SHANK - GOLF: GIVING THE GAME A SHEIKH UP

IN A YEAR WHICH SAW TIGER WOODS EDGE CLOSER TO RETIREMENT FOLLOWING HIS SERIOUS CAR CRASH, A YEAR IN WHICH MEN'S GOLF HAD ITS FIRST MAJOR CHAMPION FROM JAPAN, A YEAR IN WHICH A 50-YEAR-OLD WON THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP AND A YEAR IN WHICH A SPANIARD ASCENDED TO WORLD NUMBER ONE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE SEVE BALLESTEROS, THE FACE OF GOLF HAS CHANGED AND IT SEEMS SET FOR MORE DRAMATIC CHANGE IN THE FUTURE.

BUT WHO WILL BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF THIS CHANGE? WILL IT BE THE PLAYERS? WILL IT BE THE ANCIENT GUARDIANS OF THE GAME IN ST ANDREWS AT THE R&A OR IN NEW JERSEY AT THE USGA? WILL IT BE THE PGA TOUR AND EUROPEAN TOUR GROUP AFTER THEIR STRATEGIC ALLIANCE? OR WILL IT BE SOMEONE ELSE, PERHAPS SOMEONE NEW?

WHATEVER DIRECTION THE GAME GOES IN OVER THE NEXT DECADE IT IS SURE TO BE INTERESTING AND GOLF WILL LOOK DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT TO HOW IT DID 20, 30, 40, 50 OR 100 YEARS AGO. IT MAY BE CONTROVERSIAL. IT MAY BE PAINFUL.

BUT THERE ARE MANY WHO WANT TO GIVE THE GAME A SHAKE UP, AND SOME OF THEM COME FROM THE MIDDLE EAST. IN THE RED CORNER IS THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, PGA TOUR AND EUROPEAN TOUR. IN THE BLUE CORNER IS SAUDI ARABIA, GREG NORMAN, LIV GOLF INVESTMENTS AND THE ASIAN TOUR. AND SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE IS THE WORLD GOLF GROUP AND THE PREMIER GOLF LEAGUE.

SO THE BATTLE FOR THE FUTURE OF GOLF IS ON.

THE GAME IS GOING TO BE GIVEN A SHEIKH UP.

FOR OVER HALF A CENTURY THE MODERN PGA TOUR AND THE EUROPEAN TOUR HAVE BEEN THE FOREMOST PLATFORMS FOR THE WORLD'S BEST GOLFERS TO COMPETE ON, BUT OVER THE LAST DECADE A COUPLE OF ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS HAVE BECOME SERIOUS PROPOSITIONS FOR PLAYERS TO CONSIDER, AND FOR ADMINISTRATORS OF THE MAJOR TOURS TO REACT TO.

THE PREMIER GOLF LEAGUE IS A PROPOSAL WHICH HAS BEEN DISCUSSED FOR A FEW YEARS BUT HAS SERIOUSLY BECOME FORMALISED OVER THE LAST 3 YEARS, WITH A PLAN TO PROVIDE GOLF WITH A 'TOP TIER' TO THE GOLFING PYRAMID AND A NEW CIRCUIT OF EVENTS WHICH ARE MADE FOR TELEVISION AND CLAIM TO BE "more inclusive. More relevant. More rewarding."

BACKED BY THE WORLD GOLF GROUP, A LONDON-BASED CONSORTIUM OF INDIVIDUALS WITH EXPERIENCE AT NBC, FOX, Golf Channel, ESPN, IMG, Omnicom, the Olympics, UEFA Champions League, the R&A, IMG, the IPL and Manchester United AMONG OTHER MAJOR SPORTS PROPERTIES.

THE PREMIER GOLF LEAGUE IS VERY CLEAR, IT DOES NOT HAVE ANY SAUDI FINANCIAL BACKING AND IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH ANOTHER PROPOSED LEAGUE, THE SGL BACKED BY THE SAUDI PUBLIC INVESTMENT FUND.

IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH RICK SHIELS, ANDY GARDINER, THE CEO OF THE PREMIER GOLF LEAGUE DISCUSSES THE CONCEPT AND WHERE THE PREMIER GOLF LEAGUE WOULD FIT IN THE GOLFING LANDSCAPE.

THE PREMIER GOLF LEAGUE IS PROPOSED TO LAUNCH IN JANUARY 2023 WITH THE FOLLOWING FORMAT:

18 EVENTS WITH A JANUARY TO AUGUST SCHEDULE, WITH 10 EVENTS IN THE UNITED STATES AND 8 AROUND THE REST OF THE WORLD AND IS TWO CHAMPIONSHIPS PLAYED ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER - THE PLAYER AND TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS, IN ATTEMPT TO MIRROR THE FORMAT USED BY FORMULA 1

PLAYER CHAMPIONSHIP
EACH EVENT IN THE REGULAR SEASON WOULD BE 54-HOLES, STROKEPLAY WITH SHOTGUN STARTS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, TRADITIONAL TEE-TIMES ON SUNDAY FEATURING 48 PLAYERS WITHOUT A CUT

Playing for a purse of $20m and a first prize of $4m, every week for 17 weeks

THE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Runs in parallel to the Player Championship (18 weeks)
12 teams of 4 WHICH ARE FRANCHISES OWNED BY INDIVIDUALS OR COMPANIES
Only 2 scores count, per team, per day
$1m team bonus each week for 17 weeks
Week 18, season finale and the Play-Offs

THERE WOULD ALSO BE A THIRTEENTH TEAM OWNED BY THE FANS, THE PLAN IS TO RUN A WOMEN'S LEAGUE TOO WITH A VISION TO USE THE SAME COURSE AND SAME INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE FOLLOWING WEEK.

THE PGA TOUR REACTION TO THIS PROPOSAL WAS ENTIRELY PREDICTABLE, WITH COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN SAYING “If the Team Golf Concept or another iteration of this structure becomes a reality in 2022 or at any time before or after, our members will have to decide whether they want to continue to be a member of the PGA Tour or play on a new series.”

WHILST TALK OF THE PREMIER GOLF LEAGUE WAS BEING DIGESTED AND DEBATED BY THE GOLF WORLD A NEW PLAN EMERGED IN MAY OF 2021, WITH RUMOURS OF PLAYERS BEING OFFERED LARGE SUMS OF MONEY TO COMPETE N A SUPER GOLF LEAGUE BACKED BY SAUDI ARABIA AND THE SAUDI PUBLIC INVESTMENT FUND.

DUSTIN JOHNSON, A WINNER OF THE SAUDI INTERNATIONAL, WAS RUMOURED TO BE FRONT AND CENTRE OF THE PROPOSED LEAGUE, ALONG WITH JUSTIN ROSE AND OTHERS AT THE TIME.

IN RECENT YEARS THE SAUDI PUBLIC INVESTMENT FUND AND ARAMCO HAVE ATTEMPTED TO MAKE SAUDI ARABIA A PROMINENT NAME IN THE WORLD OF SPORT, WITH SPONSORSHIP OF FORMULA 1, HOSTING THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX, HOSTING WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING BOUTS, UFC AND INVESTING IN NEWCASTLE UNITED FC.

WITHIN WEEKS OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT THE PGA TOUR AND EUROPEAN TOUR ANNOUNCED A STRATEGIC ALLIANCE, AND THE SAUDI INTERNATIONAL WAS REMOVED FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR SCHEDULE FOR 2022. IN SEPTEMBER THE SAUDI INTERNATIONAL WAS UNVEILED AS THE FLAGSHIP TOURNAMENT OF THE ASIAN TOUR, WITH THE TOUR ENTERING A 10-YEAR ARRANGEMENT WITH THE EVENT.

THEN IN OCTOBER THE SAUDI PIF BACKED A NEW COMPANY, LIV GOLF INVESTMENTS, FRONTED BY GREG NORMAN, WHICH AGREED TO INVEST AN INITIAL $200MILLION INTO THE ASIAN TOUR OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS, AND CREATE A NEW SERIES OF TOURNAMENTS.

THEY THEN WENT ABOUT RECRUITING A STELLAR LINE-UP OF TOP 100 GOLFERS FOR THE 2022 SAUDI INTERNATIONAL, TO WHICH THE PGA TOUR RELUCTANTLY GAVE RELEASES FOR, AND IN THE INTERVENING WEEKS THERE HAVE BEEN MANY RUMOURS.

THE RUMOURS HAVE CENTRED AROUND VAST SUMS OF MONEY BEING OFFERED TO BRYSON DECHAMBEAU, PHIL MICKELSON, IAN POULTER, LEE WESTWOOD AND OTHERS TO JOIN A FUTURE SUPER GOLF LEAGUE, WHICH WAS ANNOUNCED AS THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES AT THE 2022 SAUDI INTERNATIONAL.

SO THERE ARE TWO RIVAL PROPOSALS ON THE TABLE FOR PLAYERS TO CONSIDER AND FOR ADMINISTRATORS AT THE PGA TOUR, DP WORLD TOUR AND MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP ORGANISERS TO REACT TO.

BUT BEFORE WE CONSIDER THE FUTURE IN ANY DETAIL WE NEED TO LOOK AT THE PAST AND HOW WE GOT HERE, HOW THE SPORT HAS DEVELOPED AT A PROFESSIONAL LEVEL ACROSS THE WORLD, AND PREVIOUS BREAKAWAYS, PLATFORMS AND PLANS TO BREAKAWAY.

THE UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED WORLD'S FIRST PROFESSIONAL WAS ALLAN ROBERTSON OF ST ANDREWS. ROBERTSON MADE GOLF CLUBS, CADDIED AND PLAYED, HE PLAYED VERY WELL INDEED.

SO WELL, THAT LEGEND HAS IT HE NEVER LOST A CHALLENGE MATCH. CHALLENGE MATCHES WERE WHAT PLAYERS OF THE DAY USED TO DETERMINE WHO THE BEST WAS, AND IT WAS GENERALLY ACCEPTED ROBERTSON WAS THE BEST.

AFTER HIS PREMATURE DEATH IN 1859 AT THE AGE OF 43 DUE TO JAUNDICE THERE WAS A GAP TO BE FILLED FOR "THE CHAMPION GOLFER".

TOM MORRIS WAS AN APPRENTICE OF ROBERTSON FROM THE AGE OF 14, AND DESPITE THEIR RELATIONSHIP SOURING DUE TO MORRIS PLAYING THE GUTTIE BALL, A BALL WHICH HURT THE MARKET SHARE OF ROBERTSON'S BALL MANUFACTURING BUSINESS.

MORRIS WAS FIRED BUT HE, ALONG WITH OTHERS SUGGESTED THE CREATION OF THE TOURNAMENT TO DETERMINE THE NEW "CHAMPION GOLFER" FOLLOWING ROBERTSON'S DEATH.

THE FIRST OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP TOOK PLACE AT PRESTWICK GOLF CLUB IN OCTOBER 1860, IT WAS THE BIRTH OF CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF AS WE KNOW IT TODAY, AND A CHAMPIONSHIP WHICH SURELY WOULD HAVE BEEN WON MANY TIMES BY ROBERTSON, OR MAY NEVER HAVE COME INTO BEING HAD HE DIED AT A LATER AGE.

THE GOLFERS BY CHARLES LEES, 1847
This large painting shows a match being played on the Old Course at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, St Andrews. The centre of everybody's attention is a decisive moment in a match between Sir David Baird and Sir Ralph Anstruther against Major Hugh Lyon Playfair and John Campbell of Glen Saddel. Lee carefully composed this complex scene, which includes over fifty individual portraits,
using photographs of some of the golfers to help him.

OLD TOM MORRIS WOULD GO ON TO WIN THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR TIMES, AND RETURN TO ST ANDREWS AND OVERSEE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPORT AND THE OLD COURSE IN THE LATE 1800'S.

HIS SON, TOMMY, WOULD GO ON TO WIN FOUR OPENS AS WELL, BECOMING THE YOUNGEST EVER OPEN CHAMPION AT THE AGE OF 17, A RECORD WHICH STILL STANDS TO THIS DAY.

YOUNG TOM SEEMED SET TO MAKE MORE RECORDS BUT HIS LIFE WAS TRAGICALLY CUT SHORT AT THE AGE OF JUST 24 WHEN HE DIED ON CHRISTMAS DAY, 1875.

HIS FATHER WOULD DESIGN NUMEROUS COURSES ACROSS SCOTLAND AND IRELAND AND LEAVE A LEGACY ON THE GAME WHICH IS STILL FELT TODAY.

John Reid and Robert Lockhart, were from Dunfermline, a town 35 miles South West of St Andrews. Reid was born in 1840 and emigrated from Scotland to the United States as a teenager and when returning to Scotland he was inspired by talks given by Old Tom Morris outside his shop by the 18th green of the Old Course. Reid’s friend, Robert Lockhart, bought six clubs and 12 gutta percha balls and took them to the US.

Reid borrowed the clubs and tried to show friends how the game was played, over time this evolved into something more formal and eventually in 1888 a club was formed. Reid and Lockhart were joined by Henry O Tallmadge, Harry Holbrook, Kingman H Putnam and Alexander PW Kinman in playing the game at an Apple Orchard in Yonkers, New York.

At the end of their competitions the six used to share a ‘Wee dram’ of Scotch Whisky by one of the Apple Trees, and they quickly became known as the ‘Apple Tree Gang’. The club was formally established as the Saint Andrews Golf Club in Yonkers, New York. The club has been on its current site since 1897 and in 1983 the course was redesigned by Jack Nicklaus.

The Saint Andrews Golf Club was one of the clubs which founded the United States Golf Association in 1895 along with Newport Golf Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, The Country Club and Chicago Golf Club.

THAT SAME YEAR THE USGA HELD ITS FIRST CHAMPIONSHIPS - THE US AMATEUR, US WOMEN'S AMATEUR, AND AS SOMETHING OF AN AFTERTHOUGHT, THE US OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP.

OVER THE NEXT 15 YEARS THE US OPEN WOULD ESSENTIALLY BE CONTESTED BY SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH GOLFERS WITH THE ODD EXCEPTIONAL HOME BASED PLAYER. THE SPORT WAS STILL VERY MUCH FOR THE ELITE IN PRIVATE CLUBS AND THERE WAS NO BETTER EXAMPLE OF THIS THAN THE COUNTRY CLUB, IN BROOKLINE MASSACHUSETTS.

IT IS WIDELY CONSIDERED TO BE THE FIRST COUNTRY CLUB IN AMERICA, OFFERING MEMBERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO INDULGE IN HORSE-BACK RIDING AND OTHER OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES, WITH GOLF AGAIN NOT BEING FRONT AND CENTRE OF THE CLUB. THE COURSE DEVELOPED FROM 1893, SOME 11 YEARS AFTER THE CLUB OPENED.

WHILST GOLF WAS TAKEN ACROSS THE ATLANTIC IN THE 1880'S IT MADE ITS DEBUT IN FRANCE IN THE 1850'S WITH THE OPENING OF THE PAU GOLF CLUB IN 1856, THE SPORT WAS INTRODUCED BY A COLLECTION OF ENGLISH GOLFERS. THE FRENCH OPEN HAD ITS INAUGURAL EDITION IN 1906, PLAYED AT Racing Club de France La Boulie, NEAR VERSAILLES.

THE GAME WAS INTRODUCED TO GERMANY IN 1883, WITH THE FIRST GOLF CLUB OPENING IN 1901 AND THE FORMATION OF THE GERMAN GOLF FEDERATION IN 1907. THE FIRST GERMAN OPEN WAS PLAYED IN 1911.

THE GAME CONTINUED TO SPREAD ACROSS EUROPE IN THE LATE 1800S AND EARLY 1900S WITH BELGIUM (1888), ITALY (1889), SPAIN (1891), NETHERLANDS (1893), DENMARK (1898) AND SWEDEN (1901) ALL BEING INTRODUCED TO GOLF BY TRAVELLERS FROM SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND.

AT THE SAME TIME EMIGRANTS FROM SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND WERE INTRODUCING THE GAME OF GOLF EVEN FURTHER AFIELD FROM ST ANDREWS. Golf was first played in South Africa in 1885 on Waterloo Green, Wynberg, near Cape Town. The first club to form was the Cape Golf Club (now the Royal Cape Golf Club), AND THE FIRST EDITION OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN WAS PLAYED IN 1893 with a series of challenge matches, making it the oldest event in the sport outside the open championship.

REMARKABLY THE GAME WAS INTRODUCED TO INDIA BY SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH IN 1829, MAKING IT THE FIRST COUNTRY OUTSIDE OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND TO RECEIVE THE SPORT OF GOLF. THE GAME REMAINED SOMEWHAT OF A PRESERVE OF THE ELITE AND THE BRITISH IN INDIA FOR MANY YEARS, AND TOURNAMENT GOLF TOOK MUCH LONGER TO ESTABLISH, WITH THE FIRST INDIAN OPEN PLAYED IN 1964.

THE GAME EXPANDED MORE GLOBALLY WITH AUSTRALIA BEING INTRODUCED TO THE GAME BY Alexander Brodie Spark IN 1839. THE GAME WAS FORMALISED WITH THE CREATION OF WHAT IS NOW GOLF AUSTRALIA IN 1898 AND THE FIRST PLAYING OF THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN IN 1904. SOME 32 YEARS AFTER AUSTRALIA THEIR NEIGHBOURS NEW ZEALAND WERE INTRODUCED TO THE GAME (1871) AND THE NEW ZEALAND OPEN WAS FIRST PLAYED IN 1907. THE GAME WAS INTRODUCED TO ANOTHER PART OF THE PACIFIC SOME 32 YEARS LATER, WITH THE FIRST RECORD OF THE SPORT IN JAPAN COMING FROM 1903.

ANOTHER SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE NATION WHICH WAS INTRODUCED TO THE GAME AROUND THE SAME TIME WAS ARGENTINA (1890) WITH THE FIRST ARGENTINE OPEN BEING PLAYED IN 1905. THE UNITED STATES NORTHERN COUSIN, CANADA BEING INTRODUCED TO THE GAME IN THE 1870'S, WITH ITS FIRST GOLF CLUB FORMING IN 1873 (ROYAL MONTREAL). THE CANADIAN OPEN WAS FIRST PLAYED IN 1904.

SO BY THE START OF THE 20TH CENTURY GOLF WAS ALREADY ON EVERY CONTINENT OF THE WORLD, SOMEWHAT DEFYING THE CLAIM BY THE MODERN TOURS THAT THEY ARE GROWING THE GAME. THEY MIGHT WELL BE MAKING IT BIGGER, BUT THE GLOBAL GROWTH OF THE SPORT IS DOWN TO EMIGRANTS FROM SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND, NOT THE INFLUENCE OF WHITE MEN IN SUITS AT TPC SAWGRASS AND WENTWORTH.

AT THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY THE GAME WAS LARGELY STILL AN AMATEUR PURSUIT, BUT THREE MEN'S DOMINATION OF THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP AND ONE MAN'S TOUR OF THE UNITED STATES WOULD CHANGE THIS.

BETWEEN 1894 and 1914 HARRY VARDON, JAMES BRAID AND JOHN HENRY TAYLOR WOULD WIN A COMBINED 16 OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS, REMARKABLE DOMINATION THAT HAS NEVER BEEN MATCHED OR COME CLOSE TO BY ANOTHER TRIUMVIRATE IN HISTORY.

VARDON WOULD BECOME WIDELY RECOGNISED AS THE WORLD'S FIRST TOURING PROFESSIONAL WHEN IN 1900 when he toured the United States and Canada. Vardon played in more than 90 matches and capped it off with a victory in the U.S. Open, where Taylor was second.

Vardon wrote that while on this tour, he lost only two matches while playing head-to-head against a single opponent, and both were against the Boston professional Bernard Nicholls, older brother of Gilbert Nicholls; the Nicholls brothers had recently emigrated from the British Isles.

In 1913, accompanied by Ted Ray, Vardon played in 45 exhibition matches winning 36 of them, and in 1920 at age 50, again accompanied by Ray, he played from July to the beginning of November in nearly 100 exhibition/challenge matches. THE TOURS MADE VARDON THE BIGGEST GOLFING CELEBRITY ON THE PLANET, AND HIS PARTICIPATION IN THE 1913 US OPEN AT BROOKLINE WOULD SPARK A GOLFING BOOM.

IN 1912 JOHN MCDERMOTT BECAME THE FIRST AMERICAN WINNER OF THE US OPEN, BUT IN 1913 VARDON WOULD CONTEST HIS FIRST US OPEN SINCE HIS VICTORY IN 1900. A THEN 5-TIME OPEN CHAMPION AND RENOWNED DUE TO HIS TOURS OF THE USA, VARDON WAS THE OVERWHELMING FAVOURITE.

REMARKABLY FRANCIS OUIMET, A LOCAL CADDIE AND AMATEUR GOLFER, AGED JUST 20, DEFIED THE ODDS AND DEFEATED VARDON AND HIS GOLFING COMPATRIOT FROM JERSEY, TED RAY, IN A PLAYOFF TO STUN THE WORLD AND WIN THE US OPEN.

