewart Cink, Justin Leonard and Jerry Kelly round out the top eight.
Woody Austin is just on the outside looking in as far as automatically
qualifying and trails Kelly by three points.
A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE: Just some more interesting facts after Woods' destruction of the field at the Buick Invitational.
Woods has as many victories at Torrey Pines as Garcia has for his
career (six). Woods tied Arnold Palmer for fourth on the all-time
victories list with 62. That's just one less win than Phil Mickelson
and Vijay Singh have combined.
In his last three tournaments - all victories - Woods has a scoring
average of 65.66. In his last six events - five victories and a tie for
second - his scoring average is 66.75.
To say that his performance is pretty good is an understatement. What
is scary for the rest of the tour is that Woods still sees room for
improvement.
"I'm still getting better," he said. "I still have holes in my game
that I need to fix and improve on. I just think that what I've been
working on, I'm headed in the right direction."
Maybe Garcia and Scott are making the right move after all.
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