Jack Vickers might have been an oil man by profession, but he was a golf man at heart. Earlier, there was an annual tour stop of the PGA Tour in Denver. This was called the International, which was played at the Castle Pines Golf Club. The era was that of Tiger Woods. However, he only played at the tournament twice, the last time being in 1999. Now, this did not sit well with Vickers, since the inability to have Woods in the course made it difficult to bring in sponsors or keep the existing ones satisfied.
“You’ve got a one-man show out there right now,” he said. Since the PGA Tour Pro arrived with his win at the Masters in 1997, there have been two kinds of tournaments – ones he plays in and ones he does not. Although Tiger Woods had scored one of the aces of his professional career in Colorado on the 185-yard seventh hole with an 8-iron, he never really liked the course. And thus, no matter how much Vickers, along with his friend Jack Nicklaus, who helped him build the course, asked Woods to come back, he did not.
“He hasn’t played here in a while, five years, I believe. That’s a definite loss when you don’t have him in here. I just think the tour’s got to address some of these things,” said an offended Vickers in 2005. With that, Vickers had to end a 21YO run with the tournament that he had put his heart and soul into. Looks like, after almost two decades (the final round of the International in 2006), the PGA Tour is back on the course. While earlier the Tour was a one-man show, that is not the case anymore. This time, after its comeback, the top 50 players of the Tour will be present in the course. Looks like Vickers has finally established what he was aiming for.
Additionally, Jack Vickers also wanted to shift the tournament to August, when thunderstorms seemingly occurred almost regularly. The PGA Tour recommended making it a part of the FedEx Cup playoffs, but the dates were aligned for September, which meant competing with the NFL. Vickers had clearly stated that golf could not beat the popularity of football, in Denver or elsewhere.
But one thing pretty much remains the same – the absence of Tiger Woods from the course.
Why is Tiger Woods not a part of the BMW Championship?
Tiger Woods, despite his poor performances and fewer appearances on the course these days, is still regarded as one of the best players in history. However, the player that once was on No. 1 for 264 consecutive weeks (the highest so far), is now at 220, on the FedEx Cup standings. Due to his life-threatening injuries after the accident, and the diagnosis of Plantar Fasciitis, he has had a terrible run this year.
Apart from the four Majors, he tried playing at the Genesis Invitational in February, which he had an invite for. But he got the flu and had to withdraw after round 1. Apart from dropping down to the bottom (60) at the Masters, he also missed the cut in the other three majors. The FedEx Cup Playoffs begin with the St. Jude Championship, and only the top 70 on the list (no exceptional exemptions) are eligible to appear to qualify for the next event. And well, Tiger Woods is far behind on the list! So, once again, he will not be a part of the Castle Pines field.