THE VICTORY MADE NEWS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND THE WORLD THROUGH THE RADIO AND NEWSPAPERS OF THE DAY. GOLF PARTICIPATION AND COURSE BUILDING WOULD EXPAND RAPIDLY, WITH MORE THAN 2 MILLION PEOPLE TAKING UP THE GAME WITHIN THE NEXT DECADE.

THIS GOLFING BOOM REQUIRED MORE GOLF CLUB PROFESSIONALS AND THE PROFESSIONAL GAME BECAME MORE POPULAR, WITH MORE TOURNAMENTS AND GOLFING RETAIL GROWING RAPIDLY. THESE GOLFERS NEEDED REPRESENTATION AND TO ORGANISE THEMSELVES.

PROFESSIONAL GOLFERS' ASSOCIATIONS WERE ALREADY CREATED IN GREAT BRITAIN (1901) AND AUSTRALIA (1911), BUT THE CREATION OF THE PGA OF AMERICA IN 1916 WOULD ELEVATE PROFESSIONAL GOLFERS AND CREATE THEIR OWN CHAMPIONSHIP, THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP.

John Wanamaker opened his store, Wanamaker’s, in 1876 and the store was the first department store in Philadelphia. In 1863 John Wanamaker and his wife Mary Erringer Brown had a child called Lewis Rodman Wanamaker. Rodman joined his father’s business at the age of 23 after studying at Princeton University. In 1889 he went to Paris to manage the Wanamaker Store in the French capital. When his father purchased the former Alexander Turney Stewart business in New York Rodman returned and made it a success.

With his father ageing Rodman took on a more prominent role. He had a passion for golf and on January 17, 1916 he invited a group of 35 golf club professionals and industry representatives to a luncheon in New York at the Taplow Club in the now Radisson Hotel Martinique on Broadway.

After further meetings the Professional Golfers’ Association of America was formally established on April 10, 1916 and the inaugural PGA Championship was contested at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York from 10 to 14 October.

32 professionals contested 36-hole matches over five days with England’s Jim Barnes and St Andrews’ Jock Hutchison reaching the final.

Barnes prevailed 3&1 but Hutchison would go on to win the 1920 Championship and on his return to his native St Andrews, as a naturalized American, won the 1921 Open Championship – he was the first US citizen to win the claret jug and remains the last man from St Andrews to win The Open.

Despite that inaugural win by an Englishman, it was only apt that a man from St Andrews, would take his place in the first final of the PGA Championship.

Jock Hutchison was born in St. Andrews, in 1884.

He immigrated to the US in the early 1900s, settling in Pittsburgh at the Allegheny Country Club. By 1918, he was at Glen View Club in the Village of Golf, Illinois. In 1919, he became a PGA professional. The PGA and the PGA Championship was off and running.

Just as St Andrews played a crucial role in the development of the game and spread of it, they did so in the establishment of what is now the largest operating sports organisation in the world.

AT THE TIME OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP THE MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS OF THE DAY FOR MEN WERE VERY MUCH THE TWO OPENS (US OPEN, THE OPEN) AND THE TWO AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPS (US AMATEUR, THE AMATEUR). AND IT WOULD BE THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF ONE MAN IN THOSE FOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS WHICH WOULD LEAD GOLF ONTO ITS NEXT MAJOR DEVELOPMENT.

BOBBY JONES WAS THE SECOND GOLFING PHENOM THE WORLD HAD EVER SEEN AFTER YOUNG TOM MORRIS. JONES FIRST PLAYED IN THE US OPEN AS 20-YEAR-OLD IN 1920, AND OVER THE NEXT DECADE HE WOULD BECOME THE MOST FAMOUS GOLFER ON THE PLANET.

JONES WOULD WIN 13 MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS - 7 PROFESSIONAL AND 6 AMATEUR. HIS FIRST MAJOR WOULD BE THE 1923 US OPEN AND THROUGH THE NEXT 6 YEARS HE WOULD WIN THE US OPEN IN 1923, 1926 AND 1929, ALONG WITH THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP IN 1926 AND 1927, US AMATEUR IN 1924, 1925, 1927 AND 1928. ONE TITLE STILL ELUDED JONES. THE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP.

BY 1930 THE WORLD WAS ASKING THE QUESTION. COULD HE WIN ALL FOUR?

INCREDIBLY JONES WON THE The Amateur Championship, Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland (May 31, 1930), The Open Championship, Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, England (June 20, 1930), U.S. Open, Interlachen Country Club, Minnesota (July 12, 1930) AND THE U.S. Amateur, Merion Golf Club, Pennsylvania (September 27, 1930).

HIS VICTORY IN ALL FOUR WAS SO STUNNING NOBODY KNEW WHAT TO CALL IT. NEW YORK TIMES WRITER GEORGE TREVOR CALLED IT THE impregnable quadrilateral. IT WOULD BECOME LATER KNOWN AS THE GRAND SLAM.

JONES THEN RETIRED AT THE AGE OF 29. BUT HIS GREATEST LEGACY IS A TOURNAMENT AND A GOLF COURSE. TOGETHER WITH BUSINESSMAN CLIFFORD ROBERTS, JONES COMMISSIONED ALISTER MACKENZIE TO DESIGN A COURSE ON THE FRUITLANDS NURSERY IN AUGUSTA, GEORGIA. THE COURSE WOULD BE CALLED AUGUSTA NATIONAL, AND JONES HOPED TO CONVINCE THE USGA TO BRING THE US OPEN TO IT.

BUT THE OPPRESSIVE SUMMER HEAT DISCOURAGED THIS, AND JONES WOULD CREATE HIS OWN TOURNAMENT. IT WOULD BECOME KNOWN AS THE MASTERS AND CHANGE THE SPORT OF GOLF FOREVER. THE MASTERS TOURNAMENT HAS PIONEERED MANY INNOVATIONS OVER THE YEARS WHICH HAVE BECOME STANDARD FOR GOLF TOURNAMENTS ACROSS THE WORLD.

IT MUST BE NOTED THAT THE MASTERS DID NOT HAVE OR REQUIRE THE NEED FOR PGA TOUR SANCTIONING, IT WAS AN EVENT PROMOTED BY AN INDEPENDENT PROMOTER - A LEGENDARY PLAYER AND A BRAND NEW GOLF CLUB. INDEED AT THIS POINT IN TIME THE PGA TOUR WAS STILL EMBEDDED WITHIN THE PGA OF AMERICA, THIS WAS UNTIL A BREAKAWAY SOME 45 YEARS LATER IN 1968, WITH THE TOURNAMENT PLAYERS DIVISION BECOMING THE PGA TOUR IN 1975.

THIS WAS DUE TO THE INFLUX OF TELEVISION MONEY WHICH WAS LARGELY GENERATED BY FOUR MEN IN THE 1960'S, AND HOW THE PGA OF AMERICA WANTED TO DISTRIBUTE THIS MONEY. A BREAKAWAY, ABOUT MONEY? SURELY NOT.

Bobby Jones

Clifford Roberts

MARK MCCORMACK WITH HIS FIRST CLIENT, ARNOLD PALMER, IS PERHAPS THE WORLD'S MOST IMPORTANT AND INFLUENTIAL INDEPENDENT PROMOTER AND WAS INDUCTED INTO THE WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME IN 2006

BOBBY JONES MAY WELL BE THE MOST INFLUENTIAL GOLFER EVER OVER ONE MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP, BUT 30 YEARS ON FROM HIS RETIREMENT IT TOOK FOUR MEN TO COMPLETELY AND RADICALLY CHANGE THE SPORT, ITS STRUCTURE AND ITS POPULARITY. GOLF BECAME BIG BUSINESS IN THE 1960'S, LARGELY DOWN TO ARNOLD PALMER, GARY PLAYER, JACK NICKLAUS AND THEIR AGENT MARK MCCORMACK.

PALMER AND MCCORMACK WERE COLLEGE TEAM MATES AND WITH A SINGLE HAND SHAKE IN 1960 THEY LAUNCHED AN EMPIRE. MCCORMACK MADE PALMER HIS FIRST CLIENT AND LAUNCH IMG, THE INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT GROUP. 1960 WOULD BE PALMER'S ICONIC YEAR WITH WINS IN THE MASTERS AND US OPEN, AS WELL AS A SECOND PLACE FINISH AT THE HOME OF GOLF IN THE OPEN AND WINS IN 7 OTHER EVENTS INCLUDING THE WORLD CUP.

MCCORMACK HELPED TO TRANSCEND PALMER TO THE WORLD AND HELPED MAKE HIM ONE OF THE RICHEST SPORTS STARS OF THE TIME. HE THEN SIGNED UP THE EMERGING TALENT OF JACK NICKLAUS AND SOUTH AFRICAN GARY PLAYER, CREATING THE BIG THREE.

MCCORMACK AND HIS IMG COMPANY WOULD THEN CREATE SEVERAL TOURNAMENTS ACROSS THE WORLD TO SHOWCASE HIS CLIENTS, AND THESE EVENTS WOULD BECOME SOME OF THE BIGGEST EVENTS IN GOLF. THE WORLD SERIES OF GOLF LAUNCHED IN 1962 AND INITIALLY ONLY FEATURED PALMER, PLAYER AND NICKLAUS BEFORE EXPANDING TO A FOUR-MAN TOURNAMENT UNTIL 1975.

THIS UNOFFICIAL EVENT WOULD BECOME PART OF THE NEW BREAKAWAY PGA TOUR IN 1976 AND WOULD FEATURE THE RICHEST FIRST PRIZE IN PROFESSIONAL GOLF, $100,000.

OTHER MADE FOR TV EVENTS SUCH AS BIG 3 GOLF WOULD TAKE PLACE, ESSENTIALLY PROMOTING PALMER, PLAYER AND NICKLAUS TO THE US AUDIENCE.

MCCORMACK THEN TOOK HIS VISION TO THE REST OF THE WORLD.

THE FIRST EVENT HE FORMED OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES WAS THE WORLD MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP, PLAYED AT THE WENTWORTH CLUB IN SURREY, ENGLAND FROM 1964. PALMER, PLAYER AND NICKLAUS WERE JOINED BY PETER BUTLER, NEIL COLES, TONY LEMA AND BRUCE DEVLIN FOR THE 8-MAN EVENT WHICH INCLUDED MATCHES OVER 36 HOLES WITH THE QUARTER-FINALS ON FRIDAY, SEMI-FINALS ON SATURDAY AND FINAL ON SUNDAY.

OVER THE NEXT 30 YEARS THE CHAMPIONSHIP WOULD BECOME ONE OF THE BIGGEST IN THE WORLD OUTSIDE THE US, WITH LEGENDS OF THE GAME CLAIMING THE TITLE AT WENTWORTH. 6 YEARS LATER MCCORMACK WOULD LAUNCH THE TROPHEE LANCOME AT Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche NEAR PARIS. AGAIN THIS TOURNAMENT WOULD BEGIN IN 1970 WITH A VERY LIMITED FIELD FEATURING 8 OF THE WORLD'S BEST GOLFERS, BEING WON BY TONY JACKLIN.

THE FIELD GRADUALLY EXPANDED AND WOULD BECOME A KEY EUROPEAN TOUR EVENT UNTIL THE MID-2000'S. IN THE EARLY 1970'S NICKLAUS LEFT IMG TO HANDLE HIS OWN MANAGEMENT AND CREATE HIS OWN COMPANY, BUT DURING THE 1960'S AND 70'S THE BIG THREE WERE TEMPTED DOWN UNDER BY PROMINENT AUSTRALIAN MOGUL KERRY PACKER.

PACKER'S SPONSORSHIP OF THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN ENABLED THE TOURNAMENT TO RECRUIT THE BIG THREE AND REMARKABLY BETWEEN 1958 AND 1978 PALMER, PLAYER AND NICKLAUS WOULD LIFT THE STONEHAVEN CUP ON A COMBINED 14 OCCASIONS. PACKER'S PAYMENT OF THESE THREE ICONS WAS PERHAPS THE FIRST INSTANCE OF AN INDIVIDUAL PAYING THE BIG NAMES OF THE GAME TO LEAVE THE UNITED STATES AND COME TO PLAY IN HIS COUNTRY.

THIS INTERVENTION FROM PACKER, WHO ALSO CREATED WORLD SERIES CRICKET, ELEVATED THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN TO NEW HEIGHTS, SO MUCH SO THAT JACK NICKLAUS CONSIDERED IT THE FIFTH MAJOR.

THE 1970'S WOULD ALSO SEE THE CREATION OF THE MODERN EUROPEAN TOUR, JAPAN GOLF TOUR, SOUTHERN AFRICA PGA TOUR AND PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA, BRINGING TOGETHER THE TOP TOURNAMENTS ON THE CONTINENTS OF EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA AND AUSTRALASIA AND FORMALLY RECOGNISING THE BEST PLAYERS IN EACH REGION.

IN THE EARLY 1970'S THE JAPAN GOLF TOUR CREATED THE INTERNATIONAL TOUR, A SERIES OF 3 TOURNAMENTS WHICH EXISTED WITH A MISSION TO BRING THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE WORLD TO JAPAN.

THE DUNLOP PHOENIX TOURNAMENT AT SEAGIA PHOENIX COUNTRY CLUB IN MIYAZAKI, CASIO WORLD OPEN (1981) AT Kuroshio Country Club in Geisei AND THE TAIHEIYO CLUB MASTERS (1972) IN SHIZUOKA WOULD FEATURE ALMOST EVERY GREAT PLAYER OF THE ERA WITH NUMEROUS MAJOR CHAMPIONS AND WORLD NUMBER ONES GOING ON TO TAKE AT LEAST ONE OF THESE THREE TITLES IN THEIR CAREER INCLUDING TIGER WOODS.

IN 1981 MONEY WOULD AGAIN BE AT THE HEART OF EXPANDING THE HORIZONS OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST GOLFERS, WITH Sol Kerzner DEVELOPING SUN CITY IN SOUTH AFRICA AND COMMISSIONING GARY PLAYER TO DESIGN A GOLF COURSE. THE RESORT THEN CREATED A TOURNAMENT WHICH WOULD BECOME KNOWN AS 'AFRICA'S MAJOR'. THE MILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGE WAS AN ELITE FIELD, INVITATION ONLY TOURNAMENT WITH THE RICHEST PRIZE IN GOLF AT THE TIME. OVER THE NEXT 30 YEARS IT WOULD ATTRACT ALMOST EVERY BIG NAME IN GOLF, WITH MOST OF THEM WINNING AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER.

THIS EVENT IS AN EXAMPLE OF A WEALTHY INDIVIDUAL CREATING A NEW TOURNAMENT AND BRINGING THE WORLD'S BEST TO A COUNTRY THEY MAY NEVER OTHERWISE PLAY GOLF IN, AND IS, IN ESSENCE NO DIFFERENT TO WHAT THE SAUDIS ARE ATTEMPTING TO DO IN 2022. AND REMEMBER, IN 1981 SOUTH AFRICA WAS STILL IN THE MIDST OF Apartheid.

THE NEDBANK MILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGE WASN'T THEN SANCTIONED BY ANY MAJOR TOUR, AND IN LATER YEARS OTHER EXAMPLES CAN BE CITED OF BIG TOURNAMENTS BEING CREATED BY COMPANIES OR INDIVIDUALS WHICH HAVE HAD A MAJOR IMPACT ON THE SPORT. ONE SUCH EXAMPLE IS JOHNNIE WALKER AND THEIR SPONSORSHIP OF THE JOHNNIE WALKER CLASSIC, WHICH WAS INITIALLY NOT SANCTIONED BY ANY TOUR BUT WENT ON TO FLOURISH ON THE EUROPEAN, ASIAN AND AUSTRALASIAN TOUR, BEING WON BY ICONS OF THE GAME.

IN 1992 THE SCOTTISH WHISKY BRAND CREATED THE JOHNNIE WALKER WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP, AN EVENT WHICH CARRIED SONY RANKING POINTS, BUT WAS NOT SANCTIONED BY ANY MAJOR TOUR. THE 30-PLAYER TOURNAMENT WAS PLAYED IN DECEMBER AT WAS INTENDED TO BE A GLOBAL EVENT TO RIVAL THE MAJORS.

PLAYED IN JAMAICA AT TRYALL GOLF CLUB IT ATTRACTED MANY OF THE WORLD'S BEST AND FEATURED A HEAD-TO-HEAD BETWEEN NICK FALDO AND GREG NORMAN, NOW THAT'S WHERE HE GOT THE IDEA!

IN THE 1980'S THE PGA TOUR AND EUROPEAN TOUR SOUGHT TO MAKE THEIR SEASONS MEANINGFUL AND PRODUCE A DRAMATIC FINALE TO THE SEASON, AND IN DOING SO BRING IN MORE SPONSORS TO GENERATE EVEN GREATER WEALTH FOR THE PLAYERS.

IN 1987 THE PGA TOUR REBRANDED AND REPACKAGED ITS MONEY LIST AS THE NABISCO GRAND PRIX, A SEASON-LONG RACE TO REACH THE SEASON-ENDING NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIPS.

THE NABISCO GRAND PRIX WOULD FEATURE $1MILLION IN BONUS MONEY PAID TO THE TOP 30 MONEY LEADERS ON THE PGA TOUR, A $2MILLION PURSE FOR THE SEASON-ENDING NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIPS AND $2MILLION RAISED FOR CHARITY FROM A GRAND PRIX TEAM CHARITY COMPETITION.

IN 1987 THE MAJORS CARRIED PURSES OF UNDER $1MILLION, MAKING THE NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIPS BY FAR THE RICHEST EVENT ON THE TOUR, AND THE FIRST PRIZE OF $360,000 WAS THE RICHEST PRIZE ON THE TOUR BY OVER $130,000.

THE NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIPS WOULD BECOME THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP IN 1991.

IN 1988 THE EUROPEAN TOUR BECAME THE VOLVO TOUR UNDER A NEW SPONSORSHIP AGREEMENT WITH THE SWEDISH CAR MANUFACTURER, WHO WOULD ALSO SPONSOR ITS SEASON-ENDING EVENT, THE VOLVO MASTERS, AT THE VALDERRAMA GOLF CLUB IN SPAIN.

THE VOLVO MASTERS WOULD BE THE DEFINITIVE END OF THE EUROPEAN TOUR SEASON FOR OVER 20 YEARS.

ADMINISTRATORS (LEFT TO RIGHT, BELOW) DEANE BEMAN, TIM FINCHEM, KEN SCHOFIELD AND GEORGE O'GRADY WOULD BE KEY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PGA TOUR AND EUROPEAN TOUR FROM THE 1980'S TO THE 2000'S.

Deane Beman

Tim Finchem

Ken Schofield

George O'Grady

GOING INTO THE 1990'S GOLF HAD STAR POWER AGAIN FOLLOWING A GOLDEN DECADE FEATURING THE STELLAR ACHIEVEMENTS OF SEVE BALLESTEROS, NICK FALDO, CURTIS STRANGE AND GREG NORMAN AMONG OTHERS. NORMAN, AS GOLF'S UNDISPUTED WORLD NUMBER ONE IN THE SONY RANKING ERA BELIEVED THAT THE PLAYERS DESERVED MORE THAN THEY WERE GETTING FROM THE PGA TOUR AND WANTED TO CREATE A SERIES, A NEW TOUR, A WORLD TOUR.

THE WORLD TOUR WAS BACKED BY EXECUTIVE SPORTS INC AND WAS SET TO BE BROADCAST BY FOX TELEVISION IN THE UNITED STATES, WHICH WAS OWNED BY RUPER MURDOCH (MORE ON HIM LATER!). THE TOUR WAS SCHEDULED TO HAVE 8 EVENTS PER SEASON - 4 IN THE UNITED STATES, 1 IN SCOTLAND, 1 IN JAPAN, 1 IN CANADA AND 1 IN AUSTRALIA. EACH EVENT WAS SET TO HAVE 30-40 PLAYERS BASED ON THE SONY RANKINGS, ALONG WITH SPONSORS INVITES AND WOULD CARRY A PURSE OF $3MILLION, WHICH AT THE TIME WAS ENORMOUS FOR GOLF.

THE PLAN WAS DEFEATED BY THE PGA TOUR IN NO SMALL PART TO THE OPPOSITION FROM THE EXISTING BROADCASTERS AND STAKEHOLDERS, ALONG WITH THE WIDER PGA TOUR MEMBERSHIP, WHO FEARED LOSING OUT. THIS PIECE FROM A NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE ON THE WORLD TOUR PLANS IS SOMETHING WHICH IS VERY RELEVANT TO THE SITUATION GOLF IS NOW IN WITH THE RIVAL PLANS, AGAIN BACKED BY GREG NORMAN:

"If it succeeds, the Fox television network's bold foray into the world of golf -- in essence a plan to underwrite and broadcast an eight-tournament, $25 million World Tour starting in 1995 -- could alter the balance of power in the sport and force the PGA Tour to significantly change its structure and the way it does business."

THE PLAN DID NOT SUCCEED BUT IT DID CHANGE THE WAY THE PGA TOUR THOUGHT ABOUT GOLF, FOR AN ALL TOO BRIEF TIME, AND THEY DECIDED THEY NEEDED TO COME TOGETHER WITH THE OTHER TOURS OF THE WORLD.

