NORTH PLAINS, OREGON - JUNE 29: Patrick Reed of 4 Aces GC looks on from the second tee during the pro-am prior to the LIV Golf Invitational - Portland at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club on June 29, 2022 in North Plains, Oregon. (Photo by Chris Trotman/LIV Golf/via Getty Images)
1 JULY, 2022 - SHANK MEDIA, BY MATT HOOPER: AS THE SECOND LIV GOLF INVITATIONAL GOT UNDERWAY LAST NIGHT AT PUMPKIN RIDGE NEAR PORTLAND, OREGON, GOLF'S CIVIL WAR BECAME PERSONAL AND NOW THREATENS TO TEAR THE DP WORLD TOUR AND EUROPEAN RYDER CUP TEAM APART. A LETTER FROM 16 DP WORLD TOUR MEMBERS INCLUDING Ian Poulter, SERGIO GARCIA, Lee Westwood AND GRAEME MCDOWELL TO THE LEADERSHIP OF THE EUROPEAN TOUR GROUP WAS LEAKED, AND IT STATED THAT THE TOUR HAD UNTIL 5PM ON FRIDAY TO REVERSE THE DECISION TO SUSPEND THEM FROM THE UPCOMING GENESIS SCOTTISH OPEN, BARRACUDA CHAMPIONSHIP AND BARBASOL CHAMPIONSHIP, AS WELL FINE THEM £100,000, OR THEY WOULD BE TAKING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST THE TOUR.
THIS MORNING THE DP WORLD TOUR CEO KEITH PELLEY HAS RELEASED THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT:
“There has been a leak to the media of a letter we received on behalf of a number of LIV Golf players which contains so many inaccuracies that it cannot remain unchallenged.
“Before joining LIV Golf, players knew there would be consequences if they chose money over competition. Many of them at the time understood and accepted that. Indeed, as one player named in the letter said in a media interview earlier this year; ‘If they ban me, they ban me.’ It is not credible that some are now surprised with the actions we have taken.
“The letter claims that these players ‘care deeply’ for the DP World Tour. An analysis of the past participation statistics on our Tour in recent years of several of the leading players named, suggests otherwise.
“One player in particular named in the note has only played six Rolex Series events in the past five years. Another one, only four. I wish many of them had been as keen to play on our Tour then as they seem to be now, based on the fact they have either resigned their membership of the PGA TOUR or, if they are still in membership, have been suspended indefinitely.
“Furthermore, given how deeply these players say they care about the DP World Tour, perhaps some of them could have played in Ireland this week in support of our new title sponsor, in particular one player who gave us a signed commitment to play at Mount Juliet.
“With that player currently in action at Pumpkin Ridge, you can imagine the allegation in the letter that we are in the wrong, is hard to accept.
“We also take great exception to an allegation made near the end of the letter which states we are somehow playing ‘second fiddle’ to the PGA TOUR. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“We held a player meeting in Ireland on Tuesday where we outlined in great detail all the many benefits of our expanded relationship with the PGA TOUR.
“One of those is an unprecedented ten cards on offer to the PGA TOUR, cards that many of the players named in this letter desperately wanted to attain in the early stages of their careers. Why now be critical of those trying to do the same?
“The letter also expresses supposed concern about the future of the DP World Tour. Rest assured no-one should have any worries on that score.
“The DP World Tour is a vibrant, independent and global Tour with increasing and guaranteed prize fund growth over the next five years. We have fantastic tournaments across the year including a host of wonderful national Opens, all played in front of huge crowds, illustrated perfectly by this week’s Horizon Irish Open.
“Finally, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on any potential legal matters.
“I will simply reiterate that our Members’ Regulations which have been in force for more than 30 years, have been accepted by all the players, are there to protect all of our members, and we will use them to take all necessary steps to protect their interests.
“The sanctions for those members who knowingly broke our rules by playing at the Centurion Club without a release are proportionate, fair and, I believe, considered necessary by the majority of our members.”
“Before joining LIV Golf, players knew there would be consequences if they chose money over competition. Many of them at the time understood and accepted that. Indeed, as one player named in the letter said in a media interview earlier this year; ‘If they ban me, they ban me.’ It is not credible that some are now surprised with the actions we have taken.
“The letter claims that these players ‘care deeply’ for the DP World Tour. An analysis of the past participation statistics on our Tour in recent years of several of the leading players named, suggests otherwise.
