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Criticism Mounts Over Plan to Limit Field at AT& T National
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Saying he was "insulted" by the prospect of Tiger Wood s's new tournament being treated like an invitational, Rich Beem said he would rally players against the PGA Tour to make sure the event had a full field.
"It's the most totally wrong thing I've heard of in a long time that's sticking it to the players," Beem said yesterday.
PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem has said that the AT&T National, to be played July 5-8 in Washington with Woods as the host, likely would be considered along the lines of tournaments run by Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer that have limited fields.
The Memorial Tournament has a minimum of 105 players, while the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill has a minimum of 120 players, although 133 eligible players already have committed to play next week in Orlando.
Finchem said several details have not been finalized for the tournament, which will be run by the Tiger Woods Foundation.
"I've had some preliminary conversations with our board and I have to believe that we will work with Tiger and the foundation to fine-tune it," Finchem said at a news conference Wednesday. "But my guess is that at the end of the day, the field size will be commensurate with what you generally see in invitationals, which is a somewhat limited field."
This caught several players by surprise.
"I was shocked when I heard that," Brad Faxon said. "We've got players looking for spots, and we're replacing a tournament that had a full field. With the amount of tournaments we have that are invitationals, it doesn't make sense to do more."
Other invitationals on the PGA Tour include the Heritage and the Colonial.
Faxon and Beem are part of the 16-member Player Advisory Council, which reports to the tour's policy board.
PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw said PAC input would be included before Finchem makes a formal recommendation to the policy board. The next scheduled meeting of the PAC is not until the end of April.
Finchem said the "prestige" of the new event would be one reason for a shorter field. Another reason he mentioned was the steamy conditions in Washington during Fourth of July week.