IN 1995 THE EUROPEAN TOUR AND SUNSHINE TOUR STAGED THE FIRST EVER CO-SANCTIONED TOURNAMENTS BETWEEN TWO TOURS - THE LEXINGTON SOUTH AFRICAN PGA CHAMPIONSHIP - PLAYED AT THE WANDERERS COUNTRY CLUB NEAR JOHANNESBURG IN SOUTH AFRICA. THE TOURNAMENT WAS WON BY ERNIE ELS, WHO WOULD BECOME SOMEWHAT OF A POSTER BOY FOR WORLD GOLF OVER THE NEXT 20 YEARS, WINNING CO-SANCTIONED EUROPEAN TOUR EVENTS IN ASIA, AFRICA AND AUSTRALASIA.

IN 1996 THE PGA TOUR, EUROPEAN TOUR, JAPAN GOLF TOUR, SUNSHINE TOUR AND PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA LAUNCHED THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PGA TOURS, WITH THE ASIAN TOUR JOINING IN 1999. THE TOURS ANNOUNCED THE FOLLOWING:

- Formation of the International Federation of PGA Tours;
- A structure for a generally accepted worldwide ranking system;
- Joint sanctioning by the members of the International Federation of PGA Tours of significant competitions, including some at the world championship level for the game’s top players.

Those “significant competitions” were announced in October 1997 when the Federation introduced the World Golf Championships.

The World Golf Championships were developed to enhance the competitive structure of professional golf worldwide while preserving the traditions and strengths of the individual Tours and their events.

THE WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS SET OUT TO BASICALLY COPY GREG NORMAN'S IDEA BUT WITHIN THE EXISTING PGA TOUR STRUCTURE, AND THE SERIES WOULD EVENTUALLY DWINDLE FROM 4 EVENTS TO 2 IN 2022, WITH A KEY CRITICISM BEING THAT THE VAST MAJORITY WERE PLAYED IN THE UNITED STATES.

OVER THE COMING DECADE THE EUROPEAN TOUR CONTINUED TO EXPAND INTO ASIA, AUSTRALASIA, THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA THROUGH A NUMBER OF CO-SANCTIONED AND SOLE SANCTIONED EVENTS, EVENTUALLY OUTGROWING ITS 'EUROPEAN' HOME AND IN 2007 THE EUROPEAN TOUR ANNOUNCED THE RACE TO DUBAI, WHICH WAS TO REPLACE THE ORDER OF MERIT, CONCLUDING AT THE DUBAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, STARTING IN 2009.

12 MONTHS EARLIER THE PGA TOUR ANNOUNCED PERHAPS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHANGE TO THE STRUCTURE OF PROFESSIONAL GOLF IN THE LAST 30 YEARS, A CHANGE WHICH WOULD VASTLY INCREASE THE DISPARITY BETWEEN THE PGA TOUR AND ANY OTHER TOUR IN THE WORLD IN TERMS OF PRIZE MONEY. THE FEDEX CUP WOULD SEE GOLF'S FIRST EVER SERIES OF PLAYOFF EVENTS TO CONCLUDE THE SEASON, INITIALLY WITH A FIRST PRIZE OF $10MILLION AND A BONUS POOL OF $35MILLION.

THE PGA TOUR EVENTUALLY FOLLOWED THE EUROPEAN TOUR'S LEAD AND VENTURED INTO ASIA, BUT THE DIFFERENCE WAS THEY CREATED NEW EVENTS WHICH WERE LARGELY PGA TOUR EVENTS WITH PGA TOUR MEMBER-FILLED FIELDS IN ASIAN COUNTRIES. ASIAN TOUR MEMBERS RECEIVED FAR FEWER SPOTS IN THE FIELDS FOR THE CIMB CLASSIC IN MALAYSIA AND LATER THE CJ CUP IN KOREA AND THE ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP IN JAPAN.

IN 2009 THE HSBC CHAMPIONS, WHICH WAS INITIALLY CO-SANCTIONED BY THE EUROPEAN TOUR, ASIAN TOUR, SUNSHINE TOUR AND PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA WAS ELEVATED TO WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP STATUS. THE TOURNAMENT, PLAYED IN CHINA, HAS THOUGH GRADUALLY EVOLVED FROM A WINNER'S ONLY EVENT WITH A TRULY GLOBAL FIELD TO MORE OF A PGA TOUR EVENT WITH A PGA TOUR-CENTRIC FIELD.

WITH THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PGA TOURS NOT CONTINUING TO WORK AS WAS SET OUT IN 1996, AND THE WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS DECLINING THE TOURS HAVE DECIDED TO FORM STRATEGIC ALLIANCES OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, FOCUSING MORE ON ALIGNING SCHEDULES AND GIVING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYERS FROM THEIR RESPECTIVE TOURS.

THE MOST HIGH PROFILE OF THESE STRATEGIC ALLIANCES CAME LAST AUTUMN WITH THE PGA TOUR AND NOW DP WORLD TOUR COMING TOGETHER TO CO-SANCTION THE GENESIS SCOTTISH OPEN, BARRACUDA CHAMPIONSHIP AND BARBASOL CHAMPIONSHIP. AND WITH THE ASIAN TOUR NOW SEEN AS A THREAT DUE TO THEIR SAUDI INVESTMENT AND BACKING BY GREG NORMAN'S LIV GOLF INVESTMENTS, THE TWO LEADING TOURS IN THE GAME SEEM TO BE GETTING CLOSER AS THEY LOOK TO PROTECT WHAT THEY FEEL IS THEIRS.

Rights, Rights and hypocrisy, the PGA Tour and European Tour GROUP fail in their bid to take the moral high ground over Greg Norman AND LIV GOLF INVESTMENTS

almost as soon as it was revealed greg NORMAN WAS INVOLVED WITH THE ASIAN TOUR PROJECT AND THAT IT WAS BACKED BY THE SAUDI PIF THE INSULTS AND THE CRIES OF SPORTS-WASHING BEGAN.

NORMAN HAS HAD HIS INTEGRITY QUESTIONED AND REPUTATION TRASHED BY SOME IN THE MEDIA, AND CRIES OF SPORTS-WASHING BY SAUDI ARABIA ARE IN STARK CONTRAST TO THE REACTION TO THE RECENT ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE EUROPEAN TOUR, WHICH WE WILL ADDRESS LATER.

BELOW ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF THE INSULTS AN HYPOCRITICAL COMMENTS FROM SOME IN THE MEDIA AND SOME PROMINENT PLAYERS:

GOLF WEEK
"Lynch: Greg Norman's Saudi deal reveals nothing about golf's future, but plenty about him"
...All we know for certain is that it says something about the character of Greg Norman, and that something ain’t flattering."
"Lynch: Let golf's catch-all cliché—'grow the game'—die of shame at the Saudi International"

PRO GOLF NOW
"Greg Norman loves money, not golf"
"Greg Norman is 66 years old. His legacy is established and crystal clear. Norman is remembered now, and will be forever, for two things – (1) His rollercoaster career marked by supreme golfing talent and epic meltdowns in majors and (2) his love of money."

INSIDE ARABIA
"Saudi Arabia Hires Greg Norman to “Sports Wash” its Human Rights Record"

GOLF DIGEST MIDDLE EAST
"Greg Norman involvement in Saudi-backed golf disruptor has only ‘hardened’ Rory McIlroy’s disapproval"

COLIN MONTGOMERIE
“We used to work well with the Asian Tour and now we are at loggerheads because of money. It's a problematic issue. It's that horrible, evil word, money. The mighty dollar ruling people's hearts and minds."

RORY MCILROY
“I’m very much against it,”

“I don’t see why anyone would be for it.”

“They first contacted me back in 2014,”

“So this is seven years down the line and nothing has really changed. Maybe the source of the money has changed or the people that are in charge have changed, but nothing has happened. No sponsorship deals, no media deals, no players have signed up, no manufacturers have signed up. There’s been so many iterations.

“You go back to what happened in Europe with the European Super League in football. People can see it for what it is, a money grab, which is fine if what you’re playing golf for is to make as much money as possible. Totally fine, then go and do that if that’s what makes you happy.

“I’m just speaking about my own beliefs; I’m playing this game to try to cement my place in history and my legacy and to win major championships and to win the biggest tournaments in the world. I honestly don’t think there’s a better structure in place and I don’t think there will be.”

Neil Moralee

ALTHOUGH THERE CAN BE LITTLE ARGUMENT SAUDI ARABIA'S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD AND TREATMENT OF WOMEN AND LGBTQ+ PEOPLE IS ABSOLUTELY ABHORRENT TO WESTERN SOCIETY AND VALUES, THERE CAN ALSO BE NO DOUBT THAT THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES ALSO FAILS TO LIVE UP TO THE EXPECTATIONS WE ALL HAVE OF A CIVILISED SOCIETY.

THE DP WORLD TOUR, FORMERLY THE EUROPEAN TOUR, HAS PLAYED TOURNAMENTS IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES SINCE 1989 AND SINCE 2009 HAS PLAYED AT LEAST 3 EVENTS EVERY YEAR IN THE COUNTRY INCLUDING THE DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC, ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP AND DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP. THEY EVEN RENAMED THEIR ORDER OF MERIT - THE RACE TO DUBAI, AND FROM 2022 THE TOUR WILL BE KNOWN AS THE DP WORLD TOUR AFTER A MAJOR DEAL WITH DUBAI BASED LOGISTICS COMPANY DP WORLD.

WHAT WAS THE EUROPEAN TOUR IS VERY MUCH NOW THE UAE TOUR, WITH OVER $30,000,000 BEING PAID OUT AT TOURNAMENTS IN THE UAE IN 2022 AND THE TOUR'S PRIZE MONEY THROUGHOUT THE SEASON EXCEEDING $200,000,000 IN LARGE PART DUE TO THE DEAL WITH DP WORLD.

OTHER UAE BASED COMPANIES INCLUDING EMIRATES AIRLINES AND DUBAI DUTY FREE HAVE SPONSORED EUROPEAN TOUR EVENTS AND THE TOUR ITSELF FOR MANY YEARS. IT SEEMS HOWEVER THAT THE UAE HAS EFFECTIVELY CONVINCED THE OUTSIDE WORLD THAT IT IS A CIVILISED, FREE SOCIETY, WHEN OF COURSE THE TRUTH IS ANYTHING BUT THAT.

BELOW IS A COMPARISON OF KEY HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES AND SAUDI ARABIA, YOU WILL SEE VERY LITTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO ARAB NATIONS.

BUT LET'S SEE WHAT THE WORLD OF GOLF SAID IN RESPONSE TO THE EUROPEAN TOUR'S DEALS WITH THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES OVER THE YEARS:

"A PARTNERSHIP WE HAVE ENJOYED TOGETHER FOR MORE THAN A DECADE...

"THE EUROPEAN TOUR GROUP IS PROUD TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH SUCH AN INNOVATIVE AND PRESTIGIOUS PARTNER...

"DP WORLD IS SPECIAL...

"THE NEXT PHASES OF THE PARTNERSHIP EMPHASISES THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ENTIRE UAE REGION TO THE EUROPEAN TOUR...

"WE ARE JUST SO PROUD TO HAVE DEVELOPED A RELATIONSHIP IN MANY AREAS OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS...
DAVID WILLIAMS, CHAIRMAN OF THE EUROPEAN TOUR GROUP, NOVEMBER 2021

"WHAT A PRIVILEGE IT IS TO BE ABLE TO USE THE DP WORLD TOUR BRAND"
KEITH PELLEY, CEO OF THE EUROPEAN TOUR GROUP, NOVEMBER 2021

"THE LEADERSHIP HERE IS TRULY VISIONARY, THEY ENCOURAGE CHANGE"
PETER DAWSON, 2017

"THEY THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX, AND THEY THINK AHEAD. VERY MODERN THINKING"
TIGER WOODS, 2017

YES "VERY MODERN THINKING" THOSE FORCED HORMONE INJECTIONS FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE GAY. GOLFERS AND ADMINISTRATORS HAVE COMPLETELY IGNORED THE MANY UNACCEPTABLE HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES FOR THE LAST 30 YEARS WHILST THEY HAVE DEVELOPED THEIR PARTNERSHIPS WITH DUBAI.

OF COURSE IT ISN'T JUST GOLF THAT THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES HAS USED TO SOFTEN ITS IMAGE ACROSS THE WORLD, THEY HAVE EFFECTIVELY MANAGED TO TURN THEIR NATION INTO A TWO-FACED SOCIETY, ONE IN WHICH THE WESTERNERS CO-EXIST WITH THE REPRESSED MUSLIM WOMEN AND ADHERE TO THE RULES WRITTEN IN THE STONE AGE BY THE RULERS OF THE EMIRATES.

THEIR SHINY CITIES OF DUBAI AND ABU DHABI BUILT WITH MONEY EARNED FROM THEIR VAST OIL RESERVES HAVE CONVINCED MUCH OF THE WATCHING WORLD THAT THEY ARE JUST LIKE THE MAJOR CITIES THEY ARE TRYING TO COPY, LAS VEGAS, NEW YORK AND LONDON.

THEN THERE'S SPORTS SPONSORSHIP ON A GLOBAL SCALE FROM UAE BASED COMPANIES:

SO SPORTS-WASHING HAS ALREADY TAKEN PLACE ON A GRAND SCALE BY THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES AND IT IS SOMETHING WHICH THE POWER BASE OF GOLF SEEM VERY COMFORTABLE WITH, THAT IS UNTIL IT THREATENS THEIR POSITION OF POWER WITHIN THE SPORT. SAUDI ARABIA IS, WITHOUT QUESTION, A COUNTRY STUCK IN THE MEDIEVAL WORLD AND EVENTS OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS HAVE SHOWN IT IS UNDER A BRUTAL DICTATORSHIP, ONE WHICH DOES NOT EVEN ATTEMPT TO WELCOME THE WORLD IN THE SAME MANNER AS THE RULERS OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES.

WHEN FORMULA 1 MADE ITS DEBUT IN SAUDI THIS DECEMBER ALL VISITORS, INCLUDING TEAM MEMBERS AND SPECTATORS, WERE GIVEN THE STRICTEST OF DRESS CODES TO ADHERE TO. YES, YOU CAN MAKE THE POINT THAT IT IS THEIR COUNTRY AND YOU SHOULD ADHERE TO THE RULES AND CUSTOMS OF THE HOST NATION, HOWEVER THIS IS A WORLDWIDE CIRCUIT WHICH TRAVELS TO ALL CORNERS OF THE GLOBE. AND THESE RULES ARE PREHISTORIC AND AN EMPHASIS OF THE TOTAL CONTROL OF THE RULING FAMILY OVER ALL PEOPLE WITHIN THE COUNTRY, WHETHER THEY ARE RESIDENT OR NOT.

BY THESE STANDARDS THE UAE CAN BE SEEN AS BEING MORE LIBERAL, BUT ONLY WITHIN THE HOTEL AND RESORT SETTING, AND NOT ON THE STREET, AND PEOPLE HAVE BEEN IMPRISONED FOR SEEMINGLY MINOR OFFENCES, IF INDEED THEY ARE EVEN OFFENCES AT ALL.

EXAMPLES OF THE STRICT RULE OF LAW IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, PARTICULARLY DUBAI:

A British football coach handed a 25-year sentence in a Dubai prison after being found with four bottles of CBD vape oil has had his sentenced reduced to 10 years on appeal. Billy Hood, 24, from Kensington, London, was arrested shortly after moving to the county in January this year after being found with four small bottles of CBD vape oil in his car.

The liquid - which is legal in the UK - contains trace elements of THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, which is illegal in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai authorities took a signed confession from the football coach, but the 24-year-old said he was coerced into agreeing to the document - which was also written in Arabic, a language he cannot speak, read or write.

As a result, Mr Hood was charged with trafficking the oil and given a far harsher punishment than expected. SOURCE: ITV NEWS

British chef Luke Tully claims he was thrown in jail for 19 months in Dubai after police thought a customer booking a table was code for a drugs deal. The chef was working at a restaurant in the city when he was sent a text message by a dealer he knew requesting a table for 10 people. When the dealer was arrested, police seized his phone and read the message to 43-year-old Mr Tully, believing the message was code for a drug deal for 10g of cocaine.

The dad-of-four has said police officers threatened to throw him off a balcony unless he “told them where the drugs were” before he was thrown in a cell for more than a year. Mr Tully claims to have spent £150,000 on legal fees and is now back home in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, after the case was thrown out when a judge ruled there was not enough evidence.

In a message to fellow Brits planning to visit the UAE, he said: “Don’t bother if you value your liberty.” SOURCE: DAILY MIRROR

A British woman was detained in Dubai and faced being locked up for two years for sending a 'f*** you' WhatsApp message to her flatmate earlier this year.

The 31-year-old HR manager was detained as she tried to leave Dubai on January 30 after her flatmate complained to local police about her offensive message.

The pair had reportedly been arguing about the use of their dining room table while working from home during the pandemic. SOURCE: DAILY MIRROR

Brit jailed in Dubai for CBD oil has gone 'off radar' and can't be contacted

He was moved from a jail in Dubai to one in Abu Dhabi and hasn't been in touch with his family since: The family of a footballer who was sentenced to decades in a United Arab Emirates (UAE) prison for possession of CBD oil have said they are unable to contact him. Billy Hood was arrested back in January 2021 by Dubai police for being in possession of tiny bottles of CBD vape oil and was subsequently sentenced to 25 years behind bars.

Along with claims from a friend that he was tortured into a confession, there have been accusations that the case against the 24-year-old was "manufactured" by police.

This has led his family to become increasingly concerned for his welfare after becoming unable to contact him. His mum claims that Hood has not even been able to contact his lawyer since he was moved from a jail in Dubai to one on Abu Dhabi, according to the Sun.

BOTH SAUDI ARABIA AND THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES ARE GUILTY OF A RANGE OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMES TOO, WITH DUBAI RULER SHEIKH MOHAMMED WAS RECENTLY FOUND TO BE GUILTY OF THE FOLLOWING BY A UK COURT:

Sheikh Mohammed orchestrated the abductions of two of his other children, Princess Latifa and Princess Shamsa – in the latter case from the streets of Cambridge – and subjected Haya to a campaign of “intimidation”.

Using NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, he hacked the phones of Haya (HIS EX-WIFE) and five of her associates, including two of her lawyers, while the couple were locked in court proceedings.

His agents attempted to buy a £30m estate next door to Haya’s Berkshire home in a “very significant threat to her security”. (SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN)

AND OF COURSE THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL RECENT CRIME COMMITTED BY SAUDI ARABIA WAS THE ALLEGED MURDER OF JOURNALIST Jamal Khashoggi, WHICH YOU CAN WATCH MORE ABOUT IN THE ABOVE VIDEO.

SAUDI ARABIA AND THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES ARE BOTH SEEN AS VALUED ALLIES TO THE WESTERN WORLD, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO THE WARS IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ, AND OF COURSE WHEN IT COMES TO OIL. SO IT IS SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE UK GOVERNMENT OR US GOVERNMENT TO PUNISH EITHER NATION FOR THEIR INTERNATIONAL CRIMES, OR INTERVENE IN THEIR PREHISTORIC REPRESSION OF THEIR NATIVE PEOPLE.

IT IS A SIMPLE FACT THAT NO MAJOR WORLD SPORT SHOULD EVEN BE ENGAGING WITH THESE COUNTRIES, TO DO SO IS TO AT BEST IGNORE THEIR 'TRADITIONS' OR AT WORST ENDORSE THEIR REPRESSION AND PREHISTORIC 'VALUES.'

UNFORTUNATELY THE MOST WORRYING FACT IS THE UNITED KINGDOM HAS BEEN GOVERNED FOR THE LAST 11 YEARS BY A PARTY WHICH DOES NOT BELIEVE IN HUMAN RIGHTS, AND HAS SPENT OVER A DECADE TRYING TO DESTROY THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT IN THIS COUNTRY. SO IT SHOULDN'T COME AS A SURPRISE TO PEOPLE THAT THE UK GOVERNMENT SEE SAUDI AND UAE AS NOT JUST ALLIES, BUT VISIONARIES.

OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS THE RIGHT TO PROTEST AND EVEN CRITICISE THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN ERODED BY BORIS JOHNSON, DOMINIC RAAB AND PRITI PATEL, AND THE UK IS MOVING TOWARDS A SOCIETY WHICH IS UNABLE TO DIRECTLY CRITICISE ITS GOVERNMENT. THIS SHOULD WORRY US ALL.

SO I AM GOING TO MAKE NO BONES ABOUT THIS. THE PGA TOUR, DP WORLD TOUR AND THE GOLFING MEDIA ARE ENORMOUS HYPOCRITES FOR CITING HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS OVER SAUDI PFI INVESTING IN GOLF, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE IN BED, WILLINGLY, WITH THE UAE WHICH HAS JUST AS AN APPALLING HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD AND A TOTAL DISREGARD FOR THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND LGBTQ+ PEOPLE, WITH THE DEATH PENALTY A PUNISHMENT AVAILABLE FOR BEING GAY.