“One player in particular named in the note has only played six Rolex Series events in the past five years. Another one, only four. I wish many of them had been as keen to play on our Tour then as they seem to be now, based on the fact they have either resigned their membership of the PGA TOUR or, if they are still in membership, have been suspended indefinitely.
“Furthermore, given how deeply these players say they care about the DP World Tour, perhaps some of them could have played in Ireland this week in support of our new title sponsor, in particular one player who gave us a signed commitment to play at Mount Juliet.
“With that player currently in action at Pumpkin Ridge, you can imagine the allegation in the letter that we are in the wrong, is hard to accept.
“We also take great exception to an allegation made near the end of the letter which states we are somehow playing ‘second fiddle’ to the PGA TOUR. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“We held a player meeting in Ireland on Tuesday where we outlined in great detail all the many benefits of our expanded relationship with the PGA TOUR.
“One of those is an unprecedented ten cards on offer to the PGA TOUR, cards that many of the players named in this letter desperately wanted to attain in the early stages of their careers. Why now be critical of those trying to do the same?
“The letter also expresses supposed concern about the future of the DP World Tour. Rest assured no-one should have any worries on that score.
“The DP World Tour is a vibrant, independent and global Tour with increasing and guaranteed prize fund growth over the next five years. We have fantastic tournaments across the year including a host of wonderful national Opens, all played in front of huge crowds, illustrated perfectly by this week’s Horizon Irish Open.
“Finally, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on any potential legal matters.
“I will simply reiterate that our Members’ Regulations which have been in force for more than 30 years, have been accepted by all the players, are there to protect all of our members, and we will use them to take all necessary steps to protect their interests.
“The sanctions for those members who knowingly broke our rules by playing at the Centurion Club without a release are proportionate, fair and, I believe, considered necessary by the majority of our members.”
IT IS NOW CLEAR THAT THE DP WORLD TOUR, WHILST MAINTAINING IT IS "INDEPENDENT" IS NOW FIRMLY IN BED WITH THE PGA Tour AND FOLLOWING THEIR LEAD WHEN IT COMES NOT ONLY TO HOW IT RESPONDS TO THIS SITUATION, BUT ALSO TO HOW IT CONDUCTS ITS BUSINESS.
I LOVE THE EUROPEAN TOUR, AND I WANT THE EUROPEAN TOUR BACK.
KEITH PELLEY PROMISED MUCH WHEN HE TOOK OVER FROM GEORGE O'GRADY BUT IN REALITY ALL THAT HE HAS DELIVERED IS A TITLE SPONSORSHIP AND NOW AN ALLIANCE WITH THE PGA Tour WHICH INDEED BY ITS VERY NATURE, HAS MADE THE DP WORLD TOUR A FEEDER TOUR TO THE PGA Tour - WITH THE TOP 10 NON-EXEMPT PLAYERS EARNING PGA Tour CARDS EVERY YEAR.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
WELL, RIGHT NOW THE DP WORLD TOUR RANKINGS ARE DOMINATED BY PLAYERS WHO ALREADY HOLD EXEMPT STATUS ON BOTH THE PGA Tour AND DP WORLD TOUR - WILL ZALATORIS, Rory McIlroy, MATT FITZPATRICK, JUSTIN THOMAS, VIKTOR HOVLAND, COLLIN MORIKAWA, TYRRELL HATTON AND SHANE LOWRY ARE ALL RANKED INSIDE THE TOP 20 OF THE TOUR'S RANKINGS PRIOR TO THE HORIZON IRISH OPEN. SO THIS MEANS POTENTIALLY THOMAS PIETERS, RYAN FOX, JORDAN SMITH, ADRIAN MERONK, PABLO LARRAZABAL, ADRI ARNAUS, LI HAOTONG, OLIVER BEKKER, WU ASHUN AND VICTOR PEREZ WOULD EARN FULL PGA Tour CARDS.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER AND HOW WILL IT NEGATIVELY EFFECT THE DP WORLD TOUR SCHEDULE?
