Can any golf fans explain the different tours to me?
Hugh Jboobs
Posts: 15,316 Forum Member
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Wonder if anyone can help out a bit of a novice when it comes to following professional golf.....
I started playing golf about four years ago and I've been really interested and thrilled by the last two or three Ryder Cups. When I'm at a loose end and there's coverage of some random tournament on Sky, I'll often stick it on and watch it - wishing I could play as well as the men (and women) featured! However, it's dawned on me that although I appreciate the actual golf itself, I usually don't really know what I'm watching or what bearing it has on the overall sport. There seems so much I don't understand about the actual tours and tournaments.
I know there's a European Tour and also a PGA Tour....but beyond that I get completely lost. I have loads of questions and I suppose the best way to ask is by simply writing out all the stuff I don't understand and hoping there's a helpful soul or souls out there who can answer some of them! So I'll give it a try....
Why the different tours? Is one a "break-away" from the other? Is one a higher standard than the other? Does a tour last a certain number of months i.e. is there a "golf season"? Can a pro golfer decide which tour to join at the start of a season, or is he "invited" onto it? What influences a player's decision to play one tour and not the other?
I think the PGA Tour is made up mainly of American players...or is it only open to American players? How many individual tournaments make up a tour? Are all PGA tournaments played in America, or are they worldwide? Are all European tournaments played in Europe, or are they worldwide? Do players on the PGA Tour play certain tournaments against players from the European Tour? Is there a degree of "rivalry" between the organisers/players of the different tours? I know there's a "senior" tour as well....is that based on age only, or how does that work exactly? Are there other tours than the European, PGA and Senior?
Does each tour have an overall "champion" at the end? Does every player on a tour have to play all tournaments on it, or a certain number? If players are separated by the two tours and don't play each other, how are players ranked...i.e. how do we know the the best player(s) is/are? (I know the ranking system comes into play when it comes to picking Ryder Cup teams, but don't understand how players get ranked)
What are FedEx Cup points and what is the FedEx Cup? What's an "Open"? What's a "Major"? Which is the most illustrious or coveted tournament/title to win and why?
So although I have an appreciation of who some of the decent players are (mainly from watching the Ryder Cup), I don't know much! Thing is, I'd like to get into following golf a bit more....so I'd like to find out some of this stuff.
Thanks in advance to anyone who gives me any help!:)
I started playing golf about four years ago and I've been really interested and thrilled by the last two or three Ryder Cups. When I'm at a loose end and there's coverage of some random tournament on Sky, I'll often stick it on and watch it - wishing I could play as well as the men (and women) featured! However, it's dawned on me that although I appreciate the actual golf itself, I usually don't really know what I'm watching or what bearing it has on the overall sport. There seems so much I don't understand about the actual tours and tournaments.
I know there's a European Tour and also a PGA Tour....but beyond that I get completely lost. I have loads of questions and I suppose the best way to ask is by simply writing out all the stuff I don't understand and hoping there's a helpful soul or souls out there who can answer some of them! So I'll give it a try....
Why the different tours? Is one a "break-away" from the other? Is one a higher standard than the other? Does a tour last a certain number of months i.e. is there a "golf season"? Can a pro golfer decide which tour to join at the start of a season, or is he "invited" onto it? What influences a player's decision to play one tour and not the other?
I think the PGA Tour is made up mainly of American players...or is it only open to American players? How many individual tournaments make up a tour? Are all PGA tournaments played in America, or are they worldwide? Are all European tournaments played in Europe, or are they worldwide? Do players on the PGA Tour play certain tournaments against players from the European Tour? Is there a degree of "rivalry" between the organisers/players of the different tours? I know there's a "senior" tour as well....is that based on age only, or how does that work exactly? Are there other tours than the European, PGA and Senior?
Does each tour have an overall "champion" at the end? Does every player on a tour have to play all tournaments on it, or a certain number? If players are separated by the two tours and don't play each other, how are players ranked...i.e. how do we know the the best player(s) is/are? (I know the ranking system comes into play when it comes to picking Ryder Cup teams, but don't understand how players get ranked)
What are FedEx Cup points and what is the FedEx Cup? What's an "Open"? What's a "Major"? Which is the most illustrious or coveted tournament/title to win and why?
So although I have an appreciation of who some of the decent players are (mainly from watching the Ryder Cup), I don't know much! Thing is, I'd like to get into following golf a bit more....so I'd like to find out some of this stuff.
Thanks in advance to anyone who gives me any help!:)
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