"It's been happening forever. Did Tiger play in Buick events because he had a deal to do so? Of course."
/John Huggan talks to Chubby Chandler about the need (in his view) for the PGA and European Tours to coordinate events better and essentially expand the WGC concept, which has done little for lesser events on the two tours.
"The easy accusation when anyone plays in Europe rather than America is that they do so because of appearance money," says Chandler, shaking his head. "But there is appearance money all over America. All the promoters ring up with all kinds of offers. So anyone who thinks that a golf day, or a dinner, or a hospitality visit is somehow different to what goes in Europe is wrong. It's exactly the same. There is no difference.
"The lesser events in the US have to be inventive if they want better fields. I understand that. That's how it works. I see players playing with ten executives on a Monday, or going to the pro-am dinner, or walking through hospitality. I get it. But, if it was really all about money, Rory and Lee would be members of the PGA Tour. There's more money there than anywhere else, apart from the odd place in Asia. So Rory and Lee are not doing what they are doing because of money. Do you think they are being paid as much as they would get at a few places in America I could mention? No.
"Plus, this is nothing new. It's been happening forever. Did Tiger play in Buick events because he had a deal to do so? Of course.