Keith Pelley, the soon-to-depart chief executive of the European Tour Group, has warned the PGA Tour and its members they must embrace the “global” nature of golf. Pelley believes meaningful progress has been made towards a deal that would see existing bodies work together with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and Fenway Sports to run elite golf but that it has taken time for the PGA Tour to appreciate a world outside of the United States.
“The growth of the game is global,” said Pelley. “I think that’s where the focus needs to be. I think with the emergence of FSG, which owns Liverpool [FC], they understand the importance of global. PIF certainly understands the importance of being global. This is a global game. Every business now that is growing wants to be global. What I would like to see is the game becoming unified with a global strategy.
“I think the PGA Tour is coming to the realisation is global is the key for the growth. They have heard me say it once or twice.”
When he addressed media at the Tour Championship in August, the PGA Tour’s commissioner, Jay Monahan, placed noticeable focus on the future for his organisation rather than the sport as a whole. In April, Pelley will end a largely successful time in his post – which he took on in 2015 – to fill the position of president and chief executive of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment in his native Canada. The 60-year-old hopes that by that point professional golf’s future will be clear. The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF signed a framework agreement in June.
“Our goal is to unify the game,” Pelley said. “I don’t think all of the dialogue that has happened has been positive for the game and I think that the game is growing at a rapid pace coming out of Covid. The professional game needs to be unified to capitalise on the growth of the amateur game. There’s so many wonderful things happening in our game.
“That’s what the whole concept was behind the framework agreement, and I think some of the top players in the US are starting to realise that that’s exactly what the purpose of the framework agreement was. It was to unify the game. Unfortunately after that framework agreement, some of the top players in the United States didn’t support it, which we needed them to support. I think they are realising now that the best way forward is to unify the game. I think we will know the direction of travel over the next couple of months.”
Under Pelley’s leadership, the DP World Tour handled the impact of that pandemic admirably and battled against the threat posed by LIV, which is funded by Saudi Arabia. As recently as December, Spain’s Jon Rahm shocked members of his home tour by signing up for LIV. Rory McIlroy subsequently voiced his long-held viewpoint that golf should operate a form of world tour.
“Jon is a great champion and I respect the decision that he made for his family,” said Pelley. “If the game didn’t unify, I would be quite disappointed. I’ve believed that we should unify and all work together. I’ve believed that for years. So I was overjoyed with what transpired in June, and that was the right direction. I still believe it’s the right direction. What that means in terms of what the product looks like down the road, that’s the second step.”
