If anyone other than Darren Clarke secures overall victory at Wentworth next week, will he be entitled to claim the title of World Matchplay champion? And if anyone other than the Tyroneman triumphs at the Metropolitan GC in Victoria in early January, should he don the crown? The answer to these questions has to be an emphatic "No!"

Several of the game's top players, including world number one Tiger Woods, will be missing from both tournaments. And despite the considerable cash being poured into the World Golf Championship (WGC) events, the series has become a mess, largely because of the apparent free hand which US Tour Commissioner, Tim Finchem, has been given on scheduling.

Prize funds of $5 million with a top cheque for $1 million seemed breathtaking rewards when the WGC events were first mooted a few years ago. Not any more. In a limited field at Sun City in early December, the winner will receive $2 million. With so much cash being thrown around the professional game, scheduling has become a more serious consideration.

So it is that despite a $5 million prize fund for the Andersen Consulting in Australia on January 3rd to 7th, the game's leading players will be notable for their absence. Woods won't be there; neither will Lee Westwood. And the indications are that Colin Montgomerie and Ernie Els will also be absentees.

Why pick such unsocial dates during the festive season? Because the timing and location suit the US Tour, that's why. Players can travel on from Australia to Hawaii for the opening event of the 2001 US season, the Mercedes Championships, the following week.

This also explains why the American Express Championship is being played in St Louis on September 13th to 16th next year. Fine for the Americans in the build-up to the Ryder Cup, but slotted between the European Masters and the Lancome Trophy on the European Tour. And the American Express scheduling is of special interest in this country, given that it will be staged at Mount Juliet in 2002.

Clarke will be in Australia in January, largely because he is defending the title he captured at La Costa last February by beating Woods in the final. But he may be returning to World Cup action for Ireland later next year for an entirely different reason: the event happens to be fixed for mid-November at the Taiheiyo Club in Japan, which is where he would normally be at that time of the year, anyway.

Andrew "Chubby" Chandler of International Sports Management, which manages Clarke and Westwood, said yesterday: "Money is no longer enough. And for reasons best known to themselves, tour officials refuse to consult management groups about the availability of players before finalising fixtures. It's daft."

Given a format which meant the exclusion of Jesper Parnevik and Sergio Garcia from last month's NEC at Firestone, he clearly has a point. All of which makes one wonder how long we must wait for the emergence of another, genuine world matchplay champion. As things stand, it will be 2002 at the earliest.

Quote: "We're talking a lot of money - more than what you're used to. And when someone is throwing piles of money at you, you've got to look." Davis Love on why he gave due consideration to an offer to switch from Titleist to the Nike golf-ball, before eventually declining.