World Golf Championship events could go all-American next year

The World Golf Championships could have a distinctly American flavor next year.

All four WGC events are expected to be played in the United States. The NEC Invitational will go back to Firestone, the Accenture Match Play Championship remains at La Costa, and officials are looking at Atlanta for the American Express Championship.

The EMC World Cup, a team event, is scheduled for Kiawah Island.

"That's a little odd," British Open champion Ernie Els said. "Why call it a World Golf Championship? They should get a rotation and bring it all over the world."

At least one WGC event has been held outside the United States since the events began in 1999 -- American Express in Spain and Ireland, Match Play in Australia, and the World Cup in Argentina, Japan and Mexico.

"That would be disappointing," Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland said about the possibility of an American-only year of WGC events. "That was the whole idea of the World Golf Championships, wasn't it? To bring golf around the world."

Clarke said the travel doesn't bother him. He's more concerned that certain golf-rich countries would be deprived a chance to see the best players in the world.

-- AP