World leaders meet

MIAMI -- No one would suggest that he is the face of professional golf. But Charl Schwartzel surely represents the rapid pace at which its landscape is changing.

One of 73 players who'll tee it up in this week's CA Championship at the famed Doral Golf Resort & Spa, Schwartzel is a long way from his native South Africa, but he feels right at home when he turns and sees Prom Meesawat and Thongchai Jaidee.

"Those guys from Thailand, I see them all the time," said Schwartzel. "In fact, there are a lot of familiar faces this week."

For example, Louis Oosthuizen and Hennie Otto, John Bickerton and Johan Edfors, Anton Haig and Jeev Singh . . . Schwartzel knows them, too. But when it comes to Mark Wilson, well, he apologizes.

"I wouldn't recognize Mark Wilson," said Schwartzel.

Fair enough, said Wilson. "All the names I would recognize," he said, "but in terms of faces, I probably think I would know maybe 68 of them."

No, Schwartzel's isn't among them, but none of this is personal. What it is is the new world of professional golf, and nowhere is that international flavor as apparent as it is at this World Golf Championship stop. Indeed, while this is a stop on the American PGA Tour, the field includes just 27 Americans.

How different is that? Consider that just 25 years ago, of the 82 players who cashed checks at the PGA Tour stop at Doral, 74 were American-born. Even in 1999, when the CA Championship made its debut (then called the American Express Championship) in the first year of the WGC events, virtually half the field (29 of 61) was American.

Those days, as they say, are gone, most likely forever, and if you are skeptical, consider the world rankings. Of the top 25 names, only eight are Americans; of the top 50, a mere 16.

"Certainly," said Englishman David Howell, a card-carrying member here in the US, "the golf world has changed its face a little bit. I would imagine that's good for golf, definitely."

Howell probably wouldn't have to go deep into the roster of PGA Tour members to get an argument, and chances are it would be from players who aren't qualified for this week's $8 million tournament. Chances are, they would moan about the strict criteria for getting into the CA Championship -- top 50 in the world, top 30 on last year's money list, top 10 on the FedEx Cup points list -- while spots are given to leading players from the Sunshine Tour in South Africa and circuits in Asia, Europe, and Japan.

Those critics would, in turn, get an argument from South African Tim Clark.

"I think these tournaments are great," said Clark, a sixth-year member of the PGA Tour. "To bring people from all over the world is exciting."

To counter the argument that being, say, 31st on the American money list is more impressive than winning the Order of Merit on the Sunshine Tour, Clark shakes his head and suggests that people are missing a wider view of things. Rewarding players from other corners of the world is crucial.

"It's an incentive for players to support their tours, which is extremely important," said Clark. "If those tours in Asia and Australia and South Africa weren't around, golf would be in really tough shape."

To that point, Schwartzel has won praise from a multitude of peers for a decision he made earlier this year. Ranked within the top 64 in the world, the South African was eligible for the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship, but he turned down the spot. Instead, he remained home to protect his lead in the Order of Merit.

"It was a difficult decision for me," said Schwartzel, 22. "I wanted to become the first South African to win [the Order of Merit] three times. I just said to myself, 'You know, if I continue playing like I am, I'll probably have a few more Match Plays to play in.' "

When Schwartzel closed with a sizzling 65 to finish joint second in the final Sunshine Tour event of the season, the South African PGA Championship, he secured his third straight Order of Merit and in doing so earned spots into this week's CA Championship, plus the British Open, the Memorial, and the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in August.

Good stuff, though admittedly Schwartzel remains a mystery to American golf fans.

That, Howell concedes, is part of the dilemma. He wonders how the patrons at Doral will embrace this year's tournament. The PGA Tour history at Doral dates to 1962 and the roster of winners includes Jack Nicklaus, Billy Casper, Tom Weiskopf, Raymond Floyd, Tom Kite, Lanny Wadkins, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, and Tiger Woods (each of the last two years). But those were full-field events. As a WGC tournament, it is a limited affair, so small that tee times don't start until 11 a.m.

"It will be interesting to see how the golf fans at Doral, what their take is," said Howell. "With it being so full of international players, whether they take to that or whether that turns them off a little bit. I'm sure that it should add to the event."

Wilson agrees.

"We all play the game in different parts of the world, then come together at a place like Doral to compete against each other," said the unheralded American, who is making his WGC debut thanks to a stunning win at the Honda Classic three weeks ago. "It reminds me of junior golf, in a way. There are all kinds of faces you don't know."

For example, Wilson harkens back to the 1992 World Junior Championship, a famed annual event at Torrey Pines in San Diego. A young kid out of Wisconsin, Wilson showed up that year and went about his duties, knowing hardly a soul except for the obvious one in attendance, Woods.

No surprise -- Woods shot 282, while Wilson, who finished third, was at 291.

Big surprise -- Gilberto Morales of Venezuela fired 279 to win.

And no, Wilson didn't know Morales.