What tour would you choose if you were a tour player?

[Zen_Golfer]

Season tickets for Arsenal and being able to drink Guinness in Ireland all the time? I could get used to that life.

[Irishman1979]

Yep!!! From an experience of different cultures, cuisine and lifestyle standpoint Euro tour destroys the PGA. There is more to life for many pro golfers than money and worldwide fame. Some guys are just happy with making a comfortable living and playing golf full time. That’s why so many guys over in Europe will never care to play over here. I do not blame them.

[RickK]

Let's start with "have the talent to play any tour in the world". Having the talent to play and being able to be in contention regularly are 2 completely different things. If you are filthy rich, it probably does not matter. But, if you are out there to make a living...it does matter. You may be good enough to make the cut on the PGA tour and finish towards the bottom. But, you might play on one of the other tours and be able to finish near the top. Starting out, you want to be able to have a chance of winning and finding out what it is like top play real competition. I would say you pick the tour where you think you have a chance to actually win within the first few months out there. That means you have to really evaluate how much game do you actually have.

I think the goal would be to get to the PGA Tour.

[Zen_Golfer]

I havent watched a ton of Euro tour coverage but what I have watched, the players do overall seem happier and more content than the ones on the PGA Tour do.

[Irishman1979]

Yep and its not surprising. Hmm lets see here, would I rather travel in the same country from say Wisconsin to Illinois, or travel from country to country? One week I'm drinking espresso in Italy looking at the sea in the morning and the next week I'm up in Ireland drinking Guinness and hanging out in an Irish Pub singing Irish songs and playing the Irish Open.

Wow really difficult decision.

[TimK1]

I would love to see the two tour's really become rivals again. Where the European guys stayed over there and the American players stayed over here. I think it made the Majors more fun. You only saw Seve or Faldo at Majors and Ryder Cups. I think it made for more interest.

It is why I don't like the Ryder Cup anymore. Who really cares. All those guys basically play against each other every week. If every tour kept there stars it would be great to see them battle it out for real bragging rights. Japan, South America, etc etc

It's a no brainer for me. PGA Tour.

[Zen_Golfer]

Well, I grew up in Wisconsin, so that wouldnt be so bad for me. I can show you a lot of bars in Wisconsin that can rival any irish pub but I get what you mean.

[Zen_Golfer]

I dont see that happening any time soon because so many people look at the Euro tour and are like, "Oh, thats quant." I think that a lot of people, especially here in the states kind of look down their nose at the Euro Tour as somehow being inferior or less than.

[manku]

I get the sense that many PGA players just go airport-hotel-golf course-airport...with maybe a local Chipotle or In-n-Out burger detour....like many road warriors, it all becomes a blur.

The romantic in me says the EPGA would be different (I was born in Europe and lived there for a fair portion of my youth)...but my guess is it's very similar after a while.

So, I guess I'd go where the money/prestige is bigger as well as the benefits...PGA.

[smashdn]

Insert train in place of airport occasionally and you are probably correct.

 

Back in the 70's and 80's did the Euro Tour take off from Europe except maybe a swing to South Africa? I doubt they were going to Malaysia and China but really don't know.

[Irishman1979]

It gets even more easy to choose European tour if in fact I am good enough to keep my world ranking which allows me to play in all the majors and live a nice comfortable life with anything I pretty much want. If my world ranking is good enough I also get to play in the WGC events.

Playing in places such as Spain, Italy, Dubai, South Africa, Germany, England, Scotland, Morocco, Australia, Japan and Ireland are much more appealing. When I'm nearing the end of my life and I can look back on my life experiences, the different people I met and where I played along with the places I traveled to, I guarantee you I will be happy I chose the European tour.

[Darth Putter]

No in the 1970s and 80s there were a couple of years in Tunisia and Morocco. The first trip to the Middle East was in 1989 and East Asia in 1992.

A lot of Euro players would play on the South Africa Tour as it was in the winter. The Euro Tour didn't start until after The Masters. South Africa gets a Euro Tour event starting in 1995.

[bscinstnct]

But, in reality, you wouldn't be doing either.

 

You'd be living in airports and rooms like this, eating room service, and practicing golf all day. If you just went around sitting by the sea and drinking in the pub, you'd be out of a job.

 

You'd catch a view of Sorrento from the plane, but otherwise, this would be your most primary view.....

 

 

 

Here are some comment from Euro tour guys

https://www.todaysgolfer.co.uk/news-and-events/tour-news/2016/october-/what-life-is-really-like-on-the-european-tour/

Daily life on tour

LB: It's great. I'm living the dream. There's a lot of travel and I'm seeing a lot of new places, and a lot of hotels, but as long as you enjoy the game and are competing against such good players, it's not a problem. It's when you don't enjoy all the other things that it can become a little more of an issue.

TF: We travel a lot, everybody is weird! And that's about it – spending your time with a bunch of weirdos all the time! I enjoy travelling and I enjoy seeing different places, so you've got to make the most of it. Mind you, it's not as nice as people think when you're stuck for two days in the middle of nowhere in China.

OF: It's very easy to go around with the same guys each week, the same faces. Some guys can be pretty miserable, some can be happy so you try and find the middle ground and be your own person and work out where it's got to be, just like in any other job.

TO: I just want to get better. I still have a lot to work on and have changed a few things in my swing and made it more consistent. As a result, it's easier to get on the range now, whereas a year or so ago I didn't know where to go. Now I'm a lot more focused.

 

[DFS PFD]

Seems like if you're doing it to play golf and focus on golf, PGA is the way to go. If you want to be a sightseer who hasn't traveled as much as you would like to in Europe then the Euro tour is the way to go. Tough to justify choosing Euro tour unless you are content with a moderately (by no means modest) successful career.

