European Tour rebrand a show of strength in the face of Saudi threat
Guy Kinnings, Deputy CEO European Tour group, Ryder Cup Director and Chief Commercial Officer, Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour group, David Williams, Chairman of the European Tour group, Yuvraj Narayan, Group Chief Financial, Strategy and Business Officer, DP World, Abdulla Bin Damithan, CEO and Managing Director of DP World UAE, and Daniel van Otterdijk, Chief Communications Officer, DP World, must be credited to Getty Images
Like Mark Twain, when confronting talk that he was severely ill or even dead, rumours of the demise of the European Tour appear to be grossly exaggerated.
In fact, the old world circuit is about to experience something of a resurrection and emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic in ruder health than ever after yesterday unveiling what is believed to be the most significant commercial deal in the organisation's 49-year history.
After more than two years of talks with Dubai-based global logistics company DP World, which has sponsored the Tour's season-ending event since 2009, the European Tour will become the DP World Tour from 2022.
Its CEO, Keith Pelley, is excited and Irish golf fans can rest easy after he insisted The Irish Open, confirmed for Mount Juliet again from June 30 to July 3, remains "critical" to the success of the circuit as part of the Strategic Alliance with the PGA Tour, not to mention the Ryder Cup deal with Irish government in the build-up to Adare 2027.
The Tour and DP World did not reveal either the scale of the investment or the length of the agreement, which is believed to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
However, despite the negative message sent out by the staff layoffs, the drastic reduction in prize funds during the worst of the pandemic and the Alliance with the PGA Tour in the face of approaches from the Premier Golf League, the rebrand and the accompanying financial clout is a major "bring it on” statement.
When it comes to potential threats from either from the Saudi Arabia-backed Saudi Golf League (SGL) or the PGL, Europe now has a fighting chance.
Money is the name of the game and Guy Kinnings, Deputy CEO, Ryder Cup Director and Chief Commercial Officer of the European Tour Group, have pulled off a major coup.
In fact, Kinnings and his staff sold out all Ryder Cup partnerships this year for the first time ever, which bodes well for the future and the 2027 event in Adare.
"This is hugely significant and a very exciting day for everyone on the DP World Tour," Pelley said, pointing out that with 24 of the 47 events on the Tour's 2022 schedule taking place outside Europe, the Tour's name had become "a misnomer".
"We're definitely a world tour," he said before asking that he be allowed to postpone all comment on the proposed breakaway world tour backed by Saudi money until next week's DP World Tour Championship, which will boast the tour's first eight-digit purse in 2022 — US$10 million.
The immediate impact of the DP World deal is that circuit's total prize money will top $200m for the first time in 2022.
Outside the Majors and World Golf Championships, overall prize funds will be more than US$140 million for all tournaments, outstripping the previous all-time pre-pandemic high of US$130 million in 2019.
Including the Majors and WGCs, the total prize fund on the 2022 DP World Tour will exceed US$200 million, benefitting "all tournaments and all members across all categories" with Challenge Tour prize funds to climb significantly.
Events solely sanctioned by the DP World Tour will have a minimum prize fund of US$2 million with 13 events worth in excess of $2 million.
The season-ending DP World Tour Championship will have the biggest prize fund in the tour's history in 2022, increasing from US$9m to US$10 million to become the first eight-figure purse in the tour's 49-year history.
"This is a natural evolution of our partnership, which we've enjoyed for more than a decade," said European Tour Group chairman David Williams.
Williams said the benefits of the deal were "not just financial".
"Retitling the main Tour was not a decision we took lightly," he said. "But DP World is special, and I say this again with no apology."
The European Tour will remain the overall brand name for the Tour group, and it appears the future is bright for the Irish Open, which will have a US$6 million (€5.1 million) prize fund next season — an increase of more than €2 million — as it returns to Mount Juliet from June 30 to July 3. That's the week before the PGA Tour co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open and two weeks before the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews.
The JP McManus Pro-Am will take place at 2027 Ryder Cup venue Adare Manor on the Monday and Tuesday after the Irish Open, July 4-5, which may encourage some of the stars expected in Limerick to come early and tee it up at Mount Juliet before staying on to play links golf here before The Open.
The entire 2021-22 schedule was released yesterday, and while there is no title sponsor for the Irish Open just yet, Pelley stressed that the Tour is still in talks with Dubai Duty Free, who have sponsored the event since 2015.
"Dubai Duty Free has been a wonderful partner for us, and we are still having discussions with them," Pelley said.
"We are confident that the Irish Open will have a partner going forward. And we are also very, very confident that the Irish Open will be an integral part of the European Tour on the DP World Tour schedule for many years to come.
"It's a critical market for us with great golf courses and great history and a great leading player in Rory McIlroy, so you can rest assured that in all of our discussions we are having with the PGA Tour, that the Irish Open is at the forefront of our thinking."
