Photo: Ross Kinnaird, Getty Images
In Arabic a majlis is a meeting place, and that day in 2019 a dozen or so people had gathered in a room in the “Year of Tolerance” majlis, at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai. European Tour officials Keith Pelley and Guy Kinnings, respectively the chief and deputy chief executives, and Max Hamilton, commercial director, were making a presentation to bosses of DP World, Yuvraj Narayan, chief financial officer, and Daniel (Danny) van Otterdijk, chief communications officer. Slides flashed up on screens as did videos of pre-recorded player interviews supporting the proposal. There were flow charts, graphs, papers, banners, all the normal bells and whistles of a modern business meeting. Security was tight though those present could look down from the majlis to the 18th green of the Earth course and see golfers completing their morning rounds on the second day of the DP World Tour Championship.
From 11.00 to 1...