IF THE DP WORLD TOUR REALLY CARED ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS THEY WOULD END THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH DUBAI IMMEDIATELY AND CANCEL ALL TOURNAMENTS IN DUBAI, ABU DHABI AND QATAR.

BUT THIS ISN'T ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS. IT ISN'T ABOUT MONEY. IT IS ABOUT CONTROL OF THE GAME OF GOLF, AND THE EXISTING POWER BASE WILL DO EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO SQUASH ANY NEW VISION WHICH DOESN'T FIT WITH THEIRS, SOMETHING WHICH WAS ALREADY PROVEN WHEN WE LOOK BACK TO THE 1994 WORLD GOLF TOUR PROPOSED BY GREG NORMAN AND THE STAUNCH PGA TOUR OPPOSITION TO IT.

FUNNILY ENOUGH THEY WERE SO OPPOSED TO IT THEY TOOK THE IDEA AND CREATED THE WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS, WHICH THEY CONTROLLED.

All about money? Golf already is

The rumours and debate about a Super Golf League and now confirmation of Saudi PIF backing for LIV Golf and the Asian Tour, led by Greg Norman, has been met by a typically predictable ferocious backlash by the existing power base of golf – the PGA Tour and European Tour, along with the compliant golf media which fears of speaking out in support of such a plan. Once more it has been called a “money grab” and worse by some players and the media, dismissing the credentials of such an idea out of hand.

The same happened in Football in April when 12 clubs announced plans for a European Super League. The backlash from the likes of Sky Sports was absolutely fierce, and hypocritical considering Sky were at the heart of the breakaway from the Football League in 1992. The fierce opposition from existing European Governing Body UEFA was predictable, they were threatened by the creation of this Super League and the effect it would have on its existing competitions, primarily the UEFA Champions League.

Much was made at the time of how the Super League would be bad for Football, but very quickly that claim unravelled as UEFA unveiled new plans for the UEFA Champions League, which will see players play even more matches in an expanded, convoluted format from 2024. This was never about what was best for Football, it was about who controlled Football.

Now fast forward to winter 2021-22 and this isn’t about Human Rights or what is best for golf, this is about who controls golf and the power of the PGA Tour and DP WORLD Tour.

The PGA Tour has been about money for the last 25 years, with the creation of the World Golf Championships in 1999 and the FedEx Cup in 2007. In 1998 the average prize fund of a regular PGA Tour event was $1.95million, the World Golf Championships were launched the following year with a purse of $5million, and the total PGA Tour prize fund excluding the Majors leapt from $84.3million in 1998 to $113.5million in 1999.

The next truly seismic increase came with the creation of the FedEx Cup in 2006, with its first season in 2007 and the remarkable $15million first prize for the winner of the ‘season-long’ competition. The total prize fund for the PGA Tour in 2007, including Majors, was $271.1 million and 99 players made $1million or more during the season.

Now, with the 2022 PGA Tour season underway, tour members will be competing for a mind-boggling sum of $423.1million excluding the Major Championships. This sum includes the bonus pool prize money of $75million which is paid based on the Tour Championship results, and the $20million purse at the Players Championship.

Even the DP WORLD Tour, which has lagged behind the PGA Tour for many years, has seen its prize money double due to the deal with DP World and the 2022 Race to Dubai will offer $200million including the Majors and World Golf Championships.

So the accusation that the Super Golf League or Premier Golf League is just a “money grab” isn’t just inaccurate, hypocritical or laughable, its actually immoral. Almost every player on the PGA Tour today is a millionaire, and many on the DP WORLD Tour are. And the answer to the threat of the Super Golf League is? Well throw more money around of course!

On November 12, news leaked that the PGA Tour was planning for future global events with guaranteed pay-outs for players irrespective of finish in the tournament. Golf Week said: The PGA Tour plans to create a series of lucrative, international tournaments that will offer guaranteed money to the world’s best players, Golfweek can reveal.

The Tour intends to stage between four and six events annually outside of the United States, in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The series will begin in the fall of 2023 at the earliest, though possibly not until 2024. Details of the plan were confirmed to Golfweek by an industry executive familiar with the ongoing discussions. The executive requested anonymity because they are not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.

Yet again the PGA Tour are resulting to gimmicks and patroniSing the rest of the world with the proposed creation of a set of events with a similar format to the proposed Premier Golf League, but not receiving FedEx Cup points.

“Top guys want to have a break from the FedEx Cup,” the source explained. “The setup would be so they don’t have to worry. If they play in these big events, the idea is they don’t fall behind in the FedEx Cup.”

If players want to take a break from the FedEx Cup they can play on the DP WORLD Tour, or the Asian Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia or Sunshine Tour, but the PGA Tour seem intent on squashing the opposition and making the DP WORLD Tour irrelevant. Mark my words that is their plan and nobody should be surprised if the Ryder Cup changes to USA v the Rest of the World in the future, rendering it utterly irrelevant as a Major event in the sport.

Why on earth would these proposed events not be part of the FedEx Cup? And how about expanding the Rolex Series and co-sanctioning more events with the DP WORLD Tour? How about co-sanctioning the Australian Open? The PGA Tour has patronised us all by complaining about the Saudi plan as being all about money when their own tour has been about big money for the last 30 years.

They invented the no-cut money for everyone events, they were called the World Golf Championships, the Sentry Tournament of Champions, BMW Championship, Tour Championship, CJ Cup, Zozo Championship, CIMB Classic and Hero World Challenge.

And now, in response to the threat from the Saudi backed LIV Golf led by Greg Norman, the PGA Tour has proposed a preposterous, meaningless series of events which will do exactly what they have accused the Saudis of doing, whilst damaging the prospects of significant world events recruiting the world’s top golfers.

The Australian Open is likely to return next November or December, but without significant backing has no chance of securing the field it deserves. The Nedbank Golf Challenge celebrates its 40th anniversary next year, and it should have a genuinely deep, world-class field, but it won’t be due to the PGA Tour’s seemingly relentless mission to change the name of Golf to PGA TOUR.

SUN CITY'S GARY PLAYER COUNTRY CLUB HOSTS THE NEDBANK GOLF CHALLENGE AND HAS HOSTED THE SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN Nathan Hughes Hamilton

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN FOR GOLF GOING INTO 2022?

The change from European Tour to DP World Tour is nothing more than a grand re-brand and does not elevate the Tour to new heights. We have heard this spin before when the European Tour Order of Merit became the Race to Dubai and the Volvo Masters was replaced by the DP World Tour Championship, in essence nothing changed.

The European Tour revealed a wide-ranging partnership with Dubai on Monday and the biggest part of the announcement was the creation of a new tournament, The Dubai World Championship. Following the PGA TOUR and its FedEx Cup, the European Tour has developed the Race to Dubai, which will feature the top 60 players on the Order of Merit playing for a bonus pool of $10 million. The winner of the Race to Dubai will earn $2 million and the top-15 players on the Race list will earn bonus money.

Much like the Order of Merit champion, the winner of The Race to Dubai will receive a ten-year European Tour exemption. Capping the Race to Dubai, will be The Dubai World Championship. That will be the final event on the 2009 schedule and will be contested at Jumeirah Golf Estates. It will be played on either the Fire or Earth course.

The championship will also feature a purse of $10 million, the largest purse in the world. The winner of that event will collect $1,666,660 and will pick up a five-year European Tour exemption. The Race to Dubai commences in November 2008 when the European Tour starts the 2009 International schedule.

'This is so much more than a tournament sponsorship,' said the European Tour's Chief Executive George O'Grady. 'It is a long-term partnership which will see The European Tour and Dubai joining together to significantly enhance the game world-wide and take golf to a new level for spectators everywhere.
GOLF CHANNEL 2007 after the unveiling of the Race to Dubai by the European Tour.

Due to the Worldwide Economic Crash in 2008 the purse for the Race to Dubai bonus pool and DP World Tour Championship had to be reduced and in reality the Race to Dubai has never been able to compete with the PGA Tour’s mega cash-rich FedEx Cup.

When George O’Grady retired in 2014 he had elevated the European Tour in terms of profile on the world stage and the tours schedule continued to grow around the world, but the Race to Dubai did not attract all of the world’s best golfers to play regularly outside of the United States.

Then when Keith Pelley succeeded O’Grady in the following April he promised to innovate, and he has done that with several new events such as the Super 6, Golf Sixes and Shot Clock Masters.

he has used his media experience to drive content creation from European Tour Productions and the European Tour social media team.

All these innovations have helped to promote the tour and the sport to a wider audience and a younger audience, and he should be applauded for that.

He also admitted at the unveiling of the DP World Tour in November that he saw the European Tour as a World Tour and that the brand identity needed to change to better reflect the tour’s schedule and membership.

His flagship creation for the European Tour is the Rolex Series, unveiled in 2016 for a 2017 beginning, and this is what the Rolex Series PR was in 2016:

The European Tour is proud to officially announce the Rolex Series, an exciting new alliance of leading tournaments which will strengthen the golf schedule from the 2017 season onwards.

The innovative concept — launched today with the European Tour’s longest standing partner, Rolex — is one of the most significant advancements in the Tour’s 44 years and will enhance both the competitive and entertainment experience for members and fans around the world.

In 2017, the Rolex Series will feature a minimum of seven tournaments in seven iconic golfing locations across the world, all offering minimum prize funds of US$ 7 million, with the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai featuring a prize fund of US$ 8 million. Plans are in place to increase the number of Rolex Series tournaments in future seasons as part of the multi-year commitment made to the European Tour by the world’s leading Swiss watchmaker.

As the scope of the European Tour expands around the world, golf fans will be brought closer than ever to the leading professionals on the world’s best courses thanks to significantly enhanced television and digital production as well as increased hours of coverage distributed worldwide.

Keith Pelley called this “One of the most significant advancements in the Tour’s 44 years”

One of the key aims was to increase purses for European Tour members, and in that respect Pelley has undoubtedly succeeded, and world golf has never been richer, but the Rolex Series has failed abysmally in another key area. Field strengths of each Rolex Series event overall have not improved since 2016, indeed the likes of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship has had stronger fields prior to its inclusion and enhanced prize fund.

And there is another undeniable fact. The PGA Tour has actually become richer and stronger over the last 15 years, with the gap in field strength growing between the PGA Tour and European Tour, and the European Tour is no more global now than it was 20 years ago.

The European Tour used to have close relations with the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia, but over the last 5 years these relations have lessened, with exception of the Sunshine Tour.

Of the 50 events with the strongest fields in world golf in 2000, only 12 were played outside of the United States and of the 24 events with the strongest fields only 2 were played outside the United States – THE OPEN and the WGC-American Express Championship.

Fast forward to 2019, the last year prior to the pandemic where there weren’t travel restrictions 21 of the world’s top 50 tournaments were played outside of the United States, with 8 of the top 24 played outside of the United States, however only 3 of those weren’t sanctioned by the PGA Tour.

The Strategic Alliance with the PGA Tour has put the European Tour in line with what the PGA Tour wants for world golf, and it doesn’t ensure the world’s best play each other more and play around the world more. Over the years the membership requirements have become easier and easier to meet, and also making it easy for players to play a predominantly American based schedule, with token appearances outside of the United States.

The European Tour’s Order of Merit, or Race to Dubai, has become much easier to win and in many ways has been devalued, and despite the riches on offer it can be argued its now less meaningful than ever in its history.

When Colin Montgomerie won his 7 consecutive Order of Merit titles he played an average of 23 European Tour events each season, in stark contrast the winners of the 7 most recent European Tour Race to Dubai titles have played an average of 15 events per season. THIS IS a number which was boosted by Tommy Fleetwood playing 24 events in the 2017 season, the highest number played by a Number One since Lee Westwood in 2009, the first season of the Race to Dubai.

Going into the DP World Tour Championship this November Collin Morikawa and Billy Horschel were the top two in the Race to Dubai rankings, both having a great chance of becoming the first American to win the European Tour Order of Merit or Race to Dubai title. ‘As game becomes more global, two Americans top Race to Dubai’ proclaimed Adam Stanley on the PGA Tour website.

A) I have news for Adam. The game has been “global” for over a century. Its just taken many Americans that long to realise.
B) The game is golf, not the PGA TOUR.

As we BEGIN 2022 golf still has too many tournaments, and too many tournaments which do not capture the imagination of the avid fan or the television viewer, and a never-ending season with no break to build anticipation or create genuine excitement.

Something has to change.

WHAT DOES GOLF NEED FOR THE FUTURE?

The PGA Tour and DP World Tour needs a reality check, as does much of the sport I love and have worked in some capacity within over the last decade, as well as studying at University. Whilst there is no doubt golf is one of the world’s most played sports, with courses in over 75% of the world’s countries and in excess of 60 million regular participants, the sport is not one of the most viewed on television.

Even its biggest events come nowhere near the major events of sports such as Football, Rugby, Cricket, Tennis, NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Boxing or Formula 1, in terms of viewership on television or online. Spectator numbers only come close to the other major sports when it comes to a handful of events.

When it comes to star power only one golfer is even in the same stratosphere as the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Tom Brady, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, and that IS Tiger Woods.

It should reflect badly on those in charge of professional golf right now that still by far and away the biggest star in this sport is a player who hasn’t played competitively since November 2020 and hasn’t won since November 2019, in fact he’s only won 3 times in the last 8 years!

Yet the golfing media will talk about superstars like Rory, DJ, JT, Rickie, Jon Rahm, Koepka and DeChambeau, in reality the general sports fan has very little interest and even the regular golf fan doesn’t have the same connection with this generation of golfers.

TIGER WOODS IS STILL THE BIGGEST NAME IN THE GAME OF GOLF ESPN IMAGES

Why is this? Prior to the Tiger Woods era the sport had the likes of Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman, global stars who would play around the world, and prior to that the likes of Tom Watson, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. All these stars connected with a wide audience, far beyond the limits of a sport, which back then was much more elitist than it is now.

For 25 years the PGA TOUR put all its eggs in one basket, and the golfing media followed suit. It was all about Tiger Woods, and consequently nobody else could attract the public’s attention, with TV viewing figures fluctuating dramatically between events he played in and events he didn’t play in. In fact events which he played in and didn’t contend saw large swathes of people turn off.

the PGA TOUR and American golf media just do not accept that this sport has been global for over a century, the sport has become more US-centric than at any other time in history. Debating the Saudi backed Super Golf League in their recent Golf Central Podcast, which also discussed the DP World Tour, Rex Hoggard and Ryan Lavner questioned whether the impact of money would mean the likes of Brooks Koepka would be less motivated to play in the Houston Open or Memorial Tournament. There lies the problem. Why was it not the Australian Open or the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament?

Golf has basically become an American Major League over the last 15 years, with almost every single top 100 golfer playing full time in the United States and under the PGA Tour banner. This has also seen the PGA Tour try and refer to itself as a sport when the sport is golf and a league within it is the PGA TOUR.

The NFL, NBA and MLB have all looked to expand globally over the last two decades, playing regular season competitive games outside of the United States including the NFL London Games at Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The PGA TOUR is operating in the same way, creating its own events in Japan and Korea, and previously Malaysia. But these events are not co-sanctioned in the same way as a DP WORLD Tour event is, with a token gesture in terms of access for players on the Japan Golf Tour and Korean Golf Tour.

NFL WORLDWIDE EXPANSION HAS INCLUDED GAMES IN LONDON AT WEMBLEY AND TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM STEVE PARKINSON

NEW YORK YANKEES AND BOSTON RED SOX CONTESTED THE MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL LONDON GAMES IN 2019 HAMMERSFAN

CASE STUDY: STAGED ON THE SAME ISLAND BUT WORLDS APART -
ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP AND ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX

YAS LINKS HOSTED THE ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP Golf und Reisen

THE 2021 FORMULA 1 SEASON CAME TO ITS DRAMATIC CONCLUSION IN DECEMBER IN ABU DHABI ON THE YAS ISLAND, A SPECTACULAR MAN-MADE ISLAND OFF THE COAST OF ABU DHABI WHICH HAS BEEN BUILT TO BE THE NUMBER ONE TOURIST ATTRACTION IN ABU DHABI. IT AIMS TO BE FAMILY-FRIENDLY AND FEATURES A PLETHORA OF ATTRACTIONS AND SPORTING FACILITIES.

ATTRACTIONS INCLUDE FERRARI WORLD ABU DHABI, WHICH HAS THE WORLD'S FASTEST ROLLER-COASTER, FORMULA ROSSA, WHICH REACHES ASTONISHING SPEEDS OF 240 km/h (149 mph), Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, SeaWorld Abu Dhabi AND CLYMB ABU DHABI.

THE ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP MADE ITS DEBUT ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR SCHEDULE IN 2006, 3 YEARS PRIOR TO THE ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX.

DESPITE BECOMING ONE OF THE DP WORLD TOUR'S FLAGSHIP EVENTS AND PART OF THE MUCH HERALDED ROLEX SERIES, WITH AN $8MILLION PURSE, THE CHAMPIONSHIP ONLY ATTRACTED 27 OF THE WORLD'S TOP 100 TO PLAY IT IN 2022.

OVER 30 OF THE WORLD'S TOP 100 REMAINED IN THE UNITED STATES TO PLAY IN THE AMERICAN EXPRESS ON THE PGA TOUR, INCLUDING THE WORLD NUMBER ONE, SPAIN'S JON RAHM.

THE ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSHIP TYPICALLY ATTRACTS A TOTAL CROWD FOR THE WEEK OF APPROXIMATELY 80,000, WHICH LAGS BEHIND THE 195,000 WHO ATTEND THE ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX AT THE ADJACENT YAS MARINA CIRCUIT.

LAST DECEMBER'S ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX WAS THE ULTIMATE VINDICATION OF THE PLATFORM FORMULA 1 HAS CREATED, AND WHY GOLF SHOULD LOOK TO CHANGE IN THE FUTURE.

THE ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX MADE ITS DEBUT ON THE FORMULA 1 CALENDAR IN 2009 AND WAS INNOVATIVE FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, BECOMING FORMULA 1'S FIRST EVER DAY-NIGHT RACE.

IT HAS REMAINED A DAY-NIGHT RACE SINCE AND FOR MOST OF THE LAST 13 YEARS IT HAS BEEN THE FINAL RACE OF THE FORMULA 1 SEASON, ON A FEW OCCASIONS SEEING THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DECIDED AT THE RACE.

THE ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX FEATURES THE WORLD'S BEST 20 DRIVERS AND IS VIEWED BY MILLIONS AROUND THE WORLD ON TELEVISION.

THE 2021 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX HIGHLIGHTS HAS BEEN VIEWED BY 15,853,920 ON THE FORMULA 1 YOUTUBE CHANNEL, IN CONTRAST TO THE 2022 ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL ROUND HIGHLIGHTS, WHICH HAVE BEEN VIEWED BY 103,862 ON THE DP WORLD TOUR CHANNEL.

THAT MEANS THE ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX IS EFFECTIVELY 152 TIMES MORE POPULAR THAN THE ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSHIP. THIS ENORMOUS DISPARITY BETWEEN TWO EVENTS STAGED ON THE SAME ISLAND JUST YARDS APART IS NOT GOOD NEWS FOR GOLF. WE HAVE A SPORT WHICH SHOULD BE PERFORMING FAR BETTER WHEN IT COMES TO VIEWING FIGURES, ESPECIALLY GIVEN OVER 66 MILLION PEOPLE PLAY THE SPORT.

YAS MARINA HOSTS THE ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX Charles Coates/LAT Photographic

The European Tour’s highly successful co-sanctioning programme yielded sensational results for players from Asia, Australasia and Africa, with players from each of these regions going on to become Major Champions having won a co-sanctioned event on the European Tour. European Tour co-sanctioned events featured a 50-50 split between the tours in terms of players, giving players from those other regions a much better chance of winning those events, and progressing on to the main European Tour and beyond.

As I mentioned earlier, for the PGA Tour to scoff at the money being offered by the Saudis is not only hypocritical it is immoral. But it is a pattern.

They don’t allow appearance fees to be paid and the American golf media patronises the rest of the world when they talk about “silly season” and dismiss events such as the Nedbank and events in the Middle East. These events have had no choice but incentivise the best players in the world to come and play in their tournaments, and that is how golf on the world stage grew in the 1970’s, 80’s, 90’s and 00’s.

So the PGA TOUR and the American golf media needs to change its attitude to the sport, the sport should never revolve around one country, or one organisation which is interested in self-promotion not the greater good of the sport worldwide. But also the players need to stand up and change their attitude.

Far too often over the years we have heard
“we are independent contractors”.

No you’re not, you are a golfer, a sportsman, an athlete. And these athletes should perform on the stage they are given to perform on.

I think player input and players rights are valuable and necessary, and golf does better than most sports in reflecting the wishes of the players, and also looking after its players. But right now that is to the detriment of the sport, and time and time again sees the sport fall short of its vast potential.

Imagine if a Formula 1 Driver said they were only going to drive if the race was in Europe, and not go to Mexico, Canada, Brazil, USA, Australia, Japan, Singapore, China, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Malaysia or Russia. It wouldn’t happen, and if it did that driver wouldn’t have a future in the sport, the sport certainly would not say “Ok then we’ll put all the races in Europe and everyone else can just watch it on TV”.

