Irish Open purse balloons to $6m thanks to transatlantic Alliance
Keith Pelley
The Irish Open received a massive shot on the arm yesterday as the Strategic Alliance between the PGA Tour and the European Tour saw its prize almost doubled to a whopping $6 million (€5.05 m) next year.
The alliance was announced last November as the European Tour struggled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Premier Golf League tried to lure players away from both circuits.
The new partnership was set to create new opportunities on both sides of the pond but details were not revealed until yesterday when the PGA Tour announced that three events on its 48-event, $465 million 2021-22 schedule will be co-sanctioned by both tours and the Irish Open purse would be significantly enhanced.
In a landmark move, the co-sanctioned events include the $8 million Scottish Open, which had been sponsored by Aberdeen Standard Investments since 2012, but will now be sponsored by car makers Genesis with its prime slot the week before The Open guaranteed until 2025.
A further two PGA Tour events will also count on both the FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai points lists, the Barbasol Championship, which was won by Seamus Power last month, and the Barracuda Championship.
They will be played opposite the Scottish Open and The Open but while the field in Scottish Open will be evenly split between members of both Tours, 50 European Tour members get access to each of the other two US events with the dual-ranking members such as Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm counted as PGA TOUR members.
However, the European Tour's Chief Executive, Keith Pelley admitted that some of the fine detail, such as exemptions into Majors such as the Masters, had to be worked out.
“Yeah, as you could expect, we have worked through all the regulations and all of the eligibility, and I have pages and pages from our regulations departments as they have gone through it over and over again,” he said. “Sometimes my eyes go out of focus looking at it all.
“I think it is fair to say that the eligibility of both of these tournaments have been worked out to the point of about 90 percent, but we're still working with a couple of details, and to be honest with you, a couple of major championships, as well.”
The Irish Open will remain a European Tour event with the increase in the prize find provided internally by the European Tour following last year’s cash injection from the PGA Tour. Whether or not it regains Rolex Series status remains to be seen but it appears likely to remain in the same slot in the calendar, two weeks before The Open.
Negotiations with sponsors Dubai Duty Free are ongoing while no decision has been made on the venue, despite strong indications that Mount Juliet is keen to stage the event again in 2022
Only four of the world’s top 50, including Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, turned up to play for €3 million at Mount Juliet last month but that should change in 2022 and beyond as the build-up begins to the 2027 Ryder Cup, not to mention the potential return of The Open to Royal Portrush in 2025.
Pelley said the prize fund increase for the Irish Open formed “part of an overall commitment of the PGA Tour to help advance a wide range of European events.”
He added that the PGA Tour would “continue to work with us as they are right now feverishly with Guy Kinnings and the respective commercial teams on opportunities across the Tour."
While the news of the co-sanctioned events strengthens the US-European alliance against the threat of the breakaway Premier Golf League, Pelley insisted he had not been in touch with its spokesman, Andy Gardiner.
"I have not, and I have no intention to do so," Pelley said. “I'm on holiday here in Ireland at beautiful Old Head here in Kinsale. I'm going to Adare Manor to see JP McManus, and I’ve just come from Royal County Down, so I'm in one of the greatest golf meccas, and I have not talked to Mr. Gardiner and have no intention to talk to Mr. Gardiner.”
On the Strategic Alliance, Pelley added there had been “considerable collaboration behind the scenes” since it was unveiled last November.
"When we announced the Strategic Alliance at the end of last year, we said it was a landmark moment for global golf's ecosystem that would benefit all members of both Tours," Pelley said.
"Today's announcement underlines that promise, with further enhancements to the Genesis Scottish Open, a strengthening of the Irish Open for our members, and direct access for European Tour members to two PGA Tour events.
“We will have more to announce in the coming months. This is most definitely just the beginning.”
As for the new PGA Tour schedule, the only remaining World Golf Championship events are the Dell Match Play Championship and the HSBC Champions in China.
This week’s WGC FedEx St Jude Invitational will become the FedEx St. Jude Championship and host the first FedEx Cup Playoff event in 2022, replacing the Northern Trust at Liberty National in New Jersey.
The European Tour will announce the initial portion of its 2022 schedule later this month with events in the Middle East also expected to become co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour.
