Normally, the European Tour doesn’t stage a tournament of any stature when a WGC event is being conducted.
That’s not the case this week with the 100th French Open.
The European Tour went out of its way to discourage its guys from teeing it up at Firestone. It has “enhanced” Ryder Cup points for one and enhanced world ranking points for another. With a purse of 3.5 million Euros, the money is not even close to the WGC-Bridgestone. Still, it’s almost a mandatory event for European Ryder Cup hopefuls.
Rory McIlroy is there at Le Golf National, site of the 2018 Ryder Cup matches. So is Lee Westwood and Masters champ Danny Willett, all of whom would normally compete at the WGC-Bridgestone.
So, in a revolutionary move of sorts, the European Tour is puffing its chest and thumbing its nose at the WGC event, doing its best to pump up and bring importance to the French Open.
Which we’re sure is fine with all the lads back in Akron.
