The World Wide Technology Championship, a PGA Tour tournament taking place next week at the El Cardonal at Diamante Cabo San Lucas course, announced its final player list yesterday. There are 116 confirmed, twelve of whom are invited, and no sign of Josele Ballester, the US Amateur champion. The Entry List will be completed this Monday with the four players who qualify through the pre-tournament.
The golfer from Castellón had requested an invitation to play this week and thus make his debut in a regular tournament on the American circuit. However, the Mexican organisation has decided that none of the twelve sponsor spots were available for the Spaniard.
Obviously, invitations can be requested, but never demanded. As the name suggests, they are at the discretion of the holder of those spots, but it is striking that no place was found for the winner of the US Open, also Spanish, given the proximity to a country like Mexico.
The twelve invitations have been granted to Billy Andrade, Isidro Benítez, Santiago de la Fuente, Luke Donald, Emilio González, Ryan Palmer, Harry Higgs, Austin Hitt, Andrew Walker, Neal Shipley, Omar Morales, and Scott Piercy. The invitations to the Mexican players, some earned in qualifying tournaments, as well as to players fighting for their card, are entirely understandable, such as Donald, Palmer, Piercy, or Higgs, as well as Neal Shipley, who is seeking his entry to the PGA Tour through the non-member list. More debatable are the invitations to Andrade, a 60-year-old player who barely competes on the PGA Tour Champions, Hitt, or Walker.
As it stands, there will be no opportunity to see Ballester next week in Mexico. He still has the chance to play the RSM Classic, a tournament held at Sea Island for which he has also requested an invitation. Beyond the experience of playing a PGA Tour event, it would be very beneficial for Josele to play the tournament to try to finish the year in the top spot of the PGA Tour University and thus earn a place in the next Hero Dubai Desert Classic. Currently, Ballester is Number 5 in the World Amateur Ranking and Number 2 in the PGA Tour University.
