The PGA Tour HP Byron Nelson Championship's announcement last week that it will move from TPC Four Seasons to Trinity Forest in Dallas was "incredibly bad timing," according to Rick Gosselin of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. In addition to players such as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy notably absent from this year's tournament field, 14-year-old Guan Tianlang "missed the first cut of his brief career on Friday." The announcement that the event planned to "dump Las Colinas for a dump constituted piling on." Announcing the departure of the tournament last week was "akin to telling your wife you want a divorce on your anniversary." The event "generates more money for charity than any other event on Tour." Forget that a "quarter million spectators pass through the gates to annually attend this tournament, making it one of the most populous stops on Tour." Also forget that the tournament "caters to the players like few other events on Tour." Gosselin: "Couldn’t the announcement have been made the previous week? Or this week? Or next month? Any week but the week of the tournament. Show a little respect for a course that has so proudly staged the Nelson for the last 26 years" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/19).
COURSE CHANGE WON'T ANSWER EVERYTHING: GOLFCHANNEL.com's Rex Hoggard wrote a change of venue "may not be the answer for all that ails" the event, but it seems officials are "at least asking the right questions." The tournament has become an "afterthought on the Tour schedule for most players." But it "seems officials and the deep pockets at AT&T, which is stepping in to sponsor the event, have realized the most important rule of the tournament business -- location, location, location" (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 5/17). Golf Channel's Charlie Rymer noted the timing of the tournament is “tough," as it comes "right after The Players.” The event is financially “very successful, so I don’t know if the date is going to change” (“Morning Drive,” Golf Channel, 5/20).
