"Both Opens need to introduce a multi-tiered entry-fee system whereby tour players are charged a sum they may think twice about relinquishing so easily."

John Huggan talks to agent Brian Marchbank, who helps explain the WD disease that keeps hitting the U.S. Open and Open Championship international qualifiers.

I'm not quite buying this from David Fay in year three of the WD shenanigans.

"I want to know what the players are thinking," said Fay. "Why are they entering in the first place? Has something happened? Or are we doing something wrong?"

Comments

[MacDuff]

Perhaps the trans-Atlantic carbon footprint involved is having a positive impact on players from opposite sides of the pond playing in respective distant majors. In which case, hurrah! But boos to the provincial leader who made a joke about being the world's biggest polluter. Remember Reagan's 1980s sound-test: "Let's bomb the Russian's!" We let world leaders get away with these quotes? Shame on us. At least a couple of journos had the balls to halt Nixon. Oh sorry, got off track there, let's get back more important stuff...THE OPEN.

[Chest Rockwell]

If you charge the tour boys $10,000.00 for the special Open qualifiers, as Huggan suggests, you definitely won't have a problem with mass withdrawals. At that price, you also won't have anyone entering the qualifiers in the first place.

[BillV]

Gee, I guess it's too simple to have a no-show fee or <48 hours cancellation fee like the poor schlumps pay for their vacation packages.

I guess I'm being too hard on the PGA Tour gods, sorry.

-wankers

[Ted Handley]

I hope Fay wasn't sincere. I would prefer that his attitude be: If they don't want to play then they shouldn't play.