ESPN Golf

To the rank-and-file LPGA Tour players who have spent the year battling for position on the money list:

Thanks for coming. We'll see you in February.

For them, the season is over, with four months to contemplate how to get better and put themselves in position for what the elite get to experience over the next month.

Starting with this week's Samsung World Championship, the LPGA Tour ends its season with limited-field events that allow the haves to separate themselves even more from the have-nots.

Where they're playing

This week: Chrysler Classic of Greensboro Site: Greensboro, N.C. Course: Forest Oaks CC (7,311 yards, par 72). Purse: $4.6 million (Winner: $828,000) Television: Thursday: 4-6 p.m. ET (USA) Friday: 4-6 p.m. ET (USA) Saturday: 3-6 p.m ET (USA) Sunday: 3-6 p.m ET (ABC) Defending champ: Shigeki Maruyama This week: Samsung World Championship Site: Palm Desert, Calif. Course: Bighorn GC, Canyons course (6,472 yards, par 72). Purse: $825,000 (Winner: $206,250) Television: Thursday: 5-7 p.m. ET (TGC) Friday: 3-5 p.m. ET (TGC) Saturday: 4-6 p.m ET (NBC) Sunday: 4-6 p.m ET (NBC) Defending champ: Sophie Gustafson This week: SBC Championship Site: San Antonio Course: Oak Hills CC (6,671 yards, par 71). Purse: $1.5 million (Winner: $225,000) Television: Friday: 5-7:30 p.m. ET (TGC) Saturday: 5-7:30 p.m. ET (TGC) Sunday: 5-7:30 p.m. ET (TGC) Defending champ: Craig Stadler This week: World Match Play Championship Site: Virginia Water, England Course: Wentworth Club, West course (7,072 yards, par 72). Purse: $4.38 million (Winner: $1,795,600) Television: Thursday: 9:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. ET (TGC) Friday: 9:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. ET (TGC) Saturday: 9:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. ET (TGC) Sunday: 9:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. ET (TGC) Defending champ: Ernie Els This week: Mallorca Classic Site: Pula, Balearic Islands Course: Pula GC (6,568 yards, par 70). Purse: $1.2 million (Winner: $206,100) Television: Thursday: 12:15-2:30 p.m. ET (TGC) Friday: 12:15-2:30 p.m. ET (TGC) Saturday: 12:15-2:30 p.m. ET (TGC) Sunday: 12:15-2:30 p.m. ET (TGC) Defending champ: Miguel Angel Jimenez This week: Permian Basin Golf Classic Site: Midland, Texas Course: Midland CC (7,354 yards, par 72). Purse: $450,000 (Winner: $81,000) Television: None Defending champ: D.J. Brigman

Not that this is anything new.

For years, the LPGA has ended its season in odd fashion, going overseas for a couple of events in Korea and Japan, returning for a Tournament of Champions event and then the season-ending ADT Championship, where the top 30 on the money list convene for one last shot at glory.

The problem with that is, those 30 spots are all but set. A few players will jockey for position, perhaps, but if you're, say, 60th on the money list, you have no chance because you can't play.

This week's Samsung tournament has just 20 players. One of them is amateur Michelle Wie, who got a special invite.

In two weeks, the tour visits Korea for the CJ Nine Bridges Classic, followed by the Mizuno Classic in Japan, where Annika Sorenstam is the defending champion. Then it's on to the LPGA Tournament of Champions Nov. 11-14, followed by the ADT Championship Nov. 18-21.

At none of these tournaments will the field be bigger than about 50 players.

In fairness to the LPGA, it is simply good business to go to Asia. A growing number of players on the tour are from that part of the country. In fact, Shi Hyun Ahn of Inchon, Korea, has clinched LPGA rookie of the year, edging Aree Song, who was born in Thailand.

And the tour's largest television rights fees outside of the United States come from there. So while American fans of the LPGA Tour are sort of left in the dark, there is benefit to the tour.

Still, it seems odd to end the year with five tournaments the masses cannot play. It's sort of like a college football team that misses out on a bowl game. Not only do they not get the honor of the extra game, but they are denied the practice and preparation time.