Formula 1 drivers also wouldn’t be able to dictate the schedule, and I don’t hear any of them complaining about the travelling or the fact they live out of suitcases for most of the year, that is the career choice they have made – to be a world athlete. Golf is a world sport, and its athletes should play around the world, not as a token gesture but year in year out and not as way of building their brand.

One of the most shocking statements of the players attitudes to golf around the world came in one of the early World Golf Championships. The 2001 WGC-Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship was played at Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia from 3-7 January. An incredible 28 of the world’s top 64 golfers withdrew from the event, with the main reason seeming to be the timing on the schedule, but that has never stopped most of them playing in Hawaii in the same week since.

Even the PGA TOUR’s events in Japan, Korea and Malaysia haven’t attracted the kinds of fields found in the Majors or the Players Championship, and that is what golf needs, a circuit where the best play the best on a regular basis throughout the season and globally.

CASE STUDY: ARGENTINA OPEN AND BRAZIL OPEN IRRELEVANT IN SPITE OF GOLF'S OLYMPIC RETURN IN RIO

NORDELTA GOLF CLUB IN BUENOS AIRES HOSTED THE 115TH ARGENTINA OPEN

FROM 2-5 DECEMBER 2021 THE 115TH EDITION OF THE ARGENTINA OPEN TOOK PLACE AT THE Nordelta Golf Club NEAR Buenos Aires. THE TOURNAMENT WAS PART OF THE PGA TOUR LATINOAMERICA, A FEEDER TOUR FOR THE PGA TOUR'S KORN FERRY TOUR AND CARRIED A PRIZE FUND OF $175,000. THE ARGENTINA OPEN IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S OLDEST NATIONAL OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS AND HAS BEEN PLAYED ON ALL OF ARGENTINA'S GREAT, CLASSIC COURSES THROUGHOUT THE YEARS, IT HAS ALSO ATTRACTED SOME OF THE GREATEST GOLFERS TO WIN IT IN THE PAST TOO.

ANGEL CABRERA, JIM FURYK, MARK CALCAVECCHIA, MARK O'MEARA, CRAIG STADLER, TOM WEISKOPF, ROBERTO DE VICENZO, LLOYD MANGRUM AND HENRY PICARD ARE ALL PAST CHAMPIONS OF THE ARGENTINA OPEN, AND THE LIKES OF EMILIANO GRILLO AND JHONATTAN VEGAS HAVE ALSO WON THE TOURNAMENT AND GONE ON TO HAVE SUCCESS ON THE PGA TOUR. THE FIRST EDITION WAS PLAYED IN 1905, JUST 10 YEARS AFTER THE FIRST US OPEN AND SOME 29 YEARS BEFORE THE MASTERS WAS FIRST PLAYED.

IN 2001 THE ARGENTINA OPEN WAS AN EVENT ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR, BEING WON BY FUTURE MASTERS AND US OPEN CHAMPION ANGEL CABRERA, BUT THIS WAS THE ONLY TIME IT FEATURED, MAKING WAY FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST. IN LATER YEARS IT WAS CO-SANCTIONED BY THE CHALLENGE TOUR, BUT IT HAS NEVER AGAIN BEEN PLAYED ON THE WORLD STAGE, A FACT WHICH THE MAJOR TOURS SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF. IT IS A PASSIONATE SPORTING NATION, WHICH HAS PRODUCED TWO MAJOR CHAMPIONS - MORE THAN FRANCE, CANADA, JAPAN, KOREA AND AS MANY AS NEW ZEALAND AND GERMANY.

IMAGINE IF THE ARGENTINA OPEN HAD THE FIELD THAT ASSEMBLED THAT VERY SAME WEEK IN THE BAHAMAS FOR THE HERO WORLD CHALLENGE, IT WOULD BE TRANSFORMATIONAL AND SPARK A GOLFING BOOM IN A COUNTRY WHICH ALREADY HAS THE GOLFING INFRASTRUCTURE TO GROW RAPIDLY.

YES, GOLF DOES HAVE TO HAVE TOURNAMENTS WHICH ARE PART OF TOURS AT A LOWER LEVEL, THAT IS A FACT, BUT WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE ONE OF THE OLDEST NATIONAL OPENS IN THE WORLD? THE WORLD'S BEST SHOULD BE PLAYING IN ARGENTINA ON A REGULAR BASIS, AND LEGENDARY NAMES SHOULD BE ADDED TO THAT TROPHY EACH YEAR, MAKING IT EVEN MORE MEANINGFUL FOR A HOME GROWN GOLFER TO WIN HIS NATIONAL TITLE.

THE 2019 EVENT AWARDED JUST 6 OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING POINTS TO THE WINNER, MAKING THE ARGENTINA OPEN ONE OF THE WEAKEST FIELDS IN THE WORLD OF GOLF. THAT IS A DISTINCTION THE BIGGEST EVENT IN ARGENTINA SHOULDN'T HOLD. AND WHAT MAKES IT EVEN MORE UNACCEPTABLE IS FIVE YEARS AGO GOLF HAD THE GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TO BRING BIG TIME EVENTS TO SOUTH AMERICA - THE RIO DE JANEIRO OLYMPIC GAMES.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 14: Henrik Stenson of Sweden acknowledges the gallery on the 16th hole during the final round of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Golf Course on August 14, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Stan Badz/PGA TOUR/IGF)

OF THE FIRST FIVE DESTINATIONS GOLF WILL BE INCLUDED AT IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES UPON ITS RETURN, ONLY BRAZIL AND SOUTH AMERICA LACKS A SIGNIFICANT, INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT TO MAINTAIN THE INTEREST IN THE SPORT AFTER THE GAMES HAVE DEPARTED.

TOKYO HAS ITS OWN TOUR - THE JAPAN GOLF TOUR - AND THE COUNTRY ALSO HAS ITS OWN PGA TOUR EVENT - THE ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, IT IS A GOLFING SUPERPOWER AND DOESN'T NEED ASSISTANCE TO DEVELOP THE SPORT; PARIS IS ANOTHER GOLFING MECCA, WITH THE SPORT ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR PARTICIPATION SPORTS IN FRANCE, HAVING PLAYED OVER 100 EDITIONS OF THE OPEN DE FRANCE AND SUCCESSFULLY STAGING THE 2018 RYDER CUP; LA AND THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IS A GOLFING MECCA AND HAS MULTIPLE PGA TOUR EVENTS INCLUDING THE GENESIS INVITATIONAL AT OLYMPIC GOLF COURSE - RIVIERA COUNTRY CLUB; BRISBANE HOSTS THE AUSTRALIAN PGA CHAMPIONSHIP AND AUSTRALIA HAS ITS OWN TOUR - PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA.

2016 WAS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO PUT A PGA TOUR, EUROPEAN TOUR OR WGC EVENT IN BRAZIL, OR ANOTHER SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRY. THE COURSE WAS PURPOSE BUILT FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES, BUT HAS SINCE PLAYED HOST ONLY TO THE BRAZIL OPEN, WHICH IS NOW PLAYED ON THE PGA TOUR LATINOAMERICA, A FEEDER TOUR FOR THE PGA TOUR'S KORN FERRY TOUR.

STAGGERINGLY SOME 5 YEARS ON FROM RIO THERE STILL ISN'T A WORLD CLASS EVENT PLAYED THERE, WHETHER THAT BE CO-SANCTIONING THE BRAZIL OPEN AND ELEVATING IT TO THE PGA TOUR LIKE THE TOUR HAS DONE WITH THE MEXICO OPEN, OR BECOMING A DP WORLD TOUR EVENT LIKE THE SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN. THE RESERVA DE MARIPENDI COURSE ISN'T A WHITE ELEPHANT AS IT STILL GETS PLAYED ON BY LOCALS, BUT THE SPORT IS NOT PROSPERING IN THE COUNTRY AS IT SHOULD BE, AND THAT IS UNDOUBTEDLY DUE, IN PART, TO THE LACK OF ANOTHER EVENT TO DRIVE INTEREST IN THE GAME.

GARY PLAYER SAID IN AN INTERVIEW WITH SHANK BACK IN 2016 THAT HE WANTED TO WIN THE BRAZIL OPEN IN HIS DAY, TO ADD HIS NAME TO THE LIKES OF SAM SNEAD AND BILLY CASPER ON THE TROPHY. SADLY, AND REGRETTABLY, TODAY'S GENERATION OF GOLFERS WILL LIKELY NEVER RETURN TO BRAZIL OR ARGENTINA TO PLAY COMPETITIVE GOLF, UNLESS A CHANGE HAPPENS IN THE STRUCTURE OF THIS GAME.

THE WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS WERE LAUNCHED IN 1999 DENNIS YANG

There’s no doubt that the current product, whilst successful in many ways, is flawed from an entertainment point of view. The Majors should remain untouched, but other tournaments should evolve and some of what has been proposed by the Premier Golf League should be adopted in the future.

In 1996 the PGA TOUR and other tours around the world launched the World Golf Championships, but they failed in what they set out to do and perhaps were flawed from the very beginning. Each had different entry criteria, one was a match play event, one was the World Cup and two were regular stroke play events, offering nothing different to the status quo just with a much bigger prize fund.

Key to their downfall was being played predominantly in the United States despite the tagline in 1999 being “This time its for the world”. As it turned out it wasn’t for the World at all.

The 1994 World Tour proposal of Greg Norman is what led to convincing the PGA Tour to create the World Golf Championships, despite their failure to put championships on the world stage the latest threat from the Premier Golf League and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Investments should give the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour the kick up the backside to make dramatic changes in the future.

But will it? I have my doubts. In the past it has taken fully-fledged breakaways in other sports to force change.

Breakaways can be painful, they can be bloody, and they are always controversial, but I am yet to see a significant breakaway in a major global sport which hasn’t either been a success (Premier League), forced significant change (Super League War) or created new ideas for a sport which still remain in use today (World Series Cricket). For the purposes of this article I am only going into depth about the Super League War and World Series Cricket, both emphasising the points I have made and the points I am going to make.

As I looked at earlier, professional golf has largely become the behemoth it is now due to the influence of individuals and independent tournament promoters, and both the World Series Cricket and Super League in Australia were backed by individuals independent of the normal order.

CASE STUDY: SUPER LEAGUE WAR (AUSTRALIA)

THE SUPER LEAGUE WAR, AT IT HAS BECOME KNOWN, WAS A PERIOD OF TIME IN AUSTRALIA WHEN THE PLAYERS WERE LOOKING FOR BETTER PAY AND CONDITIONS FOR PLAYING THE SPORT OF RUGBY LEAGUE, AND IT COINCIDED WITH THE LAUNCH OF FOX SPORTS IN THE COUNTRY, WHICH WAS OWNED BY RUPERT MURDOCH.

THE AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE WAS TELEVISED BY NINE NETWORK, WHICH WAS RUN BY KERRY PACKER, WE WILL HEAR MORE OF HIM LATER IN THIS FEATURE. THE ENSUING BATTLE FOR THE FUTURE OF RUGBY LEAGUE IN AUSTRALIA WAS A HEAD-TO-HEAD BETWEEN TWO OF THE BIGGEST MEDIA MOGULS IN THE WORLD, AND A CLASH OF TRADITIONALISTS AND PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO MODERNISE THE GAME.

THE FACT THAT KERRY PACKER WAS SEEN AS A TRADITIONALIST IS SOMEWHAT CONTROVERSIAL AND PUZZLING, GIVING HIS INVOLVEMENT IN RESHAPING ANOTHER MAJOR SPORT IN AUSTRALIA. FOX SPORTS WAS LAUNCHED IN 1995 as the only fully operational local channel at the launch of Australia's first pay-television service, Galaxy.

EARLY RIGHTS ACQUIRED BY FOX SPORTS INCLUDED SUPER RUGBY, THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE RUGBY UNION COMPETITION, AND THE NATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE. BUT RUGBY LEAGUE WAS A HUGE RATINGS SUCCESS IN AUSTRALIA AND MURDOCH SAW AN OPPORTUNITY. THEY WANTED TO DEVELOP A SUPER LEAGUE WITH THE AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE CLUBS, BUT THEY WANTED CONTROL OF HOW THE SPORT WAS RUN.

THE PROPOSAL WAS:
*12 fully professional teams
*Existing 20 clubs to remain, fielding teams in First Division competitions in NSW, QLD, ACT
*News CORPORATION being shareholders in the 12 Super League teams
*The ARL continuing as the governing body for rugby league, and retaining responsibility for Test matches
*News CORPORATION being responsible for promoting rugby league nationally and internationally, and providing finance.

SOME ARL CLUBS ACCEPTED THESE PROPOSALS, OTHERS REJECTED THEM AND THE AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE COMMISSION, WITH THE EXISTING MEDIA BEHIND THEM, ALSO REJECTED THEM. WAR BEGAN.

AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE ADJACENT VIDEO PASSIONS WERE HIGH, THE OPPOSITION TO THE SUPER LEAGUE FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT WAS SEVERE, AND THE TONE WAS HARSH.

ONCE AGAIN IT WAS ALLEGED THE PROPOSAL WAS ALL ABOUT MONEY AND THE ESTABLISHMENT REJECTED THE NOTION THEY SHOULD DO ANYTHING MORE FOR THE PLAYERS, OR THAT THE GAME COULD BE RUN BETTER BY SOMEONE ELSE.

RUGBY LEAGUE IS ONE OF, IF NOT THE BIGGEST SPORT IN AUSTRALIA AND THE SUPER LEAGUE WAR WAS COVERED ALMOST RELIGIOUSLY IN THE MEDIA. MUCH OF THE AUSTRALIAN MEDIA WERE OPPOSED TO THE NEW PLAN, CHIEFLY DUE TO THE FACT A RIVAL BROADCASTER WAS BEHIND THE NEW SUPER LEAGUE.

EVENTUALLY NINE NETWORK ACTUALLY SIGNED A DEAL TO SHOW SUPER LEAGUE GAMES FREE TO AIR AND KERRY PACKER AND RUPER MURDOCH MET TO RESOLVE THEIR DIFFERENCES. THE SUPER LEAGUE WENT AHEAD IN 1997 AS WELL AS THE ARL. OVER 300 PLAYERS, 10 COACHES AND 8 CLUBS LEFT THE ARL TO PLAY IN THE SUPER LEAGUE ALONGSIDE 2 NEW TEAMS.

THE SUPER LEAGUE KICKED OFF IN 1997 AND THE ARL CONTINUED. IT WOULD BE THE SOLE SEASON OF THE SUPER LEAGUE, DESPITE ITS ENORMOUS SUCCESS, AS THE TWO PARTIES CAME TOGETHER IN 1998 TO FORM THE NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE NRL.

THE 1997 SUPER LEAGUE FEATURED 10 teams and The top five teams then played a series of knock-out finals which culminated in a September grand final played in Brisbane between the Brisbane Broncos and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.

THE CROWDS FLOCKED TO THE 96 GAMES PLAYED THROUGHOUT THE SEASON WITH AN AVERAGE OF OVER 13,000 AT EACH GAME INCLUDING NEARLY 60,000 AT THE GRAND FINAL. IN CONTRAST THE AVERAGE ATTENDANCE AT ARL GAMES IN 1997 WAS JUST OVER 10,000 WITH 42,000 AT THE ARL GRAND FINAL.

THE LEGACY OF THE SUPER LEAGUE INCLUDED INCREASING THE POPULARITY OF THE SPORT - WITH A RECORD 109,000 PEOPLE ATTENDING THE 1999 NRL GRAND FINAL AT STADIUM AUSTRALIA IN SYDNEY; OTHER ELEMENTS OF THE LEGACY OF SUPER LEAGUE INCLUDED NIGHT GRAND FINALS, WHICH SAW A VAST INCREASE IN TV RATINGS; VIDEO REFEREES WERE USED BY SUPER LEAGUE IN 1997 AND HAVE BEEN USED IN EVERY NRL SEASON SINCE; MULTIPLE RULE CHANGES WITHIN THE GAME WERE ADOPTED BY SUPER LEAGUE WHICH ARE STILL IN USE TODAY.

BUT PERHAPS THE BIGGEST LEGACY OF SUPER LEAGUE IS THE PROFESSIONALISATION OF THE SPORT, SEEING PLAYERS MAKE MORE MONEY AND BE TREATED LIKE ATHLETES AND NOT SERVANTS. SUPER LEAGUE ALSO FORCED A CHANGE IN GOVERNANCE OF THE SPORT IN AUSTRALIA. THE NRL WAS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE ARL AND NEWS CORPORATION, WHICH DISSOLVED IN 2012 AND THE AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE COMMISSION WAS Re-structured with an independent board of directors.

FOX AND NINE NETWORK NOW SHARE COVERAGE OF THE NRL, WITH EVERY MATCH DURING THE SEASON SHOWN LIVE. THE GRAND FINAL IS TELEVISED EXCLUSIVELY BY NINE NETWORK.

CASE STUDY: WORLD SERIES CRICKET

ANOTHER INFAMOUS BUT TRANSFORMATIONAL BREAKAWAY IN SPORT WHICH GOLF CAN LOOK AT AS BOTH A WARNING AND AN INSPIRATION IS THE WORLD SERIES CRICKET.

THE ABC (AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING COMPANY) HELD THE RIGHTS TO CRICKET IN AUSTRALIA, AND KERRY PACKER WANTED THEM FOR NINE NETWORK, A RIVAL STATION. THE AUSTRALIAN CRICKET BOARD WOULD NOT SELL THEM TO PACKER, AND THE CRICKET-MAD EXECUTIVE DECIDED TO CREATE HIS OWN COMPETITION.

WORLD SERIES CRICKET WOULD LAUNCH AFTER MONTHS OF SECRET APPROACHES TO PLAYERS IN AUSTRALIA, ENGLAND AND THE WEST INDIES AND MULTIPLE COURT SESSIONS, WITH THE FIRST SEASON SET FOR 1977.

WORLD SERIES CRICKET FEATURED TWO COMPETITIONS - THE SUPER TESTS AND THE INTERNATIONAL CUP. THE INTERNATIONAL CUP WAS A ONE-DAY COMPETITION AND WOULD BE AT THE HEART OF THE TREMENDOUS LEGACY LEFT BY THE CONTROVERSIALLY ESTABLISHED PLATFORM.

PLAYERS FROM AUSTRALIA, ENGLAND AND THE WEST INDIES RESIGNED FROM PLAYING FOR THEIR HOME CRICKET BOARDS AND JOINED THE WORLD SERIES WITH AUSTRALIA PLAYING WEST INDIES AND A WORLD XI.

THE FIRST WORLD SERIES CRICKET SUPER TEST WAS A PR DISASTER FOR PACKER AND THE WORLD SERIES, WITH JUST A FEW HUNDRED PEOPLE ATTENDING AT THE THEN 70,000 CAPACITY VFL PARK NEAR MELBOURNE.

IN THE SECOND SUPER TEST AN INCIDENT OCCURRED WHICH HELPED FORGE PART OF WORLD SERIES CRICKET'S LEGACY. AN AUSTRALIAN BATTER, DAVID HOOKES, HAD HIS JAW BROKEN BY A BOUNCING BALL, AND WITH THE INCIDENT CAPTURED BY NINE NETWORK THE PLAYERS DECIDED THINGS HAD TO CHANGE IN THE WAY THEY PROTECTED THEMSELVES.

the first helmets appeared on batsmen's heads. Initially, Englishman Dennis Amiss sported a motorcycle helmet when batting in WSC, and he was quickly followed by many other players. Protective cricket equipment developed rapidly, and by the end of WSC, virtually all batsmen in WSC and official Test matches were sporting some form of protective headwear.

OF COURSE, THIS BREAKAWAY WAS MOCKED BY THE MEDIA, WHICH WAS WOVEN TO THE ESTABLISHMENT IN AUSTRALIA AND ENGLAND, AS CAN BE SEEN BY THE TONE OF THE QUESTIONING IN THE ADJACENT VIDEO. THE "PACKER CIRCUS" WAS A POPULAR TAGLINE GENERATED BY THE MEDIA TO DESCRIBE THE WORLD SERIES. THE ESTABLISHMENT AND THE MEDIA WOVEN TO THEM COULD NOT STAND THE FACT SOMEONE ELSE THOUGHT THEY COULD DO A BETTER JOB AT PROMOTING THE SPORT.

NINE NETWORK DEDICATED MORE CAMERAS, UNIQUE ANGLES AND OTHER INNOVATIONS TO MAKE WATCHING CRICKET ON TELEVISION A MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE, WITH SEVERAL INNOVATIONS THEY INTRODUCED STILL USED ACROSS THE WORLD TODAY.

AFTER ITS SLOW START WORLD SERIES CRICKET MADE A BREAKTHROUGH WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF A MASTERFUL PIECE OF MARKETING. THE C'MON AUSSIE C'MON THEME WHICH WAS USED TO PROMOTE THE WORLD SERIES ENCOURAGED PEOPLE TO COME IN THEIR DROVES TO THE AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES DAY-NIGHT GAME AT THE SYDNEY CRICKET GROUND ON 28 November 1978.

