How much is too much? Before the Farmers Insurance Open tees off at the Torrey Pines Golf Course on Wednesday, there has been a streak of unfortunate withdrawals. World No.1 and No.2 Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele were ruled out due to injury before the players list was announced. Collin Morikawa withdrew citing illness and last year’s runner-up Nicolai Hojgaard, and Akshay Bhatia will also not feature at the tournament this year. But this isn’t where the list ends.

Canadian pro-golfer Mackenzie Hughes and American Chesson Hadley also withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open. Both of them had played in the recently concluded American Express Open. Florida native Tyler McCumber had also withdrawn from the event at the Torrey Pines Golf Course along with Bronson Burgoon and Harry Hall. Now, here’s the twist!

Ryan Moore, who was the replacement for Will Zalatoris after his withdrawal, will also not feature in the tournament as well as 2019 US Open Winner Gary Woodland. Reason other than injuries? Probably the schedule change.

Golfer Jason Day was asked his thoughts about a Wednesday start, and he was very candid about it. As reported by Tee Scripts, he stated: “I don’t — what is the reasoning behind finishing on Saturday?” That’s when the moderator informed him that the NFL Championship games were on Sunday. Day responded:

“Yeah, I don’t, I don’t know. I mean, maybe it is because obviously you’ve got more people coming on the weekends if they finish on a Saturday. I know that TV, we have to start out here early so that we have a finish on the east coast in prime time. Then obviously you’re competing against NFL on Sunday, that’s obviously difficult.”

The American Express Open had finished on Sunday, leaving the players with very minimal time to rest and recuperate for the next event.

“Maybe that has something to do with crowds as well and then on top of maybe the players don’t want to have a quick turnaround from Palm Springs. And you have Pebble next week and then Waste and then the Genesis. They’re three pretty big tournaments in a row, and do you want to play four big tournaments?”

The AT&T Pebble Pro-AM with a purse of $20M starts the week after the Farmers Insurance Open. It is followed by the WM Phoenix Open at the TPC Scottsdale and the week after that is another $20m event, the Genesis Invitational. Sounds tough, right?

Day continued: “Like I think you’ve got to understand that like tough golf courses mentally I think only — you can only play — like because Pebble’s obviously a Signature Event and most guys aren’t going to miss that. Waste Management is a total beast in itself because it’s a mentally grueling week as well, and then you’ve got another Signature Event after that in L.A.

“So do you want to put yourself through a very, very mentally grueling week this week and then play another three events? I think most guys’ thresholds are around three, two to three weeks in a row. Maybe they could spread it out a little bit. That way — or change the way that the tournament’s run out on the west coast, maybe that might help it a little bit. Yeah, I think the Wednesday start, obviously finishing on Saturday and then competing against the NFL is very difficult.”

With multiple signature events in a short period, the onus on recovery becomes huge. Sustained periods of excellence also require the right kind of preparation as well as rest.

Scheduling has been a major question mark in several professional sports, including soccer and basketball. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan would need to address this before it compounds and becomes a problem beyond control. The number of key withdrawals at the Farmers Insurance Open should be an eye-opener. TGL on Tuesdays also does not help as all the big-name players are part of the tech-based initiative.

The fans want golf, but they would also want the best golf out there. And it is up to Jay Monahan to not compromise on the quality being provided.

Criticisms galore for Jay Monahan…

Such exits are concerning, but for Jay Monahan, there are other things he needs to look at as well. For instance, on a new edition of the ‘DropZone’ golf podcast, the slow pace of play happening at the PGA Tour was called into question. The podcast’s hosts, Sean Zak, Claire Rogers, Dylan Dethier, and James Colgan also expressed doubts about the efficiency of the volunteer system that is being run currently.

“For the enforcement, you need to build up an army of volunteers which is ironic because the PGA tour employs an army of volunteers but they need to push them or pivot them to work harder and to look in a certain direction,” two of the hosts, Sean Zak and Dylan Dethier explained.

The intent behind the comment was that the volunteers needed to be activated better to improve the quality of golf that is being put on display for the fans. The podcast crew called out PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and asked him to address the pace of play at high-profile events.

“If you are a marshal, it may need not be your sole focus to keep people when guys are playing as much as it is to use a shot clock or to use a stopwatch!” one of the hosts remarked.

In fact, ‘The Golf Monthly’ channel suggested solutions for managing slow play. They cleared the fact that taking action was as important as giving warnings. Do you think Jay Monahan would be able to address both problems efficiently? Share your thoughts.