The details of the relatively recent strategic alliance between the PGA Tour and the European Tour still seem more conceptual than concrete, but Tuesday’s announcement that three events on the new PGA Tour schedule will be co-sanctioned by both tours is a step in the right direction for both organizations.
What European Tour chief executive officer Keith Pelley rightly called “an important first step” may not be sending them down the Yellow Brick Road but it seems better than each going their own ways.
At a time when there are rumored threats from more than one money-stuffed group intent on crashing the men’s professional golf party, building bridges may prove as valuable as building a wall to keep the others out.
“As I said back in November, I have felt that golf has been fractured for the almost six years that I have been here,” Pelley said Tuesday via videoconference from Ireland.
“It wasn’t about fending off any competitors. What it was about was our desire to grow and build on the ecosystem that has served this game for the last 50 years. …
“Nobody, nobody has any mistrust for the PGA Tour. It is completely the opposite; how can we work closer together, how can we do it?”
Without specifically commenting on potential challenges from the proposed Premier Golf League or the rumored increased influence of Saudi investors on the Asian Tour, Monahan said the PGA and European Tours must remain proactive.
“You always have to act with zero complacency,” Monahan said. “You always have to operate to make certain you’re doing everything you can to create the best options for the best players in the world and that’s what we’ve done here. That’s what we’re going to continue to do.
“As Keith said, this is just a step. We think it’s a really important step. We think it’s a very strong indication of what we can do together.”
The most striking element to the PGA Tour’s 2021-22 schedule is the inclusion of the Genesis Scottish Open as an official event preceding the Open Championship. The PGA Tour obliged by moving the John Deere Classic, typically played the week before the Open Championship, so players can double up in Scotland should they so desire.
Those reluctant to add a second week of links golf into their July itineraries should note the value Collin Morikawa found in playing the Scottish Open the week before capturing the Claret Jug at Royal St. George’s.
The Barbasol Championship and the Barracuda Championship are not the highest profile events on the PGA Tour, but by sharing those events with the European Tour it’s an entryway into the new relationship.
Another notable change next season is the reduction in World Golf Championship events from four to two. The WGCs, while offering rich purses, enhanced points and no-cut events, have not been the huge public success they were imagined to be. They have been good and, more often than not, produced the high-profile winners the public likes but they have struggled to develop their own distinct identity.
The two events that lost their WGC distinction – the Mexico Championship and the FedEx St. Jude Championship – remain on the schedule next year. The Memphis event, being played this week, will move into the FedEx Cup playoffs, becoming the first event each year in the three-tournament season finale.
There is potentially another angle to the WGC situation. The events are run by a federation of the major golf tours and if the Saudi influence on the Asian Tour is as significant as some think, cutting the number of WGC events in half could be a means of reducing the potential threat.
How much of this is a response to new groups trying to shoulder their way to the top of the men’s professional game?
It would be naïve to think that’s not part of the consideration but the PGA Tour and, to a lesser extent, the European Tour, are operating from a position of strength.
When Pelley and Monahan were asked specifically if they had talked with Andy Gardiner, the leader of the Premier Golf League initiative, both said they had not talked to him and have no plans to talk with him in the future.
The focus is on taking what they have and making it stronger, weaving threads of one tour into the fabric of the other.
“Our focus is to do everything we can to continue to present the best schedules, the best playing opportunities and the strongest set of tournaments we possibly can and do that in the context of this strategic alliance,” Monahan said.