Mcilroy In Thailand

[phutoie2]

Just read in a Brit on line paper that Rory McILROY is due to play in Thailand the week after the Dubai tournament.

Anyone have details where exactly?. It would be good to go and watch the curly mopped one's swing,not the same on the box!

[Thailand]

Just cracked HK Incredible sand birdy at the 18th!

http://www.thailandgolfchampionship.com/2011/en/home/index.php

[Upnotover]

According to the Asian Tour website (http://www.asiantour.com/schedule.aspx) both Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy will play at the Thailand Golf Championship, December 15-18, at Amata Spring golf club. If true then worth a visit for sure.

[JAS21]

According to the Asian Tour website (http://www.asiantour.com/schedule.aspx) both Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy will play at the Thailand Golf Championship, December 15-18, at Amata Spring golf club. If true then worth a visit for sure.

Their site confirms this ... any idea how to get a couple of tickets for any of the days?

[Jonny B]

hey guys, yes they are both definately playing aswell as quite a few other big names, can check out the entry list under news heading on the asiantour.com website. tickets can be purchased from thaiticketmajor, click on the sport heading and you will see the Thailand Golf Championship link.

heres the list of bigger name players invited

1 RORY MCILROY NIR

2 LEE WESTWOOD ENG

3 CHARL SCHWARTZEL RSA

4 SERGIO GARCIA ESP

5 KIM KYUNG-TAE KOR

6 SIMON DYSON ENG

7 DARREN CLARKE NIR

8 RYO ISHIKAWA JPN

9 CHARLEY HOFFMAN USA

10 SHINGO KATAYAMA JPN

11 TOMMY FLEETWOOD ENG

12 GREGORY BOURDY FRA

13 THORBJORN OLESEN DEN

14 MICHAEL H. THOMPSON

definately worth coming out to have a look, fantastic course aswell.

[phutoie2]

Cheers, some very good golfers there, 3 of the 4 majors winners too.

[Jonny B]

yeah got a great field, aswell as all the top thai and asian tour players will be playing. will be tough to beat mcilroy n westwood though.

[sidelines]

yeah got a great field, aswell as all the top thai and asian tour players will be playing. will be tough to beat mcilroy n westwood though.

Yeah, a great field but it has come at a price. Two state owned companies - PTT and EGAT - are sponsoring the Thailand Golf Championship so effectively US$5 million of Government money is being used to pay wealthy golfers appearance fees at a time when hundreds of thousands of people are rebuilding their lives after the flooding. As Thai golfer Thaworn Wiratchant pointed out in a newspaper article "surely that money could be put to better use." He also questioned the benefits to Thai golf with scores of young players who normally get a start in Asian Tour events in Thailand sitting on the sidelines while players like Gerry Norquist (currently coach of the Thai national golf team), Pelle Edberg, Romain Wattle, Stephen Dodd etc get starts. Sure, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy (if he plays) and Ryo Ishikawa bring value to the event but was it really necessary to invite a load of lower ranked European Tour players as well? The organisers have also stated that the appearance of the stars will help boast the image of Thailand and boast attendance with ticket money going to help flood victims. They are looking to raise a million or so baht but are dishing out about 150 million baht on appearance fees - that does not quite equate.

[LarryBird]

yeah got a great field, aswell as all the top thai and asian tour players will be playing. will be tough to beat mcilroy n westwood though.

Yeah, a great field but it has come at a price. Two state owned companies - PTT and EGAT - are sponsoring the Thailand Golf Championship so effectively US$5 million of Government money is being used to pay wealthy golfers appearance fees at a time when hundreds of thousands of people are rebuilding their lives after the flooding. As Thai golfer Thaworn Wiratchant pointed out in a newspaper article "surely that money could be put to better use." He also questioned the benefits to Thai golf with scores of young players who normally get a start in Asian Tour events in Thailand sitting on the sidelines while players like Gerry Norquist (currently coach of the Thai national golf team), Pelle Edberg, Romain Wattle, Stephen Dodd etc get starts. Sure, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy (if he plays) and Ryo Ishikawa bring value to the event but was it really necessary to invite a load of lower ranked European Tour players as well? The organisers have also stated that the appearance of the stars will help boast the image of Thailand and boast attendance with ticket money going to help flood victims. They are looking to raise a million or so baht but are dishing out about 150 million baht on appearance fees - that does not quite equate.

Maybe you don't know enough about the situation/numbers to be so critical of the decision? Ultimately, what you're saying is, they won't generate any revenue and spending $$ on advertising is a waste. Perhap's they're talking about raising 1million baht after all payments are made?