A NEAR-CAPACITY CROWD OF 44,377 TURNED OUT TO WATCH THE GAME, IT WAS LIFT-OFF FOR THE WORLD SERIES, AND IT WOULD HURT THE AUSTRALIAN CRICKET BOARD FINANCIALLY WITH MORE PEOPLE WANTING TO GO TO WSC GAMES THAN THE ESTABLISHED, TRADITIONAL GAMES.

NEITHER THE ACB OR WSC WERE FULFILLING THEIR POTENTIAL FINANCIALLY AND IN MAY 1979 THE TWO PARTIES AGREED TO COME TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD OF CRICKET. THE ACB SOLD THE RIGHTS TO AUSTRALIAN CRICKET TO PACKER AND NINE NETWORK AND THE PLAYERS RETURNED TO PLAY UNDER THE AUSTRALIAN CRICKET BOARD BANNER. A NEW COMPETITION, THE WORLD SERIES CUP, WAS LAUNCHED FOR ONE DAY CRICKET IN AUSTRALIA FEATURING THE HOME SIDE AND TWO TOURING NATIONS.

IT MAY WELL HAVE BEEN CONTROVERSIAL AT THE START BUT WORLD SERIES CRICKET WAS A SUCCESS IN THE FACT IT WAS ENTERTAINING AND INNOVATIVE, AND ITS LEGACY IS STILL FELT TODAY WITHIN CRICKET.

ITS HECTIC SCHEDULE FORCED PLAYERS TO BE FITTER THAN EVER BEFORE, THE WSC MADE PLAYERS RICHER THAN EVER BEFORE, DAY NIGHT CRICKET TRANSFORMED THE SPORT AND MADE IT MORE APPEALING TO A WIDER AUDIENCE, COLOURED UNIFORMS AND A WHITE BALL MADE THE SPORT EASIER TO ENGAGE WITH AND TO FOLLOW.

WORLD SERIES CRICKET MADE CRICKET APPEALING TO BROADCASTERS AROUND THE WORLD, AND THE RICHES THAT FOLLOWED HELP THE GAME DEVELOP ON THE WORLD STAGE BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL TEST PLAYING NATIONS.

BUT IN A SIMILAR VEIN TO THE SUPER LEAGUE AND THE INTENTIONS OF GREG NORMAN AND HIS PLANS FOR WORLD GOLF, THE WORLD SERIES CRICKET REWARDED THE PLAYERS, LOOKED AFTER THE PLAYERS AND PUT THEM AT THE HEART OF THE SPORT.

LIV GOLF INVESTMENTS, GREG NORMAN AND THE ASIAN TOUR - AN OPPORTUNITY TO ACHIEVE A DREAM

with no serious change likely to happen to the PGA Tour and DP WORLD Tour until the end of the current television broadcast contract for the PGA Tour in 2030 I believe a golf 'breakaway' is actually inevitable, with Greg Norman, some 28 years on, in position to lead it (what is it about those Aussies?!!).

Greg Norman has walked away from his huge business enterprise to lead this project, a commitment which surely means this will go ahead, and he has begun the process of recruiting a team to deliver a world-class series and product.

Slugger White, former rules official and tournament director has joined the organisation, calling it “a new chapter”, and the team to lead the vision is taking shape:
CEO – Greg Norman
Chief Events Officer – Ron Cross
Vice President of Rules & Competition Management – Slugger White
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT - MONICA FEE
HEAD OF STRATEGY - LILY KENNY
Head of Communications – Sean Bratches
Vice President of Communications – Jane MacNeille
Chief Media Officer – Will Staeger
consultant to the production team - DAVID HILL

This team, which is by no means complete, has a wealth of experience in significant roles at the PGA TOUR, ESPN, LIBERTY MEDIA, WWE and GREAT WHITE SHARK ENTERPRISES. Individuals with this wealth of experience wouldn’t put their name to something like this unless they were certain it would launch and that should show the existing organisations and golfing media that they are serious players. “Sure, it’s certainly one of their ambitions to start a league,” admitted Asian Tour commissioner and CEO Cho Minn Thant when speaking to the Japan Times about the LIV Golf Investments role with the Asian Tour.

The $200 million investment in the Asian Tour basically helps re-establish the tour after a steep decline in the last 5 years, but also gives LIV Golf the platform to launch a new global tour within the game.

GREG NORMAN IS BANKING HIS LEGACY ON THIS PROJECT, THAT IN ITSELF SHOULD BE RESPECTED

2022 PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers
PERHAPS THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL, YET HIGHLY ANTICIPATED EVENT IN MODERN GOLF

THE SAUDI INTERNATIONAL, PLAYED FOR THE FIRST 3 YEARS AS A EUROPEAN TOUR EVENT, IS NOW THE FLAGSHIP EVENT OF THE ASIAN TOUR AFTER A 10-YEAR AGREEMENT WAS ANNOUNCED IN SEPTEMBER 2021, AND ON 29 NOVEMBER THE ORGANISERS ANNOUNCED A STUNNING COLLECTION OF HEADLINE STARS IN ITS FIELD FOR FEBRUARY 2022.

THE ASIAN TOUR HERALDED THE ANNOUNCEMENT AS THE "STRONGEST FIELD IN THE HISTORY OF THE ASIAN TOUR", AND AS A SOLE-SANCTIONED ASIAN TOUR EVENT THAT IS INDEED TRUE. THERE WAS A DAY WHEN A $5,000,000 PURSE WAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST IN THE GAME, BUT NOW $5,000,000 IS PEANUTS IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS IN WORLD GOLF. UNDOUBTEDLY LARGE APPEARANCE FEES HAVE BEEN AGREED FOR THIS REMARKABLE FIELD, AND IT WILL SURELY BE OF CONCERN TO THE PGA TOUR AND DP WORLD TOUR THAT SO MANY TOP PLAYERS HAVE AGREED TO PLAY IN AN EVENT WHICH THE PGA TOUR HAVE BEEN HESITANT TO ALLOW THEIR PLAYERS TO PLAY IN.

dustin johnson and Graeme mcdowell are the only previous winners of the tournament and as such have MORE REASONS TO PLAY IN THE TOURNAMENT THAN MOST, BUT FOR THE TOURNAMENT TO HAVE ATTRACTED THIS BREADTH OF STAR NAMES IS QUITE REMARKABLE.

2022 SAUDI INTERNATIONAL FIELD HEADLINE NAMES

Dustin Johnson
Graeme McDowell
Xander Schauffele
Bryson DeChambeau
Cameron Smith
Tony Finau
Abraham Ancer
Jason Kokrak
Tyrrell Hatton
Patrick Reed
Paul Casey
Kevin Na
Matthew Wolff
Thomas Pieters
Joaquin Niemann
Marc Leishman
Phil Mickelson
Lee Westwood
Sergio Garcia
Tommy Fleetwood
Lucas Herbert
Shane Lowry
Ian Poulter
Jhonattan Vegas
Victor Perez
Laurie Canter
Harold Varner III
Bubba Watson
Rafa Cabrera Bello
Henrik Stenson

IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH TODAY'S GOLFER, GREG NORMAN AND THE ASIAN TOUR CEO Cho Minn Thant SPOKE ABOUT THE INVESTMENT INTO THE TOUR AND THE FUTURE PLANS. "We're always looking at opportunities going forward, I can tell you that" SAID GREG NORMAN WHEN ASKED So can you confirm that we are going to see a Super Golf League?

ONE OF THE KEY ELEMENTS OF TAKING THE ASIAN TOUR FORWARDS AND LAUNCHING ANY NEW WORLD SERIES WITHIN THE SPORT IS A BROADCAST DEAL, AND Cho Minn Thant CONFIRMED THAT TALKS WERE ONGOING WITH BOTH SKY SPORTS AND BT SPORT IN THE UK. SKY ARE THE HOME OF GOLF IN THE UK AND WOULD SURELY WANT TO ADD THE ASIAN TOUR TO THEIR LIST OF PROPERTIES, BUT ONE MAJOR STUMBLING BLOCK MAY BE THEIR OWNERS. COMCAST OWN SKY AND NBC, AND NBC HAVE A LONG TERM BROADCAST DEAL WITH THE PGA TOUR, AS DOES SKY.

ONE ELEMENT OF THE TODAY'S GOLFER INTERVIEW WHICH RESONATES WITH ME AND BACKS UP MY POINTS COMES FROM GREG NORMAN: "Why are we sitting here today, 53 years after the PGA Tour was formed, and the PGA Tour is the only entity and game in town?"

"There should be opportunities for other people to come and play in the same sandbox they're playing in. The game of golf is a big global game and the opportunities are there to expand. That's what I'm focusing on and that's what I'm going to deliver on"

With 9 years until the new PGA Tour TV contract comes into force the new series would have time to grow and show itself to the world as it's unlikely the PGA Tour and European Tour would go ahead with a merger in that time frame. With the Saudi National Investment Fund worth some $500 billion it seems the new series would have enough resources to persuade many of the world’s best players to join this ‘breakaway’. ALTHOUGH GREG NORMAN DOESN'T AGREE WITH IT BEING CALLED A BREAKAWAY: "Let's just eliminate the word, 'breakaway'. Let's think about the opportunities that exist today for independent contractors and commercial investors into the sport of golf"

Taking over the Asian Tour is a smart move, it gives the series an existing platform and network of host nations and courses, and several major companies which would jump at the chance of sponsoring a pan-Asian series featuring the world’s best. YOU CAN READ THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW FROM TODAY'S GOLFER HERE.

Of course with a 2022 launch FOR A SUPER GOLF LEAGUE would seem unlikely they will have any of the major players in the game, however that may not be such a bad thing. Launching the product, creating and growing the platform over a number of years would enable it to become attractive to the rest of world golf.

IN A WEEK WHICH WAS ALWAYS SET TO BE MOMENTOUS FOR THE ASIAN TOUR WITH THE STRONGEST FIELD IT HAS EVER ASSEMBLED, AT THE SAUDI INTERNATIONAL, THE TOUR HAS MADE PERHAPS THE BIGGEST ANNOUNCEMENT IN ITS HISTORY, UNVEILING THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.

AT A PRESS CONFERENCE AT THE SAUDI INTERNATIONAL GREG NORMAN, ASIAN TOUR CEO Cho Minn Thant ANNOUNCED THE CREATION OF THE SERIES, AND THE PRESS RELEASE SAID THE FOLLOWING:

In what is the most significant development in the history of Asian golf and a boom for the global game, what is now to be known as The International Series will be integrated into the full 2022-23 Asian Tour schedule. The series will kick off in Thailand in March followed by visits to England, Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East, China, Singapore, and Hong Kong and will feature prize purses ranging from US$1.5 to US$2 million per event.

Today’s announcement also saw the unveiling of the new brand, name, and logo as well as an increase in the lucrative and unprecedented investment into the Asian Tour from US$200 million to US$300 million further solidifying LIV Golf Investments dedication to the global game. As one of the biggest investments in the history of professional golf, The International Series will support playing opportunities and prize funds for the 10 events to be played every season over the next decade.

It has been designed to drive greater engagement amongst fans, attract new commercial interest and to help stabilize professional golf following a sustained period of worldwide disruption and uncertainty.

“We are on the threshold of a new era for Asian golf,” said Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner and CEO, Asian Tour. “The International Series is a new upper-tier of elite events, the likes of which the region has not seen before, that will mark the start of a phenomenal period of growth for the Asian Tour.

It also signifies the beginning of our relationship with our new strategic partner LIV Golf Investments and its CEO Greg Norman.”“Importantly, The International Series will add to the Asian Tour’s backbone of established events to comprise a 25-event season, expected to represent a record-breaking combined prize-fund. Each of the 10 events will be broadcast live across the globe, with plans to attract an international field of headline talent.”

"We are setting the Asian Tour up as a powerful new force on the world golf stage,” said Norman. “In my 40 years as a professional golfer, I’ve seen many parts of the world that have benefitted tremendously from golf and its growth and development. We now have the opportunity to do that in the Asia Pacific region and the Middle East with this incredible investment platform. Everyone benefits – professional players, amateurs, grassroots golf, fans, economies, communities, stakeholders. I’ve never been so optimistic about the future of the sport.”

The widely acclaimed Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin, Thailand, will host The International Series Thailand March 3-6, boasting a prize purse of US$1.5 million, before London stages the next event at Centurion Club from June 9-12, offering a US$2 million purse. The second half of the year will see stops in Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia before heading to the Middle East and then culminating in China, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

IN THE INTERVENING DAYS SINCE THE UNVEILING OF THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS RUMOURS AND ADDITIONAL STORIES ABOUT THE PROPOSED SUPER GOLF LEAGUE, WHICH THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES IS SEEN AS SOMEWHAT OF A FORERUNNER TO. RUMOURS HAVE INCLUDED $135 MILLION BEING OFFERED TO BRYSON DECHAMBEAU, AND OTHER LARGE SUMS OF MONEY OFFERED TO PHIL MICKELSON, LEE WESTWOOD, DUSTIN JOHNSON AND IAN POULTER.

LEE WESTWOOD SEEMED TO LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG SAYING HE HAD SIGNED A NDA (NON DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT) AND PHIL MICKELSON HAS SINCE SCOLDED THE PGA TOUR FOR "OBNOXIOUS GREED" OVER THE WAY MEDIA RIGHTS ARE HANDLED AND HOW THE PLAYERS ARE SEEN AS PART OF THAT.

As far as what the PGA Tour and DP World Tour do to combat it I believe whilst there are talks of bans, suspensions etc the tours will continue to develop a joint schedule over the next decade.

I could see them co-sanctioning the CJ Cup, Zozo Championship, RBC Canadian Open, Mexico Open, Nedbank Golf Challenge, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Slync Dubai Desert Classic, Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship in addition to the Genesis Scottish Open, Barbasol Championship and Barracuda Championship in the future, potentially all under the Rolex Series umbrella and bringing in the HSBC Champions and Dell Technologies Match Play too.

That would make the Rolex Series a 14-tournament series visiting Korea, Japan, China, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, UAE, Ireland, England, Scotland and the United States.

Both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour have partnerships with the PGA Tour of Australasia, but as yet neither tour has an event in Australia or New Zealand on their 2022 schedules. This may be because of the Covid19 restrictions from the governments of the respective countries, but there is also a glaring absence in South America.

Personally I believe this is the last chance the major existing tours should have to develop a new platform for the world of golf, they keep rebranding and redressing the European Tour, first it was the Volvo Tour, then the Race to Dubai and now the DP World Tour. But in essence it HAS not changed.

GOLF Still HAS too many events. MOST EVENTS Still HAVE largely average fields. AND GOLF IS Still a sport dominated by the PGA TOUR WITH A DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF THE BIGGEST EVENTS PLAYED IN the United States of America.

In the long term I do believe that the tours of the world will come together, AND I BELIEVE THAT WOULD IN THE INTERESTS OF ALL IN THE SPORT.

PERHAPS THEY WILL DO SO in a format similar to the ATP Tour with the Majors, an elite group of tournaments like the Masters 1000 and then tiered events below that all around the world.

In 2021-22 the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour will feature a combined 90 tournaments in 30 countries on 4 continents, so it is a platform to develop in the direction of the ATP TOUR, ESPECIALLY IF THEY CAN COME TOGETHER WITH EACH OF THE OTHER TOP FLIGHT TOURS IN JAPAN, ASIA, AFRICA AND AUSTRALASIA.

THE ATP TOUR FEATURES 3 TIERS OF TOURNAMENTS AROUND THE WORLD UNDER THE GRAND SLAM TOURNAMENTS ATP TOUR

But will this deliver the world’s best playing each other more often on a global scale? Again, I have my doubts based on what I have seen in the last 30 years.

So what should happen?

Go back to the future and get it right.

The World Golf Championships was a potentially fantastic brand for golf, to put it alongside the Formula 1 World Championship, but woefully executed. Now the tours have the opportunity and a real need in a post-pandemic and post Tiger Woods era to get it right. IN AN ALREADY FRACTURED SPORT WITH NO SINGULAR VISION WE NEED UNITY TO MAKE THIS ENORMOUS SPORT EVEN BETTER AND GIVE THE WORLD'S BEST THE GREATEST POSSIBLE AND MOST GLOBAL PLATFORM TO PERFORM ON.

Step one: Make The Players Championship a Major.

Yes, I said it.

The PGA TOUR want it, the Players think it and the media AND FANS would accept it.

Even in the early to mid-1990’s the championship had a major feel, not just because of the strength of field but the golf course. It was the first of its kind and has the most dramatic finish in golf.

It is a major stage and from 2022 it will have a purse of a staggering $20million – the richest single tournament in the sport (if you don’t count the Tour Championship, which in essence is just the way of confirming the prize money for the FedEx Cup).

THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP ALWAYS FELT LIKE A 'WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OF GOLF' BACK IN THE 90'S AND EARLY 2000'S, AND IT ALREADY HAD A ROLL OF HONOUR OF A MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP WITH NICKLAUS, NORMAN, WOODS, DUVAL, ELKINGTON, COUPLES, SUTTON AND OTHERS ON THE TROPHY.

BUT THE PGA TOUR TRIED TO CONTRIVE SOMETHING, NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME, BY MOVING THE EVENT TO MAY. IT WASN'T GOOD FOR THE COURSE, IT WASN'T GOOD FOR SPECTATORS AND IT WASN'T GOOD FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP. WHICH CLEARLY WAS REALISED AS THEY MOVED IT BACK TO ITS PROPER DATE IN MARCH.

ELEVATING THE PLAYERS TO A MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP would give the PGA TOUR one of the Five Majors and bring the men’s game into line with the women’s game, which has had five majors since 2013.

IT WOULD ALSO GIVE THE PGA TOUR A PLACE AT THE TABLE OF MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP ORGANISING BODIES ALONGSIDE THE R&A, USGA, PGA OF AMERICA AND AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB, AND THEY WOULD GET THE RECOGNITION FOR ORGANISING A CHAMPIONSHIP WHICH HAS THE RESPECT OF THE WORLD AS A MAJOR.

Step two: Discontinue the FedEx Cup, Playoffs, Race to Dubai, RACE TO THE CME GLOBE AND RACE TO COSTA DEL SOL.

THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP HAS CONCLUDED THE PGA TOUR SEASON SINCE 1987 Penn State Turfgrass

Golf isn’t an American sport, and the SEASON doesn’t need a contrived finish, it should be a pure World Championship played across the world. THE PGA TOUR HAS STRIVED FOR YEARS TO CREATE A DRAMATIC FINISH TO ITS SEASON, INITIALLY IN 1987 WITH THE CREATION OF THE NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIP, WHICH BECAME THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP AND THEN THE FEDEX CUP. BUT CONTRIVED DRAMA ISN'T REAL DRAMA, AND SPORTS FANS ARE NOT STUPID.

THE BEST KIND OF SEASON-ENDING DRAMA COMES WHEN PLAYERS OR TEAMS BATTLE ALL SEASON AND REMARKABLY IT COMES DOWN TO THE FINAL MATCH OR RACE. THE BEST EXAMPLES OF THIS ARE ENGLISH FOOTBALL AND FORMULA 1.

IN 1989 ARSENAL WENT TO LIVERPOOL NEEDING TO WIN BY 2 CLEAR GOALS IN THE FINAL GAME OF THE SEASON TO SNATCH THE TITLE FROM THEIR HOSTS, THEY DID SO WITH A SECOND GOAL IN INJURY TIME, PRODUCING THE MOST DRAMATIC FINISH IN FOOTBALL LEAGUE HISTORY.

IN 1995 MANCHESTER UNITED NEEDED TO WIN AND HOPE BLACKBURN ROVERS LOST TO SNATCH THE TITLE ON THE FINAL DAY. BLACKBURN LOST TO LIVERPOOL WITH A LAST MINUTE GOAL FROM JAMIE REDKNAPP, BUT MANCHESTER UNITED COULD NOT FIND THE WINNING GOAL THEY NEEDED TO CLAIM THE TITLE AND THE GLORY WENT TO BLACKBURN.

IN 1999 MANCHESTER UNITED AND ARSENAL WERE BATTLING FOR THE TITLE, WITH UNITED HOSTING ARSENAL'S FIERCE RIVALS SPURS ON THE FINAL DAY. ARSENAL NEEDED TO BETTER UNITED'S RESULT, AND DRAMATICALLY SPURS TOOK THE LEAD, GIVING ARSENAL THE CHANCE TO CLAIM THE TITLE. UNITED ROARED BACK TO WIN 2-1 AND CLAIM THE PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE BY A SOLITARY POINT.

IN 2012 MANCHESTER RIVALS CITY AND UNITED WENT INTO THE FINAL GAME LEVEL ON POINTS, WITH CITY AT HOME TO QUEENS PARK RANGERS AND UNITED AWAY TO SUNDERLAND IT SEEMED LIKE BOTH WOULD WIN AND CITY WOULD CLAIM THE PREMIER LEAGUE ON GOAL DIFFERENCE.

UNITED TOOK A FIRST HALF LEAD AGAINST SUNDERLAND, AND CITY WENT IN AT HALF TIME LEADING 1-0 V QPR. ASTONISHINGLY QPR THEN CAME BACK TO LEAD 2-1, AND WITH BOTH GAMES HEADING FOR INJURY TIME MANCHESTER UNITED SEEMED TO BE CERTAIN CHAMPIONS. REMARKABLY CITY TURNED IT AROUND WITH GOALS FROM DZEKO AND AGUERO IN THE 93RD MINUTE TO WIN CITY THE TITLE.

