The WGC-Mexico Championship is coming under fire from top professionals with Jason Day and Rory McIlroy already confirming that they will skip the event.
McIlroy and Day will not be in attendance at the Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City, and Jordan Spieth is also considering his options.
Day joined McIlroy in skipping the event – which offers prestige, healthy prize money as well as world rankings points – as he heads home to spend time with his mother, who is battling cancer.
‘I’m going to take Mexico off. My mum is coming over here to the US to have scans, so I’m going to spend some time with her,’ Day told AAP.
WGC events are meant to attract the world’s best talent, and are considered second in stature only to the Majors, but Day and McIlroy probably won’t be the only big names dropping out.
Spieth reportedly has ‘no idea’ over his schedule in the buildup to The Masters.
‘I really have no idea what I’m going to do after next week [after the Genesis Open]. I know that at least Honda will be off,’ Spieth told reporters. ‘I’m going to have to kind of see how I’m feeling, how I’ve been recovering in the week off, and then what is the best prep to be ready by the time we tee it up at Augusta.’
Day, who did not play in Mexico last year due to illness, and Mcllroy have both committed to the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando, Florida.
It remains to be seen how many more withdrawals there will be in the second playing of the event, which took over from the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral Miami.
PGA TOUR schedule in the lead up to Augusta:
FEB 15 – 18: Genesis Open @ Riviera CC (Dustin Johnson)
FEB 22 – 25: The Honda Classic @ PGA National (Champion) (Rickie Fowler)
MAR 1 – 4: World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship @ Club de Golf Chapultepec (Dustin Johnson)
MAR 8 – 11: Valspar Championship @ Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead) (Adam Hadwin)
MAR 15 – 18: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard @ Bay Hill (Marc Leishman)
MAR 21 – 25: World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play @ Austin Country Club (Dustin Johnson)
MAR 29 – APR 1: Houston Open @ GC of Houston (Russell Henley)
APR 5 – 8: Masters Tournament @ Augusta National GC (Sergio Garcia)
