"Twelve tournaments into the 2011 season and the European Tour finally turned up in Europe for the inaugural Sicilian Open."

Alistair Tait is concerned that the European Tour's foundation is worth a "worry" after the tour finally showed up in Europe and only 27 of its 52 events are held on European soil. Yes, 52 events...sounds healthy to me!

To hold European Tour membership, Euro players must play in 13 tournaments. The four majors and three individual, stroke-play WGC events count as part of that quota. That leaves just another six tournaments to maintain membership.

Unfortunately, many traditional European Tour events suffer as a result. The marquee names can opt for those tournaments that pay the most appearance money. They tend to play in the Middle East or Far East where the money is.

The Sicilian Open was a case in point. Colin Montgomerie was the biggest name in the field, and he’s hardly at the peak of his competitive powers.

Well when you put it that way...