IT WAS THRILLING, UNSCRIPTED DRAMA AT ITS BEST. NOT CONTRIVED. NO SEEDING. NO BUMPING POINTS UP TO MAKE IT MORE COMPETITIVE. IT HAPPENED BECAUSE IT WAS THE BEST V THE BEST ALL SEASON.

THEN LOOK AT FORMULA 1. A SPORT OF SIMILAR GLOBAL STATURE, AND THE SPORT GOLF SHOULD BE LOOKING TO EMULATE ON THE WORLD STAGE. AGAIN, THE POINTS REMAIN THE SAME THROUGHOUT THE SEASON AND THE BEST DRIVE AGAINST THE BEST ALL SEASON, AND INCREDIBLY ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HAS COME DOWN TO THE VERY LAST RACE.

THE FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HAS BEEN DECIDED IN THE FINAL RACE OF THE SEASON ON AT LEAST 9 OCCASIONS, INCLUDING 1976, 1986, 1994, 1997, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012 AND 2014, BUT THE THREE MOST DRAMATIC ARE UNQUESTIONABLY 1976, 1986 AND 2008.

THE 1976 SEASON IS ONE OF THE MOST STORIED IN THE HISTORY OF FORMULA 1, AND THE CHAMPIONSHIP RACE CAME DOWN TO THE FINAL GRAND PRIX OF THE SEASON, THE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX. NIKA LAUDA LED JAMES HUNT BY 3 POINTS, INCREDIBLY JUST THREE MONTHS AFTER LAUDA'S HORRIFIC CRASH AND FIRE AT THE GERMAN GRAND PRIX.

A MONSOON HAD MADE THE SUZUKA TRACK PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING, AND LAUDA DRAMATICALLY WITHDREW ON THE SECOND LAP OF THE RACE BECAUSE OF THE CONDITIONS AND HIS FEAR OF HAVING A SECOND SUCH ACCIDENT. IN A REMARKABLE FINISH JAMES HUNT CAME FROM FIFTH IN THE RACE TO OVERTAKE TWO DRIVERS AND FINISH THIRD TO TAKE THE TITLE BY ONE POINT. THE SEASON IS THE SUBJECT OF THE 2013 MOVIE, RUSH.

10 YEARS LATER THE SCENE WAS SET FOR AN EVEN MORE REMARKABLE FINISH AT THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX AS NIGEL MANSELL, ALAIN PROST AND NELSON PIQUET ALL WENT TO ADELAIDE WITH HOPES OF WINNING THE CHAMPIONSHIP. THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX OF 1986 IS KNOWN AS The most dramatic and exciting race of the 1980s. GOING INTO THE RACE Mansell had 70 points, six more than Prost and seven more than Piquet. Prost's McLaren-TAG was no match for the Williams-Hondas – which had lapped the Frenchman at several races – although Alain had collected points all year while the Williams pair fought one another.

Mansell was on pole ahead of Piquet and Ayrton Senna (Lotus-Renault). Prost was fourth followed by Rene Arnoux (Ligier), Gerhard Berger (Benetton), Keke Rosberg (McLaren), Philippe Alliot (Ligier), Michele Alboreto's Ferrari and Philippe Streiff's Tyrrell.

At the second corner of the race, Senna forced his way into the lead. Piquet and Rosberg followed him past Mansell and on that first lap Piquet overtook Senna to take the lead. On the next lap Senna dropped behind Rosberg and on lap 4 behind Mansell. Two laps later Prost was also ahead of Senna.

On lap 7 Rosberg overtook Piquet and began to build a lead while a little later Prost got ahead of Mansell and chased after Piquet. On lap 23 Nelson spun. Prost's hopes seemed to evaporate a few laps later when he had a puncture and had to pit. He was back in fourth again. Piquet charged back from his spin, passing Mansell for second place on lap 44 but Prost closed on his two Williams driver and with 25 laps to go all three were running together.

On lap 63 the battle became one for the lead, when Rosberg suffered a right rear tire failure. Mansell was on course for the title when two laps later on the Dequetteville Terrace (Brabham Straight) his left rear tire exploded at 180 mph. Nigel managed to avoid hitting anything, but his championship hopes were over. Williams had no choice but to call Piquet to the pits and so Prost went into the lead.

Piquet closed the gap from fifteen seconds to four but Prost won the race and the World Championship after a breathtakingly exciting race. Third place in the race went to Stefan Johansson in his last race for Ferrari with Martin Brundle fourth in his Tyrrell. Streiff was fifth and Johnny Dumfries (Lotus) sixth.

THEN IN 2008 LEWIS HAMILTON BECAME FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPION FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME, AT A STUNNING AND UNPREDICTABLE FINAL RACE OF THE SEASON, THE BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX. HE DENIED THE HOME FAVOURITE FELIPE MASSA THE TITLE BY OVERTAKING TIMO GLOCK ON THE FINAL CORNER OF THE RACE TO SEAL THE WORLD TITLE BY FINISHING FIFTH IN THE RACE, DESPITE MASSA WINNING THE GRAND PRIX.

THEN IN 2021 WE HAVE HAD ONE OF THE MOST CAPTIVATING SEASONS OF ALL, WITH A WEEK-IN-WEEK-OUT BATTLE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP BETWEEN HAMILTON AND MAX VERSTAPPEN. THE REMARKABLE, BREATHTAKING, DRAMATIC AND CONTROVERSIAL FINISH TO THE SEASON WOULD NOT HAVE EVER HAPPENED WITHOUT THE INCREDIBLE PLATFORM FORMULA 1 HAS BUILT, WHERE WEEK IN WEEK OUT THE BEST DRIVERS IN THE WORLD WENT HEAD TO HEAD. A NARRATIVE WAS BUILT OVER THE SEASON IN GRAND PRIX ACROSS THE ENTIRE WORLD WITH MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN BAHRAIN, GREAT BRITAIN, ITALY, USA, MEXICO, BRAZIL, SAUDI ARABIA AND ABU DHABI.

THE 2021 FORMULA 1 SEASON HAS ELEVATED THIS WORLDWIDE SPECTACULAR TO EVEN GREATER HEIGHTS, AND THIS IS WHAT GOLF SHOULD BE STRIVING FOR, NOT CONTRIVING TO GET.

Step three: Create A World Golf Championships schedule
AS THE PINNACLE OF A NEW PGA TOUR WHICH IS MERGED OF THE PGA TOUR,
DP WORLD TOUR, ASIAN TOUR, SUNSHINE TOUR, JAPAN GOLF TOUR,
PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA, KORN FERRY TOUR, CHALLENGE TOUR,
PGA TOUR CANADA AND PGA TOUR LATINOAMERICA

MOCK UP OF HOW THE WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS COULD BE REFRESHED AND RELAUNCHED

AFTER THE FIRST YEAR OF THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES AND PERHAPS THE SUPER GOLF LEAGUE I DO BELIEVE THE PGA TOUR AND DP WORLD TOUR WILL COME TO THE TABLE AND NEGOTIATE WITH THE ASIAN TOUR AND LIV GOLF INVESTMENTS FOR THE GOOD OF THE GAME. AFTER ONE SEASON OF THE SUPER LEAGUE IN AUSTRALIA THE RIVAL LEAGUES BACKED BY KERRY PACKER AND RUPERT MURDOCH CAME TOGETHER, AND THE NRL WAS FORMED IN 1998. SEVERAL INNOVATIONS FROM THE SUPER LEAGUE WERE USED IN THE NEW NRL AND RUGBY LEAGUE IN AUSTRALIA HAS NEVER LOOKED BACK.

WORLD SERIES CRICKET LASTED FROM 1977 TO 1979 BEFORE THE AUSTRALIAN CRICKET BOARD CAME TO THE TABLE AND THEY AND KERRY PACKER AGREED TO CREATE THE WORLD SERIES CUP WITHIN THE EXISTING FRAMEWORK OF CRICKET, AND PACKER'S NINE NETWORK WON THE RIGHTS TO SHOW AUSTRALIAN CRICKET. MANY INNOVATIONS FROM WORLD SERIES CRICKET HELPED TO REVOLUTIONISE THE SPORT INCLUDING DAY-NIGHT GAMES, WHITE BALLS, COLOURED UNIFORMS AND HELMETS FOR BATTERS.

WITH NUMEROUS STRATEGIC ALLIANCES AND CO-SANCTIONING AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE TOURS SINCE 1995 I BELIEVE THIS WILL RESULT IN ALL THE TOURS MERGING, WITH ALL EVENTS COMING UNDER THE PGA TOUR BANNER. THE PGA TOUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WOULD BE CREATED, WITH THE TOP TIER OF EVENTS BEING KNOWN AS THE WGC. THESE EVENTS WILL BE THE SHOWCASE FOR GOLF ON A GLOBAL BASIS, WITH THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE WORLD PLAYING IN THESE EVENTS, AND THE PYRAMID OF THE GAME LEADING TO THE WGC.

THE WGC WOULD BE INNOVATIVE, GLOBAL AND INSPIRATIONAL, IT WOULD SHOWCASE THE BEST GOLFERS IN THE WORLD ON THE BEST COURSES IN THE WORLD ACROSS THE WHOLE WORLD.

The schedule would have its own singular exemption criteria, with promotion to it earned by World Ranking and performance IN THE EVENTS below it. Players would be exempt to the WGC for a minimum of 5 years, with tournament victories earning a 10-year exemption and Major Championship winners earning a lifetime exemption. Align the schedules for the Women’s World Golf Championships to play on the same course in the following week using the same infrastructure.

The Team element. The Premier Golf League proposal IS for teams and franchise owners etc, but for me golf is about nations, and nothing would emphasise that more by having a season-long Team World Golf Championship. Each country would appoint a team captain who would select 2 players each day of each event for their scores to count on a Team Leaderboard. Points would be awarded to each nation at the end of each week and a season-long points race would determine the Team World Golf Champions after the final event.

There would be 25 World Golf Championships alongside 5 Major Championships with a defined 6-week Christmas and New Year break and a defined 6-week off-season. The season would run from October to August with no more than 3 events played in a row during the season.

Each event would be simply titled Golf Championship following the destination – Australian Golf Championship, Scottish Golf Championship and so on. There is absolutely no doubt about it that golf doesn’t help itself from an exposure standpoint by naming events Worldwide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, The American Express, Estrella Damm Andalucía Masters etc. Keep it simple. Just like Formula 1.

THE BEST EVENTS AND EVENTS WHICH UNDOUBTEDLY GAIN MORE TRACTION WITH THE PUBLIC ARE EVENTS SUCH AS THE MASTERS, US OPEN, PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, THE OPEN, RYDER CUP AND SOLHEIM CUP. SIMPLE NAMES, NO CORPORATE SPONSOR TITLES AND EASY TO IDENTIFY WITH.

Field size of 120 MADE UP OF PLAYERS FROM THE OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING, WINNERS ON THE PGA TOUR AND OTHER TOURS OF THE WORLD IN THE PREVIOUS 3 SEASONS PRIOR TO THE MERGER OF THE TOURS, QUALIFIERS AND INVITEES. AFTER THE FIRST SEASON OF THE WGC THE CRITERIA WOULD BE BASED ON THE NEWLY MERGED PGA TOUR AND PERFORMANCES IN THOSE EVENTS.

72-hole events with a cut after 2 ROUNDS TO THE TOP 70 AND TIES, AND 3 rounds to the top 30 – no ties, ties separated by a playoff to ensure a 30-player field on Sunday.

POINTS SYSTEM - THE POINTS WOULD BE AWARDED TO THE TOP 10 IN THE WGC EVENTS AND THE TOP 20 IN THE MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS, POINTS WOULD BE THE SAME AS FORMULA 1 AND IN THE MAJORS THEY WOULD BE MULTIPLIED BY 2.

1ST - 25 2ND - 18 3rd - 15 4th - 12 5th - 10

6th - 8 7th -6 8th - 4 9th - 2 10th - 1

A BONUS POINT WOULD BE AWARDED FOR PLAYERS IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES: LOW ROUND OF THE DAY, EACH DAY / LOW ROUND OF THE TOURNAMENT / MOST BIRDIES OF THE ROUND, EACH DAY / MOST BIRDIES OF THE TOURNAMENT; THESE FOUR CHANCES TO SCORE BONUS POINTS MEANS EVERY PLAYER HAS A REASON TO TRY UNTIL THE VERY END, WHETHER THEY ARE IN CONTENTION TO WIN OR NOT.

THE POINTS SYSTEM IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND FOLLOW FOR FANS EVERY EVENT OF THE WGC SEASON.

NEW WAY OF PAYING THE PLAYERS FOR THE WGC. EACH WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP WOULD HAVE A PURSE OF $20,000,000, WHICH MATCHES THAT OF THE THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2022. BUT THE PURSE WOULD BE DISTRIBUTED IN A VERY DIFFERENT WAY TO HOW IT HAS BEEN FOR GOLF TOURNAMENTS BEFORE. THE WINNER'S SHARE WOULD BE 25% AND THEREFORE $5,000,000 FOR EACH WGC CHAMPION DURING THE SEASON, THE REMAINING $15,000,000 WOULD BE SPLIT EVENLY BETWEEN ALL 120 PLAYERS IN THE FIELD.

THIS WOULD MEAN A PLAYER PLAYING IN A WGC EVENT WOULD RECEIVE A GUARANTEED $125,000, CURRENTLY THEY ARE GUARANTEED NOTHING AS PLAYERS WHO MISS THE CUT IN AN EVENT DO NOT GET PAID. THIS BRINGS GOLF MORE INTO LINE WITH OTHER SPORTS SUCH AS BOXING. THIS PAYOUT IS MADE IRRELEVANT OF PERFORMANCE. A PLAYER PLAYING IN ALL WGC EVENTS WOULD EARN A GUARANTEED MINIMUM OF $3,125,000 PER SEASON WITHOUT WINNING A TITLE.

BONUS POOL OF $75,000,000 AS IT IS CURRENTLY FOR THE FEDEX CUP IN 2022, AWARDED TO THE TOP 50 ON THE WGC RANKINGS

PLAYER IMPACT, PERFORMANCE AND MEDIA RIGHTS SHARE PROGRAM WOULD BE A FUND AWARDED TO THE PLAYERS IN THE WGC BASED UPON THEIR PERFORMANCE IN TERMS OF REACHING THE SUNDAY OF EVENTS, WINNING, TOP 10'S, STATISTICAL ACHIEVEMENTS AND OTHER ON COURSE ASPECTS.

THEY WILL ALSO BE AWARDED MONEY BASED UPON THEIR VISIBILITY VIA MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE WGC AND RECEIVE A FAIR SHARE OF THE MEDIA RIGHTS MONEY GENERATED BY THE WGC. PLAYERS ENGAGEMENT WITH FANS AND GROWING THEIR OWN PROFILE WILL BE USED A MEASUREMENT WHEN AWARDING THE FUND.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA - MUCH IS MADE OF THE DEMANDS PUT ON PLAYERS, BY THE PLAYERS, AND SOME OF THEM DON'T LIKE BEING TOLD WHEN AND WHERE TO PLAY, SO THERE WOULD NOT BE A MINIMUM NUMBER OF EVENTS PLAYERS MUST PLAY, BUT THEY WOULD HAVE TO FULFIL THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA. 1 - PLAY EVERY WGC AT LEAST ONCE WITHIN THEIR EXEMPTION PERIOD (MINIMUM 2 YEARS) 2 - PLAY AT LEAST 1 EVENT PER SEASON IN EACH CONTINENT OF THE WORLD.

THE WAY THE POINTS AND MONEY IS DISTRIBUTED INCENTIVISES A GOLFER TO PLAY MORE OFTEN, THE LESS THEY PLAY THE LESS CHANCE THEY HAVE TO EARN AND THE LESS CHANCE THEY HAVE TO WIN THE WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP AT THE END OF THE SEASON.

The schedule: OCTOBER TO AUGUST SEASON - SPAIN, CHINA, KOREA, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA, SINGAPORE, INDIA, ABU DHABI, DUBAI, ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, FLORIDA, THE PLAYERS, TEXAS, THE MASTERS, NORTH CAROLINA, ARGENTINA, PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, OHIO, CANADA, US OPEN, IRELAND, SCOTLAND, THE OPEN, ENGLAND, SWITZERLAND, CHICAGO, NEW YORK, ATLANTA

THE COURSES. A NEW AND EXCITING WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS NEEDS TO BE PLAYED ON ICONIC GOLF COURSES ACROSS THE WORLD, COURSES WHICH THE GOLFING PUBLIC ARE ABSOLUTELY EAGER TO SEE ON TELEVISION AND COURSES WHICH WILL TEST THE BEST IN THE WORLD. THE COURSES MUST ALSO BE CAPABLE OF HOUSING THE INFRASTRUCTURE ASSOCIATED WITH BIG EVENTS SUCH AS THE OPEN AND RYDER CUP VENUES ARE.

25/10/2021. Ladies European Tour 2021. Dubai Moonlight Classic presented by EGA, EMIRATES Golf Club, Faldo Course, Dubai, UAE. October 27-29 2021. A view of the 18th green. Credit: Tristan Jones/LET

Day-night events. In the vision of Kerry Packer and World Series Cricket, this would bring the sport to a wider audience at a more convenient time. They would only be used for select events such as Australia, Japan, Korea, China, INDIA and the Middle East. This would undoubtedly improve television ratings in Europe and the USA.

THERE IS PRECEDENT FOR THIS WITH THE OMEGA DUBAI MOONLIGHT CLASSIC ON THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR AND THE TURKISH AIRLINES OPEN ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR IN 2019. PRIOR TO THIS 'MONDAY NIGHT GOLF' ON ESPN HAD USED LIGHTS FOR THE FINAL FEW HOLES OF CHALLENGE MATCHES FEATURING TIGER WOODS, DAVID DUVAL, SERGIO GARCIA, ANNIKA SORENSTAM, JACK NICKLAUS, LEE TREVINO, ERNIE ELS, PHIL MICKELSON, VIJAY SINGH, AND RETIEF GOOSEN FROM 1999 TO 2005.

Step FOUR: BRING TOGETHER PGA TOUR PRODUCTIONS AND EUROPEAN TOUR PRODUCTIONS TO PROVIDE THE BEST EVER COVERAGE OF GOLF, WITH INNOVATIONS TO ENHANCE THE VIEWER EXPERIENCE AND SHOW MORE GOLF THAN EVER BEFORE.

IN-VISION LEADERBOARD ON SCREEN THROUGHOUT THE BROADCAST - ONE OF THE FEW CRITICISMS I HAVE OF GOLF ON TELEVISION IS TURNING ON AND NOT KNOWING WHO IS DOING WHAT AND WHERE THEY ARE. THE FORMULA 1 BROADCAST DOES THIS BETTER THAN MANY OTHER SPORTS AND IT IS A SIMPLE CHANGE TO THE VIEWER EXPERIENCE WHICH WOULD MAKE GOLF MUCH MORE FUN TO WATCH.

THIS ADDITION TO THE VIEWING EXPERIENCE WOULD NEGATE THE NEED FOR CONSTANT CUTS TO LEADERBOARDS, AND THEREFORE MEAN MORE LIVE GOLF IS SHOWN. FANS CAN THEN SEE WHEN PLAYERS MAKE A MOVE INTO THE TOP 20 ON THE LEADERBOARD, AND POTENTIALLY IF THE TECHNOLOGY ALLOWED THE LEADERBOARD COULD MOVE UP AND DOWN FOR THE VIEWER TO SEE ALL PLAYERS IN THE FIELD.

FOX SPORTS USED A SIMILAR THING WHEN THEY DEBUTED THEIR US OPEN COVERAGE BUT IT WAS A SMALL LEADERBOARD ONLY SHOWING A HANDFUL OF PLAYERS, AND HAS BEEN INCONSISTENTLY USED BY OTHER BROADCASTERS INCLUDING CBS.

GIVE THE VIEWER MORE CONTROL - WITH TECHNOLOGY ADVANCED NOW PLATFORMS SUCH AS SKY CAN GIVE THE VIEWER CONTROL OF THEIR OWN VIEWING EXPERIENCE. SO IF THE VIEWER WANTS TO WATCH RORY MCILROY'S ENTIRE ROUND THEN GIVE THEM THE ABILITY TO DO SO.

WITH PGA TOUR PRODUCTIONS AND EUROPEAN TOUR PRODUCTIONS COMING TOGETHER THERE WOULD BE MORE CAMERAS THAN EVER BEFORE AND VIEWERS WOULD HAVE THE ABILITY TO SEE ALL OF EVERY PLAYERS ROUNDS IF THEY WISH.

MORE ADDITIONAL FEATURES - ALLOW THE VIEWER TO CHOOSE A SPECIFIC HOLE TO WATCH, CAMERAS ON THE RANGE AND PRESS CONFERENCES LIVE

GIVE THE VIEWER MORE INFORMATION - STATISTICS, LEADERBOARDS, SCORECARDS AND HIGHLIGHTS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE TO THE VIEWER WHEN THEY WANT IT.