CURRENTLY WILL ZALATORIS, Rory McIlroy, MATT FITZPATRICK, JUSTIN THOMAS, VIKTOR HOVLAND, COLLIN MORIKAWA, TYRRELL HATTON AND SHANE LOWRY HAVE PLAYED AN AVERAGE OF 4.6 EVENTS ON THE DP WORLD TOUR THIS SEASON, BUT REMARKABLY zalatoris hasn't played a regular dp world tour event since the 2021 dp world tour championship, Rory has only played Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Fitzpatrick HASN'T PLAYED A REGULAR EVENT IN 2022, THOMAS HASN'T PLAYED ON THE DP WORLD TOUR SINCE LAST JULY'S GENESIS SCOTTISH OPEN, HOVLAND AND HATTON HAVE ONLY PLAYED Abu Dhabi AND DUBAI, LOWRY HAS ONLY PLAYED Abu Dhabi, DUBAI AND THIS WEEK'S HORIZON IRISH OPEN, AND MORIKAWA, DESPITE BEING THE EUROPEAN TOUR NUMBER ONE, HAS ONLY PLAYED Abu Dhabi AND DUBAI SO FAR THIS SEASON.
NOW LET US CONTRAST THIS TO THE COLLECTION OF 10 PLAYERS WHO STAND TO EARN THEIR PGA Tour CARDS FROM THE DP WORLD TOUR - THEY HAVE PLAYED AN AVERAGE OF 11.7 EVENTS ON THE DP WORLD TOUR THIS SEASON. SO, SHOULD THESE 10 PLAYERS TAKE UP AND FULFIL FULL TIME PGA Tour MEMBERSHIP THE ENTIRE TOP 20 OF THE DP WORLD TOUR WOULD BE FILLED WITH PLAYERS WHO PLAY JUST 2 REGULAR EVENTS IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THE SEASON - Abu Dhabi AND DUBAI.
THIS WILL HAVE MAJOR RAMIFICATIONS FOR THE OTHER EVENTS ON THE DP WORLD TOUR, AND IT IS WHY I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE WITH THE 16 DP WORLD TOUR MEMBERS PLAYING LIV GOLF THAT THIS ALLIANCE MAKES THE DP WORLD TOUR A FEEDER TOUR TO THE PGA Tour. THE LONG TERM RAMIFICATIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT AS PART OF THE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE COULD RESULT IN THE FOLLOWING:
THE PGA Tour ABSORBS SOME OF THE ROLEX SERIES EVENTS AND SELECTED OTHER EVENTS - Abu Dhabi HSBC CHAMPIONSHIP, SLYNC.IO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC, HORIZON IRISH OPEN AND GENESIS SCOTTISH OPEN INTO ITS REGULAR FEDEX CUP SEASON. SELECTED OTHER DP WORLD TOUR EVENTS ARE MOVED TO THE "FALL" AND PLAYED AS PART OF THE PGA TOUR'S INTERNATIONAL SERIES - WENTWORTH, VALDERRAMA, DUBAI, NEDBANK. AND ALL OTHER DP WORLD TOUR EVENTS ARE DOWNGRADED TO BECOME PGA Tour EUROPE - A THIRD LEVEL TOUR ALONGSIDE PGA Tour CANADA, PGA Tour LATINOAMERICA AND PGA Tour CHINA SERIES, ACTING AS A FEEDER TO THE KORN FERRY TOUR, WHICH WOULD ALSO ABSORB SOME EXISTING DP WORLD TOUR EVENTS.
I HOPE I AM WRONG, AND KEITH PELLEY COULD PROVE I AM WRONG BY INSISTING THAT ANY PARTNERSHIP IS EQUAL AND DEMANDING ALL DP WORLD TOUR EVENTS RECEIVE FEDEX CUP POINTS, ENABLING EVENTS OUTSIDE OF THE United States TO CONSISTENTLY ATTRACT STRONGER FIELDS AND EFFECTIVELY MERGING THE MEMBERSHIP AND EXEMPTION CATEGORIES. THIS WOULD TRULY BE AN ALLIANCE AND TRULY HELP GROW THE GAME ON A GLOBAL SCALE.
AS IT IS ALL I SEE IS THE DP WORLD TOUR HURTLING TOWARDS A FUTURE WHERE IT DOES NOT EXIST, AND THAT WILL BE DOWN TO THE INTROVERTED VIEW OF WORLD GOLF BY THE PGA Tour, AND THE DESPERATION TO REMAIN SOMEWHAT RELEVANT BY THE EUROPEAN TOUR GROUP.
AS FOR THE RYDER CUP? HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU HAVE A SERIOUS RIVALRY WITH SOMEONE YOU ARE IN AN ALLIANCE WITH? YOU CANNOT. IT ISN'T LIV GOLF WHICH IS GOING TO KILL THE RYDER CUP, ITS THE EUROPEAN TOUR ITSELF.