[d1bound]

Save Europe for later in life when you’re retired and not worried providing for yourself (and family). Focus on the PGA tour and focus on being successful and getting money. Then after you are retired and your kids have moved out you can spend as much time traveling as you want to.

[OleVirginia]

I. too, held this narrow minded view on world travel once... then I traveled (and traveled and played golf) and now wish I'd started sooner. Here's to you figuring it out before long.

 

TBM

[Irishman1979]

LOL I'd much rather look at the sea and if you are going to tell me you can't balance a little fun with being a pro golfer you are nuts. Just because you stop at the pub after a practice round early in the week and have a couple beers with a little Irish music doesn't mean you not going to stay competitive. Darren Clarke did that his entire career and he made a nice living.

NOT EVERYONE WANTS TO BE THE NUMBER 1 PLAYER IN THE WORLD. They are happy being just a good player, not great. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.

[DFS PFD]

Except when the people you are playing against collectively want to be number 1 in the world.

[bscinstnct]

Irish, I hear ya. But consider that the people who get to the Euro tour and, per the premise of the OP, are good enough to consistently qualify for Majors, these guys were *absolutely #1 at many points in their life.

They were the best among their friends.

The best in their town.

The best in their county.

They were the best because they were highly competitive and had the dream. You know the dream a kid has about being a great athlete. In Football, every kid imagines making the winning TD catch in the Superbowl when he tosses a ball up and drags his feet inside that imaginary back of the endzone. In baseball, a kid dreams..."Bottom of the 9th, 2 outs, bases loaded, full count, and hitting a grand slam to win the World Series.

I don't know what an aspiring golfer dreams about but I imagine it's holing out to win The Open at St. Andrew's or sinking a 15 footer to win the Master's.

And as the kid grows, he wins, and keeps dreaming that dream. That's how he even *gets to the Euro Tour or any tour, by having the drive to forget about being content to "look at the sea" or "drink some pints at the pub and sing songs".

 

Here is Padraig....(great interview, btw)

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/harrington

"Besides the taste, there is another reason. "In the amateur game," he says, "I noticed right away that the players who drank -- some of the most talented guys -- did it to wash away expectations, as a kind of built-in alibi. 'I didn't win my match today. Well, I had six pints last night.' They didn't care for the stress. It was a way out, really. I see a little of that in the pro game, too."

 

This says a lot about the type of person who, even to just be competitive, can get to the pro level.

 

[Irishman1979]

I completely understand that being a good player on any pro tour takes dedication. I'm not expecting a player to go out and get shit faced every single night, but only a naïve individual would think all these guys do is go to the golf course, and then go back to their rooms directly after. Are there players out there that are so introverted that they do that? OF course. But then you have some guys who enjoy balancing their life and having a little fun on tour. They will go out on a Tuesday night and knock a few down and have a nice meal, sing a few songs.

Surprisingly there are some that even play hung over on 2 hours sleep believe it or not, and its always been that way.

Some may even travel with their families and bring them on tour and they go sight seeing the week of the event where they are at.

Some guys its just what they do and they have their own way they use to relax and enjoy themselves. Everyone is unique!

Not everyone wants to be Tiger Woods believe it or not. It takes not only talent but a level of dedication that only a few are capable of.

Go out, play golf, be serious. Also have a life, and if that means that you pay your own way, and then make a million each year to support your family you have won at life. NOT everyone wants to be the number 1 player in the world and that oesn't make them a loser or a failure.

[smashdn]

If you are entering events every single week out of necessity could you term that moderately successful? I would think if you were forced to do that you are on the fringe.

 

I guess to sum up my feelings about the Euro Tour v. PGA, there are a lot more tour stops I would want to avoid on the Euro Tour but also a lot more I would definitely want to hit on it as well. Maybe it is a matter of really good stops balanced by ones that seem to me to be very bad (my opinion only). Whereas the PGA Tour is more even in terms of week in and week out. They all are about the same, not many true clunkers and not a ton of great, great venues outside of the majors. I exclude the majors on account both tours play them.

[Irishman1979]

Which events would you eliminate if you were tour commissioner ?

[MidwestGolfBum]

This was my thinking too. At some point, it's just another golf course in another place, with another hotel. If you have the talent to play on any tour in the world, going where the travel is the easiest, the money is the best, and the competition is higher. There is also the fact that the way that the Euro Tour is going these days you are all over Europe as well as Asia for your events. Granted, they do similar things as the Tour here, where you get to have a fair number of events in a similar part of the world, but flying from the Middle East or Southeast Asia back to where ever you call home in Europe isn't quite the same as going from California to Florida.

[Edward_Majorwin]

I'd definitely go European Tour with a few PGA dates sprinkled in there. Seems to be much less mashed potatoes and smart phone use over the pond!

I

[smashdn]

I don't think I would eliminate them, I, personally, just have no desire to play golf in Malaysia or China or the middle east. As a player I would avoid them (if possible). As commissioner, I would assume they are there for a reason.

[Barfolomew]

Swedish Bikini Model tour..... its new

[Golfjack]

Yeah it's really too bad Paris is what it is. I don't know what it was before, but the perception of how beautiful and romantic the city is vs the reality that it's kinda dirty, un friendly, not that beautiful, and badly managed was a huge disappointment. Not to mention the tourist trap locations of either overpaying to see things or being robbed by thieves literally. The best places are the ones away from the hustle and bustle but hard to find when you are a tourist.

[RichieHunt]

Reminds me of 15:17 Paris where they were traveling all over Europe and told people they were planning to go to Paris and everybody told them 'don't go to Paris.' Thankfully, they did.

 

 

 

RH