Absent Rory McIlroy under attack in Turkey
Ahmet Agaoglu was apologetic in 2012 when chaotic scenes at the start of the Turkish Airlines World Golf Final in Antalya led to scuffles with photographers and media unaccustomed to the protocol of covering golf.
One man went down and claimed he was headbutted as the golf federation president lost his patience with those who don’t play ball.
Four years on, the sumptuous Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort will host the first event of the European Tour’s three tournament final series with the winner taking home the huge sum of €1,065,388.
And again, the president was unhappy the event has been overshadowed by a number of high profile withdrawals, starting with Tiger Woods’ a few weeks ago and followed swiftly at the weekend by top draw McIlroy and a host of others, including Patrick Reed and Shane Lowry.
And even though Masters champion Danny Willett and stablemate Lee Westwood sat manfully through the speeches, the opening press conference held in the same building that hosted the G20 Anatalya summit of world leaders last year, should have come with a flak jacket warning.
“I’d like to thank Danny Willett and Lee Westwood and the guys who are here,” Agaoglu said. “Over the last few months we have seen there is a lot of difference between top golfers and top athletes with some golfers missing events because of a few mosquitoes. True sports people rise above this.”
Ouch. But there was more. Much more and it doesn’t bode well for the future of Turkish-McIlroy relations. “There are things happening everywhere in the world,” Agaoglu added. “If they are afraid of such things there is no safe place in the world. This is one of the major golfing events in the continent of Europe and I think they have to respect the sponsors because they are investing huge money.
“There is $7m prize money this week and Turkish Airlines aren’t just supporting golf at this tournament. Pulling out is not the correct approach. You can be a superstar, an excellent golfer and sit on top of the rankings but to be an athlete you need something more. We’re all here to support golf.
“I’m a little surprised and disappointed because I learned Rory had dropped out in the media. Tiger sent me an email an hour before he announced he was going to pull out and apologised.
“He said he knew we would be disappointed but he was more disappointed than anyone. I hope he will be back here next year.”
McIlroy cited “obvious reasons” for his decision to pull out just last Saturday, shortly before the U.S. Department of State issued an updated Turkey Travel Warning that ordered “the departure of family members of employees posted to the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul.”
He was reacting to the recent negative security reports a town 85km from this week’s venue was hit with three rocket attacks earlier this month, explaining after his fourth place finish in the HSBC Champions last Sunday that “it was weighing on my mind and I slept a lot better knowing I’d made a decision.”
Like Pádraig Harrington, who is in Antalya chasing a win that would catapult him back into the world’s top 50 and the Masters, Agaoglu is adamant the Antalya region is perfectly safe — or as safe as anywhere else in the world.
And given the tranquility, it was hard to disagree with him.
“Antalya is one of the largest tourist destinations in the world and not a single person has been killed or injured by a terrorist attack here,” he said. “This is the safest city in Turkey. This is the safest hotel and golf course in the world.
“It is well protected. We have taken lots of extra measures for the players including charter flights for the players but there were plenty of others who travelled through Istanbul making the connection there like anyone.
“We’re aware there is an anti-Turkey campaign but we’re doing our best to minimise this. Golf and tourism is very important to Turkey and we have to use this tournament as an opportunity to show off how safe this area is.”
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