[sidelines]

<br />

<br />

<br />yeah got a great field, aswell as all the top thai and asian tour players will be playing. will be tough to beat mcilroy n westwood though.<br />

<br /><br />Yeah, a great field but it has come at a price. Two state owned companies - PTT and EGAT - are sponsoring the Thailand Golf Championship so effectively US$5 million of Government money is being used to pay wealthy golfers appearance fees at a time when hundreds of thousands of people are rebuilding their lives after the flooding. As Thai golfer Thaworn Wiratchant pointed out in a newspaper article "surely that money could be put to better use." He also questioned the benefits to Thai golf with scores of young players who normally get a start in Asian Tour events in Thailand sitting on the sidelines while players like Gerry Norquist (currently coach of the Thai national golf team), Pelle Edberg, Romain Wattle, Stephen Dodd etc get starts. Sure, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy (if he plays) and Ryo Ishikawa bring value to the event but was it really necessary to invite a load of lower ranked European Tour players as well? The organisers have also stated that the appearance of the stars will help boast the image of Thailand and boast attendance with ticket money going to help flood victims. They are looking to raise a million or so baht but are dishing out about 150 million baht on appearance fees - that does not quite equate.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

<br /><br /><br />Maybe you don't know enough about the situation/numbers to be so critical of the decision?   Ultimately, what you're saying is, they won't generate any revenue and spending $$ on advertising is a waste.  Perhap's they're talking about raising 1million baht after all payments are made?<br />

<br /><br /><br />

I did not mention advertising. They are paying around 150 million baht on appearance fees ie McIlroy will get US$750,000 or so, way more than the first prize, just to tee it up. Ticket prices range from 300 baht for a day ticket on Thursday and Friday to 800 baht for a four day ticket. To cover that revenue, they will need 187,500 people through the gates. As I said, it does not compute.

[LarryBird]

" McIlroy will get US$750,000 or so"

That's hefty.

Ultimately though, athelete's get paid their salaries because of the revenue they generate.

[sidelines]

Most athletes, yes, but golfers tend to claim that they earn their pay on the golf course when the opposite is the case, especially in Asia. Rory McIlroy has made US$11 million in prize money and appearance fees over the last two months, primarily from events in Asia (several of them which were not sanctioned by the European Tour). The point made by Thaworn Wiratchant was that the US$750,000 being paid to him just to tee it up in Thailand could be better spent at a time when there is so much suffering because of the floods. I happen to agree with that view. In McIlroy's case, it may be immaterial as his management said today that he may have to pull out of the Thailand Golf Championship with exhaustion. A final decision to be made tomorrow night although his withdrawal has been rumoured for more than a week.

[phutoie2]

Brit papers say he (Rory) has Dengue fever - there you go.

[Jonny B]

hey sidelines, yeah you have a very valid point, so does Thaworn. ive also spoken with some of the thai players and they feel the same way about the field, they think there should be at least 10 or 20 thai spots but have only been given 4. It is suppose to be the asian tours season ending event, i guess similar to the race to dubai for europeans so yeah it doesnt make much sense why theyve invited so many europeans.

as for the money aspect, its always a bit of a secret how much appearance fees certain players get but your figures would be lose im sure. Although alot of those players and big name thai players have said theyre donating alot to the relief, so i guess will wait and see how much.

In the end sporting events still need to go ahead and if certain companies want to sponsor them we are lucky to have that, ultimately i would say the government should be responsible for relief efforts.

nway, it should be a good week of golf.

cheers

[nicky1982]

After recently being sick and also waiting on a blood test he could still pull out i'm buying my tickets a few day before the event starts Rory McIlroy struggling with virus ahead of Race to Dubai showdown ? Thailand Championship, although his manager Conor Ridge says his participation there depends on his health Source http://www.telegraph...i-showdown.html

[sidelines]

<br />hey sidelines, yeah you have a very valid point, so does Thaworn. ive also spoken with some of the thai players and they feel the same way about the field, they think there should be at least 10 or 20 thai spots but have only been given 4. It is suppose to be the asian tours season ending event, i guess similar to the race to dubai for europeans so yeah it doesnt make much sense why theyve invited so many europeans. <br /><br />as for the money aspect, its always a bit of a secret how much appearance fees certain players get but your figures would be lose im sure. Although alot of those players and big name thai players have said theyre donating alot to the relief, so i guess will wait and see how much. <br /><br />In the end sporting events still need to go ahead and if certain companies want to sponsor them we are lucky to have that, ultimately i would say the government should be responsible for relief efforts. <br /><br />nway, it should be a good week of golf.<br /><br />cheers<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Agree fully with your point that golf is lucky to have companies willing to sponsor events. The trouble with the Thailand Golf Championship is that it is essentially the Government that is sponsoring the tournament - both PTT and EGAT are state owned enterprises. It's been reported that the budget is 200 million baht with most of that going on appearance fees not prize money which is US$1 million. As Thaworn said the Government could have used that money in a better way. As for the make up of the field, it is up to the players to raise the matter with their representatives on the Asian Tour Board. Bit of a problem, there, as well though as one of the player representatives on the Tournament Players Committee has just received an invitation to play - that's one way of silencing the opposition.

[nicky1982]

RORY McILROY, floored by dengue fever which has forced him to withdraw from this week’s Thailand Golf Championship on medical orders and to remain on in Dubai for a few days of rest and recuperation, may have come up just short in his quest for the European Tour money title but has described his season’s work as “a massive step in the right direction . . . there’s a lot of positive things going into next year”. Source http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2011/1213/1224308998691.html That's me not going now be too hot outside anyway see it on the tv ..

[LarryBird]

Sidelines,, your argument method is like this ..

I say 'The tire on that car is worn out..'

You say: 'The sky is blue, therefore that tire is fine.'