������� fringes , the Golf 6s , which failed to attract big galleries despite inviting leading Ladies European Tour players like Charley Hull into the �eld , the Belgian Knock-out and the Shot Clock Masters , formerly the Austrian Open , combined prize money of € 3m ( approx . US $ 3.5m ) which would count amongst the bottom three individual event prize funds on the PGA TOUR .
Substantive change or �ddling while Rome burns ?
Then there is the question of Wentworth , the European Tour ’ s long-term HQ , where new owners of the Wentworth Club , the Chinese conglomerate Reignwood , who bought the club for a reported £ 135m in 2014 are said not to want the , ‘ Great unwashed ,’ traipsing around their hallowed grounds , prompting rumours of a European Tour headquarters move , possibly to the Middle East , something Canadian Pelley has refused to rule out . “ The European Tour is a rapidlyexpanding global company which requires space to accommodate its growing staff numbers needed to manage such a business ,” he said , explaining , “ If we did move away from our traditional Wentworth base , it would be 100 % for space reasons .” Early on in his tenure , Pelley also appeared to degrade the status of the BMW PGA Championship , which will celebrate its half-century in 2021 ; speaking in Dubai , in the build-up to the DP World Tour Championship , Pelley offered the following analysis . “ I ’ m telling you our �agship event , right here , is the DP World Tour Championship which is $ 8m plus a bonus prize ,” he said , adding , “ I ’ m not sure how you couldn ’ t say this wouldn ’ t be our �agship event . “ It [ Wentworth ] has a fund
Omega brand ambassador Sergio Garcia unlikely to feature in Rolex Series events of € 5m [ now € 6m ]. It ’ s a terri�c event with wonderful fan engagement with 125,000 fans that experience the game of golf , but I don ’ t see it as our �agship event .”
Whether connected to Pelley ’ s comments , or pure coincidence , no-one knows but the German automotive brand pulled their € 6m BMW Masters from the European Tour schedule in 2016 , following hard on the heels of Volvo pulling out of all but one - the Volvo
The Jury is Out , Keith Pelley , European Tour CEO has generated more innovation than hard cash
China Open – of their longstanding portfolio of events with the loss of another € 6m in prize money . Over recent years , the European Tour has been hemorrhaging prestigious tournaments , in Asia , the € 4.5m Barclays Singapore Open , the € 2.5m Ballantines Championship in Korea , the Shenzhen International in China and , in Europe , the Welsh and Russian Opens , with only Belgian Knockout and Porsche European Open on the plus-side , revenue it can ill-afford to lose .
Pelley also had to issue an open letter to fans over the botched upgrade of its hitherto exceptional online offering , www . europeantour . com the award-winning website reverting to its previous incarnation following a crescendo of criticism from fans and members of the media who had relied on it for both pleasure and business .
More recently – and having had its �ngers badly burned in 2011 when the Volvo Golf Champions got out of town in Bahrain hours ahead of a bloody internecine con�ict resulting in more than a dozen deaths , hundreds of serious injuries and the internment of scores of anti-Government protesters – the European Tour announced its latest destination , Saudi Arabia , although details are still sketchy and further information promised in May have yet to be released .
But arguably the most unexpected development to come out of Wentworth for a generation was the news in May that Guy Kinnings , previously IMG ’ s Senior Vice President & Chairman of Golf , a very senior role with a global footprint in major events , sponsorship acquisition and activation , player representation , media distribution and facility management was joining the leadership team of the European Tour as Deputy CEO and Director of the Ryder Cup . Industry veteran Kinnings , who was personal manager to leading European Tour stars such as Paul Casey , Colin Montgomerie and 2018 European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn as well as overseeing a range of leading
Out of the Blue - IMG global golf boss Guy Kinnings makes a surprise switch to European Tour
European Tour events such as the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the Ricoh Women ’ s British Open had previously been tipped to replace George O ’ Grady . But many considered Kinnings to have been far beyond the upper echelons of the Tour ’ s senior management pay structure , and could well be , this time around , the heir-apparent to his new boss Pelley when he – or his board – decides it ’ s time to head back across the Atlantic with the jury still very much out on his tenure . But , whoever is to �ll the European Tour hot seat going forward will have an in-tray full of signi�cant structural and operational obstacles , from falling TV audiences to sponsors seeing greater value elsewhere , from Brexit to the inevitable migration of the Tour ’ s top talent to the PGA TOUR , not necessarily more but certainly bigger budget events and a world tour emerging on the distant horizon as part of a change agenda as challenging as any faced by a professional sport in Europe .
GolfPlus JULY 2018 33