ENHANCED AUDIO - PLAYERS AND CADDIES CONVERSATIONS OVER THE SHOT WOULD BE RECORDED AND USED WITHIN THE BROADCAST JUST LIKE TEAM IN AUDIO IS IN FORMULA 1. THIS TAKES THE VIEWER CLOSER TO THE ACTION AND GIVES THEM AN INSIGHT INTO THE THOUGHTS OF THE PLAYERS AND THEIR CADDIES WHILST PLAYING IN THE WORLD'S GREATEST EVENTS.

OFFER COMMENTARY IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES - WE LIVE IN A MULTI-CULTURAL SOCIETY AND MUCH OF THE POPULATION OF THE UK IS FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD, SO OFFERING COMMENTARY FROM OTHER BROADCASTERS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES ACROSS THE WORLD WOULD ENHANCE THE EXPERIENCE AND WIDEN THE AUDIENCE.

SHOW IT ALL - THE ENTIRE DAY'S PLAY WOULD BE BROADCAST LIVE, IMAGINE IF TV ONLY STARTED SHOWING A RACE MIDWAY THROUGH? OR A FOOTBALL MATCH WITH HALF AN HOUR TO GO? VIEWERS CAN CHOOSE TO COME AND GO AS THEY WISH, BUT THE WHOLE THING SHOULD BE SHOWN LIVE.

UNIVERSALLY USED BRANDING - THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AND FORMULA 1 ARE TWO OF THE GREATEST SPORTING BRANDS IN THE WORLD, AND THEIR BRAND IS UNIVERSAL ACROSS ALL BROADCASTERS IN THE WORLD. A KEY PART OF THIS IS THE ANTHEM. UEFA INTRODUCED THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ANTHEM IN 1992 WHEN THEY RELAUNCHED THE EUROPEAN CUP AND IT IS SYNONYMOUS WITH THE COMPETITION, PLAYED BEFORE EVERY GAME ON THE PITCH AND THROUGHOUT EVERY BROADCAST OF THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ON ALL BROADCASTERS.

WHEN LIBERTY MEDIA TOOK OVER FORMULA 1 IN 2017 THEY COMMISSIONED BRYAN TYLER TO COMPOSE THE NEW FORMULA 1 ANTHEM, AND IT HAS BECOME UNIVERSALLY POPULAR AND IS HEARD AT THE START OF EVERY RACE BROADCAST ACROSS THE WORLD. THESE ANTHEMS SAY 'THIS IS THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, YOU NEED TO WATCH' AND THE SAME FOR F1.

Step FIVE: Discontinue Presidents Cup & World Cup,
expand the Ryder Cup AND DO THE SAME WITH THE SOLHEIM CUP.

The Ryder Cup AND SOLHEIM CUP would feature six teams representing USA, Europe, Asia, Australasia, Africa and the Americas, and be played every 2 years in odd numbered yearS (RYDER CUP), EVEN NUMBERED YEARS (SOLHEIM CUP).

IMAGINE THE RYDER CUP AND SOLHEIM CUP ON A TRULY GLOBAL SCALE. IMAGINE AN ASIAN DREAM TEAM COMPETING FOR THE SOLHEIM CUP, WITH THE STAR POWER THEY CAN PROVIDE AND THE INCREDIBLE INTEREST IT WOULD GENERATE ACROSS THE REGION. THE RYDER CUP AND SOLHEIM CUP ARE BY FAR THE BIGGEST EVENTS IN MENS AND WOMENS GOLF, BUT THEY CAN BE EVEN BIGGER AND THEY CAN BE STAGED ALL OVER THE WORLD.

A GENUINE WORLD TOUR COULD SEE GOLF HAVE 20-PLUS EVENTS THE SCALE OF THE RYDER CUP EACH YEAR IMAGE Cutkiller2018

CASE STUDY: WORLD CIRCUITS FROM OTHER SPORTS

FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (Barry Leech)

ATP TOUR (www.bookoftennis.com)

CROSS COUNTRY SKI WORLD CUP (Matvey Smychkov)

ALPINE SKI WORLD CUP (martin_vmorris)

BOBSLEIGH WORLD CUP (EPA/ARNO BALZARINI /LANDOV)

LUGE WORLD CUP (Adam Taber)

SKELETON WORLD CUP (Airflore)

WORLD SURF LEAGUE (troy_williams)

MOTO GP (Alex Matravers)

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP (Toyota UK)

BIATHLON WORLD CUP (Sean Rowe)

FORMULA E (_chrisUK)

I HAVE IDENTIFIED 12 GLOBAL CIRCUITS IN VARIOUS SPORTS TO SHOW HOW GOLF CAN HAVE A WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE BETTER OF THE SPORT:

FORMULA 1 - THE CREME DE LA CREME OF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
RACES IN 2022: 23
COUNTRIES VISITED: 22
CONTINENTS VISITED: 5
PRE-SEASON: 21 FEBRUARY TO 12 MARCH
SEASON: 17 MARCH TO 20 NOVEMBER

ATP TOUR - THE MEN'S WORLDWIDE PROFESSIONAL TENNIS TOUR
TOURNAMENTS (2019): 66
COUNTRIES VISITED: 32
CONTINENTS VISITED: 5
SEASON: 7 JANUARY TO 5 DECEMBER

CROSS COUNTRY SKI WORLD CUP
DESTINATIONS: 14
COUNTRIES VISITED: 10
CONTINENTS VISITED: 1
SEASON: 26 NOVEMBER TO 2O MARCH

ALPINE SKI WORLD CUP
DESTINATIONS: 19
COUNTRIES VISITED: 11
CONTINENTS VISITED: 3
SEASON: 24 OCTOBER TO 20 MARCH

BOBSLEIGH WORLD CUP
DESTINATIONS: 8
COUNTRIES VISITED: 4
CONTINENTS VISITED: 1
SEASON: 20 NOVEMBER TO 16 JANUARY

LUGE WORLD CUP
DESTINATIONS: 9
COUNTRIES VISITED: 6
CONTINENTS VISITED: 2
SEASON: 20 NOVEMBER TO 23 JANUARY

SKELETON WORLD CUP
DESTINATIONS: 8
COUNTRIES VISITED: 4
CONTINENTS VISITED: 1
SEASON: 19 NOVEMBER TO 14 JANUARY

WORLD SURF LEAGUE
DESTINATIONS: 11
COUNTRIES VISITED: 8
CONTINENTS VISITED: 6
SEASON: APRIL 3 TO DECEMBER 20

MOTO GP
RACES: 21
COUNTRIES VISITED: 19
CONTINENTS VISITED: 5
pre-season: 31 JANUARY TO 13 FEBRUARY
SEASON: 4 MARCH TO 6 NOVEMBER

WRC (WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP)
RACES: 13
COUNTRIES VISITED: 13
CONTINENTS VISITED: 4
SEASON: 20 JANUARY TO 10 NOVEMBER

BIATHLON WORLD CUP
DESTINATIONS: 9
COUNTRIES VISITED: 8
CONTINENTS VISITED: 1
SEASON: 27 NOVEMBER TO 20 MARCH

FORMULA E
RACES: 16
COUNTRIES VISITED: 12
CONTINENTS VISITED: 3
SEASON: 28 JANUARY TO 14 AUGUST

SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT THE BE ALL AND END ALL, BUT LET US COMPARE THE SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING OF THE MAJOR SPORTS OF THE WORLD TO GOLF, AND WE WILL SE A CLEAR NEED FOR CHANGE TO ELEVATE THIS SPORT TO THE PLACE IT BELONGS:

FACEBOOK FOLLOWERS:

MOTOGP - 17,165,191
FORMULA 1 - 11,735,902
WORLD SURF LEAGUE - 7,332,284
ATP TOUR/WTA TOUR - 5,890,486
PGA TOUR/DP WORLD TOUR/LPGA - 5,812,963
WRC - 2,918,294
WORLD SUPERBIKE - 1,687,607
PDC DARTS - 946,748

WHAT DOES THIS SHOW? FIRSTLY THAT GOLF IS A POPULAR SPORT, COMBINED THE PGA TOUR, DP WORLD TOUR AND LPGA HAVE OVER 5 MILLION FANS, SO IMAGINE IF THE PRODUCT WAS A TRULY GLOBAL PLATFORM. SECONDLY THE DEMOGRAPHIC OF PEOPLE PLAYING THE GAME AND WATCHING THE GAME NEEDS TO CHANGE. AND THIS CAN BE ACHIEVED BY MAKING MAJOR CHANGES TO THE PRODUCT AND THE PLATFORM ON WHICH THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE WORLD PERFORM.

WHEN YOU ADD THE FOLLOWING OF ALL THE MAJOR GOLF EVENTS AND OTHER CIRCUITS TO THE PGA TOUR, DP WORLD TOUR AND LPGA THE TOTAL IS STILL LESS THAN THE FOLLOWING FORMULA 1 HAS, AND TO DO THAT WAS NOT A FAIR COMPARISON AS FORMULA 1 HAS 23 GRAND PRIX, MANY OF WHICH HAVE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF FOLLOWERS.

THE REAL DISPARITY COMES WHEN YOU COMPARE THE POPULARITY OF THE BIGGEST STARS FOLLOWING FROM EACH SPORT TO GOLF, IT IS A STARK DIFFERENCE.

FOR THIS WE SHALL USE INSTAGRAM AS THE BEST METHOD OF COMPARISON: (NUMBERS ARE APPROXIMATE, NOT A COMPLETE RANKING)

LEWIS HAMILTON - 26.8 MILLION, TOP F1 DRIVER
SERENA WILLIAMS - 14.2 MILLION, TOP TENNIS PLAYER
RAFAEL NADAL - 13.4 MILLION
Valentino Rossi - 12.8 MILLION, TOP MOTOGP RIDER
NOVAK DJOKOVIC - 10.2 MILLION
Gabriel Medina - 9.6 MILLION, TOP WSL SURFER
ROGER FEDERER - 9 MILLION
MAX VERSTAPPEN - 7.8 MILLION
CHARLES LECLERC - 5.9 MILLION
Marc Márquez - 5.6 MILLION
LANDO NORRIS - 4.8 MILLION
CARLOS SAINZ - 4 MILLION
ITALO FERRERIA - 2.9 MILLION
VALTERI BOTTAS - 2.9 MILLION
GEORGE RUSSELL - 2.8 MILLION
TIGER WOODS - 2.8 MILLION, TOP GOLFER
KELLY SLATER - 2.8 MILLION
RORY MCILROY - 2.2 MILLION
EMMA RADUCANU - 2.1 MILLION
ANDY MURRAY - 1.8 MILLION
RICKY FOWLER - 1.8 MILLION
Fabio Quartararo - 1.7 MILLION
John John Florence - 1.5 MILLION
DUSTIN JOHNSON - 1.2 MILLION
Kanoa Igarashi - 577,000
Carissa Moore - 536,000
NELLY KORDA - 473,000
OWEN WRIGHT - 442,000
JON RAHM - 439,000
XANDER SCHAUFFELE - 263,000
LYDIA KO - 220,000
PATRICK REED - 152,000

THE NEXT MOST IMPORTANT METRIC FOR GOLF AND TO DEMONSTRATE THE NEED TO CHANGE THE PLATFORM IS TV VIEWERSHIP, IT IS HERE GOLF CANNOT COMPETE WITH THE BIGGEST SPORTS IN THE WORLD.

BY FAR THE BIGGEST TV AUDIENCE FOR A GOLF TOURNAMENT EVER RECORDED CAME AT THE 1997 MASTERS, WITH MORE THAN 40 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES ALONE TUNING IN TO WATCH TIGER WOODS WIN THE MASTERS FOR THE FIRST TIME. BUT TYPICALLY GOLF RECORDS FAR LOWER AUDIENCES, WITH THE 2021 MASTERS RECORDING JUST SHY OF 9.5 MILLION VIEWERS.

PGA TOUR EVENTS RECORD LOWER VIEWING RATINGS, WITH THE AVERAGE AUDIENCE FOR AN EVENT OUTSIDE THE MAJORS BEING APPROXIMATELY BETWEEN 3 AND 4 MILLION VIEWERS IN THE US, A NUMBER WHICH PEAKS DRAMATICALLY WHEN TIGER WOODS IS PLAYING.

AS I POINTED OUT EARLIER, TIGER WOODS IS STILL GOLF'S BIGGEST STAR AND HAS AN INCREDIBLE IMPACT ON VIEWERSHIP, WHICH IS A HUGE PROBLEM WHEN HE IS 46 AND HEADING TOWARDS RETIREMENT.

BY COMPARISON FORMULA 1 DRAWS A GLOBAL AUDIENCE FOR EACH GRAND PRIX ON AVERAGE OF 87.4 MILLION PEOPLE, WITH A CUMULATIVE AUDIENCE OF NEARLY 2 BILLION OVER THE SEASON.

BUT FOR ALL THESE NUMBERS THE NUMBER THAT MATTERS THE MOST IS THE NUMBER OF COUNTRIES AND CONTINENTS VISITED BY THE PREMIER CIRCUITS IN SPORT, AND GOLF, WITH ITS FRAGMENTED STRUCTURE AND LACK OF MANDATORY EVENTS, CANNOT GUARANTEE WHEN AND WHERE A STAR GOLFER WILL PLAY AND CANNOT BUILD STORYLINES AND MAXIMISE THE POPULARITY OF ITS STARS OR THE GAME.

BY HAVING A WORLDWIDE CIRCUIT THE STARS OF FORMULA 1 GET TO INTERACT AND ENGAGE WITH FANS ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND NOT JUST ONLINE OR VIA TELEVISION, ACTUALLY IN PERSON. BECAUSE THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO SUBSTITUTE FOR LIVE SPORT, SEEING IT IN PERSON RATHER THAN ON TV IS ENORMOUS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANY SPORT. SADLY MOTORSPORT, TENNIS, SURFING AND SEVERAL OTHER SPORTS DO THIS FAR BETTER THAN THE SPORT I LOVE.

IN CONCLUSION:

30 YEARS AFTER THE LAUNCH OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE
GOLF NEEDS TO HAVE ITS 'WHOLE NEW BALL GAME' MOMENT

I WANT TO START MY CONCLUSION BY STATING THAT I DO NOT JUST CRITICISE THE PGA TOUR WITHOUT GOOD REASON OR WITHOUT RECOGNISING THE GOOD THE PGA TOUR HAS DONE FOR THE GAME OF GOLF, THEY DO RUN A SUCCESSFUL OPERATION. THE MONEY THEY RAISE FOR CHARITY IS REMARKABLE, AND THEY LEAVE A GREAT LEGACY IN EVERY COMMUNITY AN EVENT IS STAGED, BUT THE GAME OF GOLF IS NOT JUST AN AMERICAN SPORT. GOLF WAS INVENTED IN ST ANDREWS NOT ST AUGUSTINE, AND THE PGA TOUR ITSELF WOULD BENEFIT FROM PRODUCING A PRODUCT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE OTHER MAJOR TOURS THAT WAS TRULY GLOBAL.

LOOK AT AN EVENT LIKE THE WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN, AND IMAGINE THAT ON A GLOBAL SCALE. NOT THE ROWDY NATURE OF THE FANS, BUT THE SHEER NUMBERS OF SPECTATORS GOING TO WATCH A GOLF TOURNAMENT, AND IMAGINE THAT AT ROYAL MELBOURNE, AT SUN CITY, IN INDIA, JAPAN, ARGENTINA, CANADA, IRELAND AND SPAIN. THE PGA TOUR HAS UNRIVALLED POTENTIAL IN ANY COMMUNITY IT STAGES EVENTS IN, AND THE PGA TOUR BRAND IS BY FAR THE BIGGEST IN GOLF, UNLEASHED ON A GLOBAL SCALE IT WOULD TRANSFORM AND ELEVATE THE SPORT.

THE FANS WOULD BENEFIT FROM BEING ABLE TO ATTEND MEGA EVENTS IN THEIR COUNTRY OR REGION FEATURING ALL OF THE WORLD'S BEST GOLFERS, BECAUSE NOTHING BEATS LIVE SPORT IN PERSON. WATCHING A GOLFER IN PERSON HAS THE POWER TO INSPIRE AND IMPACT A PERSON FAR GREATER THAN JUST WATCHING IT ON TELEVISION OR THEIR DEVICE.

THE PGA TOUR AND THE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE SPORT WOULD BENEFIT BECAUSE THE TV RATINGS WORLDWIDE WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY INCREASE BECAUSE THE PRODUCT WOULD BECOME COMPELLING WITH THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE WORLD BATTLING TO BE WORLD GOLF CHAMPION OVER 25 EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD, JUST AS THEY DO IN FORMULA 1. SPONSORS WOULD FLOCK TO THE EVENTS AND THE ORGANISATION AND THE BUSINESS OF GOLF WOULD BE MADE EVEN MORE LUCRATIVE.

AND THE PLAYERS WOULD BENEFIT FROM FIRSTLY COMPETING AGAINST THE BEST ON A MUCH MORE REGULAR BASIS, IT WOULD AND HAS BEEN PROVEN TO DO, ELEVATE THEIR GAME IN EVERY WAY, AND THEY WOULD GET TO PLAY ON SOME OF THE WORLD'S BEST GOLF COURSES, AROUND IN THE WORLD IN DIFFERENT CONDITIONS AND CLIMATES.

RIGHT NOW OVER 66 MILLION PEOPLE PLAY THE GAME OF GOLF AROUND THE WORLD, SO GOLF IS HEALTHY, BUT THE VAST MAJORITY OF THOSE WHO PLAY THE GAME ARE IN THE UNITED STATES AND EUROPE. THE SPORT NEEDS TO ELEVATE EXISTING EVENTS ON GREAT COURSES IN AFRICA, ASIA, AUSTRALASIA AND SOUTH AMERICA BY ATTRACTING AND COMPELLING THE WORLD'S BEST GOLFERS TO PLAY THERE.

30 YEARS AGO ENGLISH FOOTBALL MADE A LEAP OF FAITH. THE BIG FIVE OF ARSENAL, TOTTENHAM, MANCHESTER UNITED, LIVERPOOL AND EVERTON HELD SECRET TALKS TO BREAK AWAY FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT, TO BREAK AWAY FROM A CENTURY OF HISTORY TO CREATE A BETTER LEAGUE, A BETTER PRODUCT, TO GENERATE MORE WEALTH AND TO MAKE FOOTBALL BETTER.

OUT OF THE ASHES OF HILLSBOROUGH, HEYSEL, THE BRADFORD FIRE AND MASS HOOLIGANISM OF THE 1980'S CAME THE GREATEST LEAGUE IN WORLD FOOTBALL, IN FACT THE GREATEST LEAGUE IN WORLD SPORT. THE PREMIER LEAGUE IS NOW THE MOST-WATCHED, MOST ENGAGED WITH SPORTING PROPERTY, BIGGER THAN THE OLYMPICS, OR THE WORLD CUP. FANS LOVE TO WATCH THE OVER 200 LIVE GAMES EACH SEASON ON TV AND BROADCASTERS FLOCK TO BUY THE TELEVISION RIGHTS, PAYING EVER INCREASING SUMS TO DO SO.

OF COURSE AT THE TIME THERE WAS HOSTILE OPPOSITION TO THE PLANS FROM THE MEDIA, SECTIONS OF FANS AND CERTAIN OTHER CLUBS. OF COURSE THERE WAS THE USUAL MANTRA IN THIS SITUATION OF "ITS ALL ABOUT MONEY". IT'S AN UNAVOIDABLE FACT, MONEY HELPS THE WORLD GO ROUND. SO FOR ONCE JUST FORGET THE MONEY, BECAUSE AS ILLUSTRATED IT ISN'T JUST THE SAUDIS THROWING IT AROUND. LOOK AT GREG NORMAN'S PLANS IN THE ROUND, WHAT HE AIMS TO DO IS FOR THE GOOD OF THE GAME, BUT NEVERTHELESS I DO BELIEVE, AS WITH WORLD SERIES CRICKET AND THE SUPER LEAGUE IN AUSTRALIA, THE ESTABLISHMENT AND THE NEW BOYS WILL COME TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD OF GOLF, AND WE WILL SEE UNITY.

MY PROPOSAL would create a product bigger than anything ever seen in golf and keep the interest of the fan throughout the season. When I saw the scenes on the opening two holes of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National I said that golf should have this in every event, so the sport needs to do all that it can to create an elite series of events which all the players play in every event every year.

Right now golf is fractured, despite the alliances between various tours it still has too many tournaments and still is failing itself and failing to realise its enormous potential on a global scale. And its only going to get worse if the PGA Tour and DP World Tour continue to oppose the vision of Greg Norman. Greg is going out on a limb, he’s risking his legacy for the greater good of the game. But what will transpire over the next couple of years could see even more tournaments created and packing the schedule even more and everything has a breaking point.

Will my vision come to fruition? Maybe. It needs people to work together and someone to take the lead and change attitudes. They need to do it for the good of the game.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION AND FOR READING THIS FEATURE.