But the strength of the field raises the question of how to create high-level international golf events as long as the pandemic persists. If the BMW championship can’t do it, which nonmajor events can?

Willett, ranked 49th in the world this year, takes it in stride. “It is what it is,” he said. “You can only ever play against the guys who are there. To have to cancel 18 events and still be able to play these Rolex Series events is amazing.”

The travel requirement is tough on players, particularly with the BMW championship sandwiched between the United States Open and the Masters.

“It’s a difficult one, asking these guys to travel back and forth from the States,” Willett said. “Last year, these guys had downtime after the FedEx Cup, and guys like Billy Horschel and Andrew Putnam came over. Johnny Rahm was there. It’s still a solid field.”

The European Tour, which is more spread out geographically than the PGA Tour, tried to reduce travel for its players by grouping tournaments in its reconstituted schedule by region. There was a British swing in the summer followed by three tournaments on the Iberian Peninsula.

The BMW championship is part of a second British swing that includes the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open before it, and a new tournament, the Scottish Championship, afterward.

Willett, who lives in Florida, where he spent the lockdown, said he had adopted a similarly circumscribed tournament schedule. He flew up and back to the United States Open in New York and then over to Scotland for this leg of the European Tour. When he returns to the United States, he plans to play the three events leading into the Masters in November. Noting his more rigid travel schedule, he said, “It’s just been strange.”

Source: New York Times

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