PGA TOUR: Top Players Sitting Out This Week at the WGC-FedEx

With the Open Championship now completed, there are no more majors in golf for the rest of 2019 and that means there could be a quick lull in the schedule until the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin. And the PGA TOUR is already starting to see the effects of their new schedule.

Even though there are no majors for the rest of the season, there are still some big money events that should attract some people’s attention. One is the WGC-Memphis that is set to be played this week. The event offers a guaranteed four rounds for any participant and a potentially big payout when it’s all said in done. Nonetheless, some of golf’s most notable names have opted against participating.

Some of the major names that won’t be playing this week will be Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler, and Francesco Molinari. Woods is sticking with his strategy of taking time off in between big events, saying he likely won’t play until the playoffs. Fowler and Molinari are likely taking off for this event because they’ve played several weeks in a row after deciding to participate in the Irish and Scottish Opens in the weeks before The Open.

Next week's WGC starting to feel like an opposite-field event. Instead of going to Memphis, guys are going home to do laundry. pic.twitter.com/6cg3a5kf6b

— Alan Bastable (@alan_bastable) July 21, 2019

The best reason for skipping this week’s event comes from Russel Knox, however, who is showing how little this event might mean to players. Rather than play in Memphis, he’s going to take some time to do some laundry. I definitely know what he means because my laundry piles up pretty quickly and becomes a massive chore but I don’t know if I’d miss out on this potential purse just for laundry.

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Even with these players skipping out, the Memphis tournament should still get a big bump. It’s the first time that the World Golf Championship designation has been given to the event, making it much more appealing. And without Tiger, Rickie, and Francesco, 46 of the World Golf Rankings top-50 are still signed on to compete.

With the new PGA TOUR schedule pushing all of the major championships into the summer, it will be interesting to see if this is a trend that continues year to year. And perhaps next year, Russel Knox will be able to keep up on his laundry so he can take the tee box.

Cover Image Via Instagram