By Bob Harig
ESPN.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The calendar plays a big part in the success or perceived success of a PGA Tour event, and one week can mean the difference between a field loaded with superstars and one whose leaderboard is filled with names you don't recognize.
This week's Wells Fargo Championship illustrates the point perfectly.
Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesMasters runner-up Lee Westwood is just one of the top-ranked players in the field this week at Quail Hollow.
Once again, the tournament has attracted a top-notch field, with nine of the top 15 in the world, including Masters champion Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
Compare that to last week's Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which initially had just three of the top 25 in the world, and that was prior to the withdrawal of headliners Steve Stricker and Ian Poulter.
So what makes for such a big difference between New Orleans and Charlotte?
Their respective spots on the schedule.
You can certainly argue that Quail Hollow's venue deserves much of the credit. Were this tournament played on an average course, it is unclear whether Woods or Mickelson would be here. The Quail Hollow Club has garnered tons of praise in its brief existence on the PGA Tour that dates to 2003.
The TPC Louisiana is not held in the same regard, certainly. And a venue does make a difference.
But this example is more about positioning on the schedule than anything.
Simply put, two weeks following the Masters has always been a tough date for the top players. It is easy to skip after the Augusta hangover.
How else do you explain just two of the top 50 in the world -- Sergio Garcia and K.J. Choi -- teeing it up in New Orleans?
It is a tournament with tons of history that dates to 1938, with winners such as Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Davis Love III and Ben Crenshaw over the years.
Certainly those players saw a reason to play in New Orleans.
And those who play it now swear by it. Jerry Kelly, who won the 2009 tournament, and Charles Howell III both spoke of how much they love it, calling it the best week of the year for dining. Before withdrawing, Stricker had New Orleans on his schedule over Quail Hollow.
Certainly it's tough to beat the French Quarter.
But it is apparently only so much of a lure.
Officials at the Wells Fargo Championship -- formerly the Wachovia Championship -- very shrewdly put together their deal with the PGA Tour before the latest television contract was signed starting with the 2007 season.
They had heard rumblings that the Players Championship would be moving from March to May, and tournament organizers had it written into their sponsorship contract that their tournament would precede the Players on the schedule if such a move occurred.
It was a brilliant strategy, as the Players is now a month after the Masters and six weeks prior to the U.S. Open. Charlotte is a short hop down to Jacksonville and serves as a perfect prelude to the so-called fifth major, attracting international players such as Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Padraig Harrington, who might play any tournament scheduled this week.
There is a lot that goes into having an excellent tournament and attracting the top players. It certainly doesn't hurt to have a great date.
The commitment game
Tiger Woods now appears willing to appease the PGA Tour -- not to mention many tournament directors -- by announcing his commitments to tournaments in advance of the Friday deadline. It's a gesture that is well overdue and hurts no one, including Tiger -- as long as he now is afforded the same right to withdraw from tournaments if he sees fit.
For years, Woods has stubbornly stuck to an unspoken rule in which he committed to regular PGA Tour events at or near the Friday deadline, seldom earlier but if so only by a day or two.
This was frustrating to tournaments that might have had a strong hint he was coming, but were afraid to use his name and likeness in marketing materials for fear that if he did not come, the customers would complain.
Woods has been taken to task for not wanting others to benefit at his expense -- even though most PGA Tour events are non-profits that give their proceeds to charity.
But this all goes back to Woods' first year as a pro in 1996, when he had committed to a slew of tournaments in hopes of earning his PGA Tour card, ended up winning two of them, and then withdrew on the eve of a tournament in Georgia, citing fatigue and illness.
Woods was unfairly criticized for his decision to back out of the tournament despite his commitment; players do it all the time.
First, the word "commitment'' is a poor word to use for a player signing up to play in a PGA Tour event. It should be "registers'' because it is not a commitment at all, but a necessary step that has to be made in order to play. Some players "commit'' at the early part of the year to every tournament they think they will play for fear they will forget to do so. Then they withdraw later. Just last week, top-5 players Steve Stricker and Ian Poulter withdrew from the New Orleans tournament on Wednesday with injuries. It happens.
So Woods committed eight days earlier than the deadline for this week's Wells Fargo Championship. Last week he committed to next week's Players Championship. The tournament leaders are thankful. They can properly plan for Woods' arrival, and they can also reap the benefits in advanced ticket sales.
It also provides Woods with some good will. He is being viewed much more favorably for an act that really isn't that difficult.
But if he commits to a tournament two weeks early, things can happen such as injuries and illness. Or simply the right to change his mind.
Harig's head-scratcher of the week
For the second straight year, Wells Fargo is spending some $7 million to sponsor the Wells Fargo Championship and is doing its best to not let anybody know about it.
The strategy remains puzzling because how do you expect to maximize such a sponsorship if you don't use it for promotional purposes?
Not to pick on Wells Fargo. The company inherited this sponsorship from Wachovia, whose name was on the tournament from its inception in 2003 through 2008. Somewhere in there, before Wells Fargo took over, Wachovia signed an extension with the PGA Tour through 2014.
So Wells Fargo is on the hook for the annual sponsorship payments as well as television advertising commitments.
Then came the TARP controversy and harsh commentary by U.S. Representative Barney Frank, who felt companies should not be spending money on trivial golf tournaments -- especially those that had received federal bailout funds.
But here's the rub: Any marketing expert will tell you that you still have to promote yourself, even in bad times. Last year, for example, Chrysler completely cut its name from the Bob Hope Classic, even though the car company was on the hook for the title sponsorship. Wouldn't Chrysler -- which is paying the money anyway -- have wanted to reap the benefits of its sponsorship and try to sell a few more cars?
Last year, Morgan Stanley did the same thing at Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament, although it is back this year. Other companies have greatly scaled back their hospitality efforts for fear of being perceived as being overindulgent.
In Wells Fargo's case, you would think the company would use the opportunity to better brand itself, especially given the platform of one of the most successful PGA Tour event's on the schedule.
So you want to play …
… Quail Hollow Club. Well, you'll need to know somebody, as Quail Hollow is a private, members-only facility.
Originally designed in 1961 by George Cobb, the course is well-known because of its foray into tournament golf. It hosted the original Kemper Open for 10 years beginning in 1969, later had a Champions Tour event called the PaineWebber Invitational from 1983-89 and now the Wells Fargo Championship, which began as the Wells Fargo Championship in 2003.
The par-72 course measures 7,442 yards and has been lauded as one of the best on the PGA Tour, hence the reason for attracting such a good field.