Steven Miller

The DP World Tour is about to miss a golden opportunity to get what was known as the European Tour back to where it belongs in the golf ecosystem and even higher. What would need to happen and how that “revamped” DPWT would look like. Read below. The PGA Tour “strategic alliance” with the DPWT is being heavily scrutinize by the for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises and their partner SSG financial “gurus.” Although their current deal runs through 2035 there is an out for both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour at the end of 2027. It has been reported that the PGA Tour wants to “revise” that extension through 2035 which can only mean they want to give less money to the DPWT. The DPWT also has the chance to buy back the 40% of the European Tour Productions the PGAT would own by the end of 2027 and end the “strategic alliance.” The reality is that the only reason the “strategic alliance” exists in the first place is because of the LIV Golf threat to the PGAT. If not for that threat, there would be no “strategic alliance.” Instead of begging the PGAT for crumbs (that could become even less in the not too distant future) and offering them their top 10 players each year, the DPWT has a golden opportunity to stick it back to the PGA Tour and take what was previously known as the European Tour back to the golf ecosystem position it should have remained all these years. But the sad reality is that their management is most worried about doing the PGA Tour dirty job, being part of the boy’s club, and their board simply won’t do their fiduciary job. It seems and their record shows that they haven’t put DPWT success and financial well-being before golf politics. To take the DPWT to where it once was and even higher all the DPWT has to do is reach a deal with the PIF before someone else does (PGAT, Asian Tour). The DPWT is constantly running the risk of being left behind, losing its players, and in financial turmoil because of their own doing and weak decision making. Even the PGAT calls them a “distressed asset.” But the DPWT insists on making deals with an organization that finds no good use for them except to fight LIV Golf back and take their valuable assets. As we have said that organization the DPWT is hanging on to is seriously considering dropping their financial support of the DPWT as they have their own financial plans to fulfill and the DPWT is the last thing on their minds. The DPWT for a second time in 5 years has a chance to raise their tour to where it once was. I say a second time because back in 2021 they simply didn’t answer the offer that was made to them by the PIF (Golf Saudi) at the Malta meetings. They didn’t even tell their membership about it, and kept it hidden. That’s how irresponsible the DPWT management and board have been in a nutshell. A deal with the PIF would secure their financial future with real money not PGAT crumbs. You can’t compare a possible $1.5B to $500M or less if the rumblings are correct. Plus, their top players (assets) are nowhere close to playing 15 events per year on their tour. Some would say that money is not everything in the golf ecosystem these days but access to that ecosystem is more important, they already have that access. Apart from the money the DPWT would get from the PIF if a deal was made, they have everything else they need to get their tour back to where it once was, all they need (apart from money) is flick the PGAT script. By making a deal with the PIF the DPWT, apart from having the Rolex Series of events, would also have the LIV Golf “Series” of events. That’s 19 events right there (14 LIV Golf “Series” events & 5 Rolex Series events). They would also get an F1 type franchise model with some events in America which they don’t have, and another source of income that everyone around the world understands and can get behind. Add to those 19 events the 4 majors, the 2 Race to Dubai Championship playoff events and the Ryder Cup and that’s 26 premium events. The same number of events (26) that the PGAT recently said they are striving for in their new Tier 1 schedule for their top players. But that’s not all. Since they (DPWT) have the Ryder Cup (something the PGAT doesn’t have), they can flick the PGAT script back and make a minimum of 15 events of that 26-event schedule mandatory for their equivalent of “Tier 1 players” to maintain a DPWT membership and thus Ryder Cup qualification criteria. Instead of the PGAT using the DPWT and Ryder Cup for their benefit and against LIV Golf like they are currently using the DPWT for, this time the DPWT can use it for their own advantage. That would mean that if Rory or any other Team Europe player wants to play in the Ryder Cup, he/they will have to play in at least 15 of those 26 events to qualify. With the roles reversed let’s see how many European Ryder Cup players are willing to do anything they can to play in the Ryder Cup. At the time of this writing 9 of the current top 20 players in the OWGR are European. Those are DPWT assets the PGA Tour is using for their financial benefit, meanwhile the DPWT only sees some of them in the Middle East events at the beginning of the year and at some events at the end of the year, all while the PGAT is making money out of those players the rest of the year in at least 10-15 events. With the suggested new PGAT Tier 1 player schedule they will try to force those European players to play even more PGAT events, which means fewer DPWT events for them. This is what happens when you don’t have sufficient financial backing and make poor management decisions. Imagine a DPWT with Rory, Tommy, Rose, Bob, Straka, Matt, Aberg, Hovland, Noren, Hatton, Lowry, Rahm, Rai, Penge, Hojgaard (2), Detry, Pieters, Puig, Ballester, McKibbin, García, Casey, Valimaki, Hall, Rasmus, Canter, Perez, Wallace, Ayora, Olesen, Jaeger, Sullivan, Elvira, Meronk, Westwood, among many others and add to that list international stars like Bryson, Anthony Kim, Reed (if he commits), Smylie, Herbert, Niemann, Cam Smith, Burmester, Leishman, Gooch, Dustin Johnson, Oosthuizen, Schwartzel, Bubba, Lahiri, Seb Muñoz, Carlos Ortiz, and Phil Mickelson among many others, plus the other players that would be tempted to make the jump all playing a minimum of 15 DPWT events. Add to that a total of 18 National and regional team franchises to fit all these possible and current players that would be willing to buy into this and DPWT would have financial success in their hands that doesn’t depend on America. Even though it would be a logical move for the DPWT to make (and we can only dream of), as we have said plenty of times their management and board are lacking when it comes to common sense and doing their fiduciary responsibilities. They are contempt with being a feeder tour that lets their assets be used by others in exchange for keeping their well-paying jobs first and some financial crumbs for their Tour later. Let’s just say that for them as well as for the PGAT, the DPWT is not the first thing on their priority list. The PGAT management knows all this is a possibility if the DPWT management and board finally wakes up. It is the reason why they want to convince the DPWT to “revise” their deal sooner rather than later so the PGAT could continue using the DPWT for their benefit but at an even lower cost. Time will tell if the DPWT management and board once again makes the wrong decision or if it finally makes the right decision for the good of the DPWT (European Tour). If I’m them, I would be knocking on Yasir’s door ASAP, I don’t think this opportunity will be there for them come 2031 or in 2035.