By AAP
The US PGA Tour plans to open an office in Melbourne next year and loves Australia’s golf courses but staging a tournament here remains off the radar despite its push into Asia.
While the big sponsor dollars required for a US tour event are an obvious issue, retiring PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem says the tour’s already-crowded schedule is the main stumbling block.
“You have to make that happen,” Finchem said of the huge prizemoney US PGA Tour events command.
“But really it’s a scheduling issue in terms of we are basically wall to wall.”
The Tour plays in China, Malaysia and next year in South Korea and Finchem was sympathetic to Australian golf fans who would love to see many of the game’s big guns in action down under.
Addressing media on the eve of the World Cup of Golf at Kingston Heath, Finchem raved about Australia’s golf courses and people but couldn’t see his tour fitting a tournament in any time soon.
“We certainly aren’t saying we will not play co-sanctioned events or some kind of event here.
“We’re always open to looking at everything it’s just in the immediate future I think it would be tough.”
