“The biggest disappointment” - Eddie Pepperell complains about English players Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton missing the British Masters

DP World Tour’s British Masters 2023 is currently underway at the Belfry Course at Sutton Coldfield. Despite the European Tour event getting a big turnout, Eddie Pepperell has voiced his concern over the lack of home players at the event.

Following the opening day’s play, Pepperell came out to complain about top English players like Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton sitting out the competition.

Raising concern over the missing players, the 32-year-old golfer said that the event in the UK “will lose fans because of it.” The golfer dubbed it “the biggest disappointment” that big players chose to play on the PGA Tour event over the British Masters.

Opening up on the DP World Tour event on The Chipping Forecast podcast, Eddie Pepperell was quoted as saying by Golf Monthly:

“I think, for me, the biggest disappointment here is that we don’t have the Matt Fitzpatricks, the Tyrrell Hattons and the Tommy Fleetwoods of the world coming back home to play the British Masters.

"Well, the fact that they actually don’t want to is the disappointment I have, and I think that they should honestly reconsider their obligation, because I actually think it’s an obligation to come home and support your home tournament.”

It is pertinent to note that no player in the world’s top 10 rankings is playing in the European Tour event. The highest-ranked player in the Sir Nick Faldo-hosted event is Justin Rose, who is ranked 31 on the OWGR. Despite having a big 156-player field, the event failed to attract names like Fitzpatrick and Hatton.

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Eddie Pepperell criticizes players missing British Masters over 'business decisions'

The British Masters has six more top-100 players competing for the title. The event, won by the likes of Bernhard Langer, Greg Norman, Ian Woosnam, Seve Ballesteros, and Faldo in the past, is currently being looked over by fans. Eddie Pepperell, who won the title in 2018, further criticized the players choosing to play events as “business decisions.”

The Englishman said:

“We’re all probably a bit romantic here talking about this, but the reality is that for each and every individual at the top of any sport now, but particularly golf, this is just seen entirely as a business decision, quote unquote.”

It is pertinent to note that Fitzpatrick, who won the British Masters title himself in 2015, is currently playing on the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic 2023. With such criticism on the rise about players choosing the PGA Tour over the European Tour, it’ll be interesting to see if the trend changes in the coming months.