Thomas Bjorn has resigned as chairman of the European Tour's tournament committee.

And it appears that the Dane's bid to push through stringent new rules designed to stop American raiders turning up to line their pockets with the minimum of effort has failed to win approval. 

That could have something to do with Padraig Harrington, who sat in on the meeting and expressed the need to leave the door open to the "world player" and not to discriminate against the tour's big Asian tournaments by forcing members to play at least four "core" events on European soil.

According to the Press Association:

Harrington, not a committee member, is opposed to that and after being invited to speak at the meeting he appeared to have won a relaxation in the demand.

Instead there is likely to be a points system which encourages rather than demands players appear more in "home" events.

The details have still to be worked out, but it could mean that players have to reach a minimum points figure during the season to retain membership, but could still do that without committing to certain heavily-weighted tournaments.

"We had a broad consensus of the way forward without being clear of the precise details," stated (CEO George) O'Grady.

"Padraig was very useful to the committee and his views were certainly taken into account. Winning three majors gives you a right to be heard."