PGA Rejects Break for Foreign Golfers

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. —  The PGA Tour has rejected a move by foreign golfers to reduce the number of tournaments they must play in the United States each season, retaining its minimum of 15 events.

Commissioner Deane Beman blamed the attitude of “certain foreign players” Tuesday for the failure of his proposal for members of overseas circuits to compete in only 12 events to retain their membership in the U.S. tour.

After meeting several foreign stars last summer at the U.S. Open, Beman drew up a plan that would allow overseas players to compete in only 12 events. Three of them would have been from a list of weaker tournaments.

His plan was tentatively approved in August by the Tour’s policy board, but the same group reversed its position and rejected the proposal at a meeting this week.

“The plan did not receive the full support of the foreign players, our own membership and the tournament sponsors,” Beman said in a statement.

“We were disappointed because a similar proposal was made a couple of years ago and it failed,” he added.

“The proposal met with hostility from the majority of U.S. players,” Beman said, “while the leading foreign players felt it did not go far enough. Certain foreign players undercut the proposal, so it just couldn’t go through.”

Foreign golfers who discussed the issue with Beman at the U.S. Open were Seve Ballesteros of Spain, Nick Faldo and Sandy Lyle of Britain and Bernhard Langer of West Germany, who play on the European tour, and Isao Aoki of Japan, who also plays in Asia.

Ballesteros, a frequent critic of Beman, expressed skepticism about the new plan, and Faldo said he doubted that it would make the situation easier for the foreigners.

Ballesteros lost his PGA membership in 1986 for failing to play in enough events. Since then he has played in only a few U.S. tournaments each year plus the major championships, which are outside the jurisdiction of the PGA Tour.

In another move, the policy board approved a proposal to grant the winner of the British Open a 10-year exemption from qualifying to all PGA Tour events, beginning in 1990.

“The Open is one of the most revered championships in the world, and the board decided it should be recognized for what it is,” Beman said.

Only five other tournaments carry 10-year exemptions for tour events: the U.S. Open, the Masters, the PGA championship, the Players Championship and the World Series of Golf.

Money won at the British Open will still not be counted on the PGA earnings rankings.