DP World Tour boss Keith Pelley, who will soon depart, believes that those in charge of the American circuit are finally ready to accept the idea that an international approach is the best way to resolve golf’s civil war.
Pelley will leave his role as chief executive of the European Tour Group in early April to lead sports franchises in his hometown of Toronto. Before his departure, the Canadian is convinced that an agreement will be found to stabilize the future of professional golf.
And he believes the way forward must be global. That would mean the American PGA Tour would abandon its long-perceived U.S.-centric philosophy and prepare to play some of its biggest tournaments in far-flung locations.
“I think the growth of the game is global,” Pelley told reporters at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. “That’s where we need to focus.”
He highlighted the deal which will bring a $3.5bn (£2.7bn) investment from the Strategic Sports Group, which includes the Fenway organization which owns Liverpool Football Club and the The Boston Red Sox baseball team.
“They understand the importance of being global. PIF (Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund) certainly understands the importance of being global,” he said.
Discussions are underway to strike a deal with PIF, which funds the breakaway LIV Tour which has attracted a number of high-profile departures from the US and European tours, including Masters champion Jon Rahm late last year.
“Every growing company now wants to expand globally,” he said. “You see it here in Dubai. What I would like to see is the game unifying with a global strategy.”
Tellingly, Pelley suggested the PGA Tour is finally moving toward the type of international schedule that Rory McIlroy says is vital to the future of the game.
McIlroy wants events such as the Australian and South African Opens to become key destinations in a unified calendar.
“I think the PGA Tour realizes that the world is the key to growth,” Pelley said. “They’ve heard me say it once or twice.”
There remain more questions than answers as to how that might manifest, but Pelley is confident the future will look much clearer by the time he leaves office in April.
“I think we will definitely have a direction to go by then,” he said. “The conversations have intensified since the Ryder Cup. We expected that.
“I think there’s a desire from all parties. You bring in someone like FSG (Fenway), which is now SSG, with power players like Steve Cohen (billionaire owner of the New York Mets). And then I think there is a will with PIF, and there is certainly a will with us.
“If we can come together, then I think it will be pretty exciting for the game.”
He admits that the framework agreement announced on June 6, 2023 between the PGA and DP World Tours and the PIF has been widely misinterpreted. “It was to unify the game,” Pelley said.
“Unfortunately, after this framework agreement, some of the best players in the United States did not support it, when we needed their support. I think they now realize that the best way forward is to unify the game.”
Pelley’s nine years at the helm of the Wentworth-based tour were eventful to say the least. He rose to this position with the aim of making the European tour a viable rival to his American counterparts.
But it had to change its business model, buying 50% of its media activities from the International Management Group (IMG) in 2017, so that the tour would be the exclusive property of European Tour Productions.
Ultimately, 40% of this company passed into the hands of the PGA Tour as part of the “strategic alliance” concluded between the two largest golf circuits in the world.
As part of the deal, the top 10 players on the DP World Tour receive cards to play in the United States the following year. It was a controversial decision, with some observers suggesting that Europe was giving away its greatest talent.
Pelley continues to vehemently defend the decision, saying he acted in the best interest of his organization’s 486 members. “It’s impossible to make them all happy,” he admitted.
The formalized partnership with the PGA Tour was crucial in ensuring that the European Tour – renamed the DP World Tour under Pelley’s leadership – survived the Covid pandemic.
One of his most significant contributions during his tenure was the creation of a 38-tournament calendar at a time when sport and global travel were savagely hit by the impact of the coronavirus.
It is now imperative to organize tournaments where the best players compete more regularly against the best. Whether this means LIV players will return to the establishment fold remains to be seen.
Men’s professional soccer faces some very complex issues, but Pelley believes one solution will be to ensure professional golfers compete in the biggest events on the tour and not just the majors.
“I used to manage the Toronto Blue Jays, and we had a short stop named Jose Reyes,” Pelley said, trying to illustrate the point. “Jose never came up to me and said, ‘I’m not playing in the Baltimore series,’ or ‘I’m not going to play in Philadelphia because I’m going away with my family for the weekend.’
“There’s no doubt that this is one of the biggest challenges facing the game, with the best players playing more with the best players, and that’s where we’re heading.”