Woods Among Multiple Big Names To Skip WGC-Mexico
The first World Golf Championship of 2020 is here but the likes of Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and Justin Rose are giving it a miss
The first World Golf Championship of 2020 is here but the likes of Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and Justin Rose are giving it a miss
Woods Among Multiple Big Names To Skip WGC-Mexico
The much-loved WGC-Mexico Championship returns to our screens this week and, as always with World Golf Championships, a stellar field has been assembled.
Players teeing it up at Chapultepec GC vying for the lion's share of the $10.5m purse include World No.1 Rory McIlroy, No.3 Jon Rahm and defending champion Dustin Johnson.
However, something that can't really be ignored is the number of big name stars choosing to skip the event.
Tiger Woods is missing, as are Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Henrik Stenson.
Patrick Cantlay is also out injured.
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It's a great chance for players to bank much-needed Ryder Cup, Official World Golf Ranking and Olympic points.
One thing they perhaps don't need is the money, evidence in the fact that they're skipping a no-cut event that last year offered $1.745m to the winner and over $48,000 to the last-place finisher.
“I just felt like I wasn’t going to be ready for next week,” Woods explained at the weekend.
“I’m a little run-down, and playing at altitude as well isn’t going to help that. So take the week off.”
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Woods will be missed in Mexico this week at an event that has really captured the hearts of golf fans since the tournament moved there from Doral in 2017.
Let's hope this week's event can still be an entertaining one, which it surely will be with the likes of McIlroy, DJ, Rahm and Thomas in town.
Jon Rahm has the chance to usurp McIlroy at the top of the rankings if he wins whilst McIlroy has a couple of points to prove after two close calls in his first two starts of 2020.
He also finished runner-up here to Dustin Johnson in 2019.
The new schedule changes that were brought in last year have seen wholesale changes to how players plan their years and with the Olympics this year, players are having to be more brutal than ever.
It looks like the WGC-Mexico may have beared the brunt of what is a very busy 2020.
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Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He covered the 2022 and 2025 Masters from Augusta National and was there by the 18th green to watch Rory McIlroy complete the career grand slam. He has also covered five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews.