The European Tour has a major problem in trying to assert itself as anything more than second fiddle to the PGA Tour, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Of course, the European Tour does some phenomenal work – I’ve been fortunate enough to attend an event on foreign soil and see at first-hand just how good they are from start to finish. The players love it, the courses are as good as they get, and it’s slick.
Their social game – key to getting the younger audience involved in golf – is as strong as Rory McIlroy is long and the level of competition is fierce enough to continue the talent production line. But without financial backing, and plenty of it, the Americans will always continue to dominate the fight for viewer’s attention.
The prime example is the European Tour’s flagship season-long Race to Dubai – only three of the top 10 opted to make the flight to Turkey for the third-last event.
Leading Europeans Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia – you know them, the guys that battled to the 72nd at The Masters – won’t be in South Africa for the penultimate event, which effectively rules Rose out of winning the season’s bonus.
How many events did Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson skip? None. But you knew that because you were no doubt glued to your screen when the FedExCup finals were on. The $10-million bonus pool didn’t hurt.
And while Rose’s absence is good news for Tommy Fleetwood, it’s not great for the European Tour and their fight for credibility on the global scale. It certainly won’t help their bid to increase prize pools or attract new sponsors. And we know that the PGA Tour is eager to spread its global reach – more bad news for their competitors.
How do you think it would work if the All Blacks were looking for sponsors for a series in the UK? Potential investors are keen, but then the management reveals that only seven of the best 15 are available. Or Real Madrid? They’ll come play, but sorry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos are all actually going to be on the beach, or even worse, playing somewhere else.
What message does it send? As an investor what would you say?
In the past, Europe’s best have jumped at the chance to take up PGA Tour membership as soon as they could, with ‘Beef’ Johnston the latest to do so.
The European Tour makes for great TV – viewers get taken around the continent and on occasion even further. Every week presents another fledgling star the chance to take down a few big names and create a new path, and of course it has been wildly successful for South African golfers, who have made it home after graduating from the Sunshine Tour.
But for all it’s positives – and there are many more I have not mentioned – until the best of the best support the biggest events, it will always play second fiddle to the biggest and the baddest tour across the pond.