There are strong indications that the Irish Open will be co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour as soon as 2023 with The K Club, now under new ownership, amongst the leading contenders.
It's likely that stagings will alternate between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland from 2023 as part of the overall Ryder Cup investment package with an Adare Manor staging surely a must in terms of team preparation in the countdown to 2027.
DP WORLD TOUR SCHEDULE 2021-22
Nov 25 - 28 Joburg Open Randpark GC, Johannesburg, South Africa ZAR 17,500,000
Dec 2 - 5 SA Open Championship Gary Player CC, Sun City, South Africa. USD 1,500,000
Dec 9 - 12 Alfred Dunhill Championship Leopard Creek CC, Malelane, South Africa EUR 1,500,000
Jan 20 - 23 ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSHIP Yas Links, Abu Dhabi, UAE USD 8,000,000
Jan 27 - 30 SLYNC.IO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC Emirates GC, Dubai, UAE USD 8,000,000
Feb 3 - 6 Ras al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital Al Hamra GC, Ras al Khaimah, UAE USD 2,000,000
Feb 10 - 13 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Education City GC, Doha, Qatar
Feb 17 - 20 Middle East Event (TBA) TBA
Feb 24 - 27 Hero Indian Open TBA, India
Mar 3 - 6 Magical Kenya Open Muthaiga CC, Nairobi, Kenya
Mar 10 - 13 Pecanwood Classic Pecanwood G&CC, Hartbeespoort, South Africa
Mar 17 - 20 Steyn City Championship The Club at Steyn City, Johannesburg, South Africa
Mar 23 - 27 WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play Austin CC, Austin, TX, USA USD 11,500,000
Apr 7 - 10 THE MASTERS Augusta National GC, Augusta, GA, USA
Apr 14 - 17 Asian Event Confirmed TBA
Apr 21 - 24 Japan Event Confirmed (details to be released 23 November) TBA, Japan
Apr 28-1 May Volvo China Open Genzon GC, Shenzhen, China
May 5 - 8 Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield, England
May 12 - 15 Soudal Open Rinkven International GC, Antwerp, Belgium
May 19 - 22 U.S. PGA CHAMPIONSHIP Southern Hills CC, Tulsa, OK, USA
May 26 - 29 KLM Open Bernardus Golf, Cromvoirt, The Netherlands
Jun 2 - 5 Porsche European Open Green Eagle Golf Courses, Hamburg, Germany
Jun 9 - 12 Scandinavian Mixed Hosted by Henrik & Annika Halmstad GC, Tylösand, Sweden
Jun 16 - 19 U.S. OPEN The Country Club, Brookline, MA, USA
Jun 23 - 26 BMW International Open Golfclub München Eichenried, Munich, Germany
Jun 30-3 July Irish Open Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
Jul 7 - 10 GENESIS SCOTTISH OPEN The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland USD 8,000,000
Jul 7 - 10 Barbasol Championship Keene Trace GC, Nicholasville, KY, USA
Jul 14 - 17 The 150th OPEN Old Course, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland
Jul 14 - 17 Barracuda Championship Tahoe Mt. Club, Truckee, CA, USA USD 3,700,000
Jul 21 - 24 Cazoo Classic TBA
Jul 28 - 31 Hero Open Fairmont St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland
Aug 4 - 7 Cazoo Open The Celtic Manor Resort, City of Newport, Wales
Aug 11 - 14 ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by Modest! Golf Management Galgorm Castle & Massereene, Co Antrim, N. Ireland
Aug 18 - 21 D+D Real Czech Masters Albatross Golf Resort, Prague, Czech Republic
Aug 25 - 28 Omega European Masters Crans-sur-Sierre GC, Crans Montana, Switzerland
Sep 1 - 4 Made in HimmerLand HimmerLand, Farsoe, Denmark
Sep 8 - 11 BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP Wentworth Club, Virginia Water, Surrey, England USD 8,000,000
Sep 15 - 18 DS Automobiles Italian Open Marco Simone GC, Rome, Italy
Sep 22 - 25 Open de France Le Golf National, Paris, France EUR 3,000,000
Sep 29-2 Oct Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Old Course St Andrews, Carnoustie & Kingsbarns, Scotland USD 5,000,000
Oct 6 - 9 acciona Open de España presented by Madrid Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Oct 13 - 16 Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters Real Club Valderrama, Sotogrande, Spain
Oct 20 - 23 European Event Confirmed TBA
Oct 27 - 30 WGC - HSBC Champions Sheshan International GC, Shanghai, China
Nov 3 - 6 Cyprus Open Aphrodite Hills Resort, Paphos, Cyprus
Nov 10 - 13 Nedbank Golf Challenge Gary Player CC, Sun City, South Africa
Nov 17 - 20 DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP, DUBAI Jumeirah Golf Estates, Earth Course, Dubai, UAE USD 10,000,000
