Best tournament?

Bit slow on here today. So here's a question.

Taking out all the Majors and Ryder Cup, what is your favourite tournament of the year, and why?

Probably the WGC Matchplay. I like it partly because its a bit different, being matchplay, which also means there's excitement from day 1. As its limited to the top 64 in the world (or at least the highest 64 available players) it also always has a very strong field.

Agree on the MatchPlay, the Wednesday and Thursday are the two most exciting days of golf except the Ryder Cup.

Other faves are:
PGA at Wentworth
Harbour Town
The Players
Northern Trust at LA's Riviera

I have three clear favourites. In order of occurance.

Masters
First Major of the season and the start of UK season. Course always looks amazing on TV and almost always an exciting tournament. Evening viewing in UK so no chance of missing the coverage.

Open
I'm a bit sad and normally take Thursday and Friday off work. BBC live coverage all day so you don't miss a shot.

Ryder Cup
Again I take the Friday off work. Amazing drama and competition. Much prefer when in US so no chance of missing the coverage.

If pushed I'd pick the Ryder Cup as points awarded after each round of matches instead of the Majors where the excitement is limited to the back 9 on Sunday.

Oops, just re-read the post.

PGA at Wentworth.

1. PGA Wentworth- excellent course to watch golf on, BBC coverage, strog field

2. Irish Open- easy for me to attend. Particularly interesting in 2012 to see how they tackle the links of Portrush. Would love to see a strategy employed of playing this on a links course every year. Ireland has many great links courses and what better way to market and promote these. Also in a regular slot a few weeks before the Open (as it is this year) it would surely start to attract many big names hoping to gain a bit of practice on a links. (sorry for my digression- that is for another thread!!!)

I used to love the Matchplay at Wentworth, thought the course looked excellent at that time of year. Hope it returns one day.

Probably PGA at Wentworth. Don't actually watch that much except for the Majors and don't have Sky.

As NVB no Sky so PGA at Wenters is one that I watch all the coverage.Wish they hadnt messed with the place over the years though .Maybe the greens needed work but as has been discussed before the other changes were crazy.Used to go down and play there quite a bit
20 plus years ago and I can recal paying £18 for the 2 courses and sandwiches for lunch -daylight robbery

Anyone in South East Asia.....

For best scenery. European Masters. Crans-sur-Sierre.

I always thought that the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond was a bit special, is it my rose tinted glasses or did the sun always shine there.

Probably the Players but any of the WGC events apart from the Matchplay. There is barely any golf on the last few days.

I'm not sure I could name more than a couple of pro events these days.

Things change so quickly these days, events appear and then disappear before you can attach any importance.

I recall events like the Westchester Classic, Western Open, Tucson Open, or in Europe the Martini Championship or the Piccadilly Match Play.

Now if I bother to watch pro events on tv it's the [Insert some huge corporate company] Classic Charity Players Championship Tournament, sponsored by [insert some other huge company], played on Ye Olde Links course in Zogababoolooland, or some other country I have to look up on Wikipedia to find out where it is. It always seems to be played in front of a couple of dozen disinterested locals who've been promised some food and $20 if they spend the day wandering round that big grass field over there and promise not to play in the sandpits.

And the people who play seem to be robotic athletes who are forbidden to enjoy themselves and smile in spite of the fact they're being paid about twice as much as the GDP of the country they're playing in.

Piccadilly Matchplay? Jesus George, you must be giving Palmer a run for his money in the Coffin Dodging stakes. I only go a far back as the Suntory.

Yes, I'm old and curmudgeonly.

No, I'm not quite as old as Arnie, he was my hero when I was little. Some of my first memories are watching him win the Open at Troon, I was 7 I think. He's the reason I started golf, and I wanted to play like him. Sadly, although I have had my moments, I never managed to be that good. When he played well, to my mind, Arnold Palmer was the best player who ever lived. He wasn't as consistent as Nicklaus or Watson, but when he played well then he could hit shots that nobody else could hit, and dominate like he did at Troon.

George1507 wrote:
Now if I bother to watch pro events on tv it's the [Insert some huge corporate company] Classic Charity Players Championship Tournament, sponsored by [insert some other huge company], played on Ye Olde Links course in Zogababoolooland, or some other country I have to look up on Wikipedia to find out where it is.

Isn't Zogababoolooland Mr Salmons new name for Scotland after the 2014 referendum ?

No, I think it's what David Cameron is going to turn the rest of the UK into.

Returning to original question but mostly with last year in mind, it's probably Wentworth PGA for me as well - such a good quality field, the drama (play off for world #1 as well as prestigious title), and for the less objective reason that I had a fantastic day out there on the opening day.

For me I really enjoy watching tournaments on courses I've played which in the U.S. Would be the TOC at Kapalua, The Farmers? (old Buick) at Torrey and of course the AT&T at Pebble. In the UK, my favourite to watch is the Dunhill.

I know it's not a lot of people's cup of tea but I actually quite like to watch the amateurs at both the Dunhill & the AT&T. My only gripe about BOTH those events though is that they should show more of the other courses (Kingsbarns and Carnoustie at the Dunhill & Spyglass and the MSC at the AT&T)

For me its is the Andalucia Masters at Valderrama in Spain. That is such a tough course and the winner has to be in exceptional form to win it.

ScottieD18 wrote:I have three clear favourites. In order of occurance.

Masters
First Major of the season and the start of UK season. Course always looks amazing on TV and almost always an exciting tournament. Evening viewing in UK so no chance of missing the coverage.

Open
I'm a bit sad and normally take Thursday and Friday off work. BBC live coverage all day so you don't miss a shot.

Ryder Cup
Again I take the Friday off work. Amazing drama and competition. Much prefer when in US so no chance of missing the coverage.

If pushed I'd pick the Ryder Cup as points awarded after each round of matches instead of the Majors where the excitement is limited to the back 9 on Sunday.

Ooh - glad to know I'm not the only one who books time off work to watch golf on the box! I have also been known to book the Thursday afternoon off to watch the Ryder Cup opening ceremony.

To answer the original question, my favourite would be the PGA at Wentworth.

We have a fondness for any event played in Australia, as we get to see it live in prime time here. Can watch the Sunday round on Saturday night !