Same for LPGA players denied this late opportunity. The very players they want to beat get the benefit of extra competition.

So while Annika Sorenstam tries for her fourth consecutive Player of the Year honor and seventh overall, with U.S. Women's Open champion Meg Mallon chasing her, most everybody else is right where they don't want to be. Watching.

It would be too good to be true if world No. 1 Vijay Singh and No. 2 Ernie Els could find their way to the final of the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth.

This is a big week for Davis Love III. Still, somehow, ranked sixth in the world, Love had a poor Ryder Cup, had a poor defense of each of his four 2003 tournament victories, and has not won a tournament. Love helped redesign the course used for this week's Chrysler Classic in Greensboro.

Jonathan Byrd is a good bet to notch his second victory of the season. Byrd, who won the B.C. Open, finished T-5 last year in Greensboro and T-3 in 2002.

Kenny Perry, Jonathan Kaye and Tim Herron are not too concerned about making the 30-man Tour Championship field in Atlanta in three weeks. They are 30th, 31st and 32nd on the money list -- and not one of them is playing this week. Meanwhile, Jay Haas, 50, is 29th and entered in the field, looking to secure his position.

The leading contenders for Champions Tour rookie of the year -- Mark James, Peter Jacobsen and Mark McNulty -- will battle to the end. The SBC is the last full field event of the year in San Antonio, followed by next week's Charles Schwab Cup Championship for the top 30 money winners.

QUICK TAKE
Costner The British love their golf, but apparently not when "outsiders" infringe upon the great game. How else do you explain the sparse crowds at last week's Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland? Despite free admission to the first three rounds played at St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, there were seemingly more marshals than there were spectators. They did show up on Sunday, for the final round at the Old Course, when they had to pay -- which seems to suggest the fans were more interested in seeing the likes of Ernie Els and Vijay Singh than they were Michael Douglas, Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Costner. "When a Scot goes to a golf tournament he actually wants to watch the golf, and not some aging film star re-enacting the Hamlet cigar advert in the bowls of the Road Hole bunker at St. Andrews,'' wrote Martin Johnson in the Telegraph. Perhaps it had something to do with the weather, which looked downright miserable. In any case, the Pebble Beach-style format and tournament is one of the highlights of the European schedule.
MAILBAG: ASK BOB HARIG
Got a question about the PGA Tour? Ask ESPN.com golf writer Bob Harig, who will answer your inquiries in each installment of This Week in Golf. Q. Why did Phil Mickelson withdraw from the Michelin Championship? Albert Hondo Dallas A. After rounds of 68-66 put him in contention through two rounds, Mickelson withdrew from last week's tournament in Las Vegas, citing illness. Mickelson came down with a case of food poisoning that sent him to the hospital. Q. Luke Donald has had a breakout year. Why has he had better success on the PGA European Tour, winning twice, but has failed to close one out here in the U.S.? Ben Spatz Chicago A. Perhaps it has something to do with feeling more comfortable on the European Tour. After all, Donald is from England. The former Northwestern star, however, has done well on the PGA Tour, winning more than $1.6 million and posting four top-10s, including a playoff loss to John Daly at the Buick Invitational. Donald, 26, did win the 2002 Southern Farm Bureau Classic, his lone PGA Tour victory. Q. How do pro golfers get paid? Do they really get a check or is it direct deposit? Also, how does the caddie get his loot? Does that come directly from the player? Kenny Velez Wesley Chapel, Fla. A. Most players have their tournament earnings deposited directly into an account set up through the tour, although some still do it the old fashioned way and have a check sent to them. As for caddies, they are paid directly by the player and their pay varies depending on the deal they have set up. Most get a set weekly amount with a bonus based on the amount of money their player earns that week. Q. What happened to Ty Tryon, the kid who made the PGA Tour a few years back at only 17 years old? Robert R. Bacote Bowie, Md. A. Tryon is now 20 and playing on the developmental Nationwide Tour, where he has made just six cuts in 22 events and missed six in a row. His best finish this year is a tie for 48th.

Bob Harig covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times and is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at harig@sptimes.com.