With the Ballantine’s Championship set to begin less than three weeks from now in Seoul, South Korea, Spaniard Alvaro Quiros feels that the European Tour should not stage the event amid growing political tensions in the region.
‘I don’t think it’s a good moment to go there,’ Quiros explained in an interview with Reuters, adding that he will skip the event this year. ‘It would be a stupid idea with the way things are.’
A typically tense political situation between North and South Korea has been ratcheted up significantly in recent weeks, with the North threatening nuclear action against both the South and the United States, which has increased its military presence in the region as a result.
A winner of the Dubai World Championship in 2011, Quiros indicated that the risks of travel within the region outweigh the benefits of playing in the event for him.
‘I don’t want to mess with my life just to play in a golf tournament,’ he added.
This will mark the sixth edition of the Ballantine’s Championship, which was won last year by Austrian Bernd Wiesberger. According to the event’s Web site, Zach Johnson, Dustin Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen are among those that are scheduled to compete later this month at Blackstone Golf Club.