It seemed especially cruel that such a sharp blow to the morale of the European Tour was delivered in Dubai. It was at this venue two years ago that Keith Pelley launched the Rolex Series, a set of lucrative events heralded as “one of the most significant advancements in the tour’s 44 years”.
The chief executive’s underlying concept was simple: to keep Europe’s best players in Europe, thereby away from the bright lights of the PGA Tour. That Pelley’s pipe dream was illustrated at the Ryder Cup, as a European team united by PGA Tour membership trounced the Americans.
It is to Pelley’s credit that Rory McIlroy has not completely ruled out retaining European Tour status in 2019 but the decision of the Northern Irishman, by far his native tour’s most valuable asset, to focus on the United States is still noteworthy. McIlroy owes the European Tour nothing; which will not prevent the business feeling the pinch from the removal of a participant who moves the needle in this continent like no other.
If McIlroy is unhappy at the payment of huge appearance sums – by sponsors, not the tour – to leading American players for the European Tour’s visit to Abu Dhabi in January, he would not be alone. The notion of showcasing the best of European golf appears undermined by such a commercial scenario, not least with Abu Dhabi now a Rolex Series event.
Justin Rose’s unwillingness to break from equipment testing to participate in this week’s DP World Tour Championship is another headache Pelley can do without. Paul Casey has joined his fellow-Englishman in skipping the European Tour’s season finale. A comparable situation is unthinkable as the PGA Tour’s FedEx play-offs conclude each year in Atlanta.
Pelley, as is his wont and style, remains bullish. “Our two critical KPIs [key performance indicators] are playing opportunity and prize funds,” he explains. “The 100th-ranked player in 2016 made €275,000. This year, they are going to make over €400,000.
“This year on the schedule, I think there are 4,382 playing opportunities, which is a little up from last year but it’s five or six hundred more playing opportunities than a couple of years ago. And as a members’ organisation, that’s key, providing opportunities for people. We’re thrilled with the media value and we’re thrilled with what the Rolex Series has brought to the tour.”
There are noteworthy sub-plots. The European Tour’s decision to hold an event in Saudi Arabia in 2019 raised eyebrows over human rights issues, but the matter became even more controversial after the death of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Perhaps golf should not be moral arbiters when deciding where to host competitions but this appears an extreme case of following money against an unsatisfactory backdrop.
Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed have accepted huge appearance fees to play in the Saudi Arabia tournament, which Pelley insists will remain on the schedule. “There are so many other places they could play,” bemoaned one high-profile European Tour player this week.
But perhaps there aren’t. The lack of support for mainstream events in Europe was emphasised again as the British Masters recently found itself without a title sponsor. Tommy Fleetwood duly stepped forward to host the tournament next year, a wonderful gesture but one which says little for the European Tour’s broader appeal.
The turbulent backdrop matters little to Francesco Molinari. The Italian need only keep Fleetwood at bay - Molinari holds an advantage of more than €1m as things stand - over four days at the Earth Course to win the European order of merit for the first time.
“I would have never guessed that I would be here in this position if you told me in April or May this year, but it’s been an incredible summer topped by an unbelievable Ryder Cup,” said Molinari. “Really, it’s a dream season for me, and it’s nice to be here in this position. Hopefully I’ll be able to close it out. I know it’s not going to be easy, and I’m not making any assumptions, but I’ll do my best on the course to do the job.
“I’m not the kind of guy that shows up for an event and thinks, ‘I want to win this week.’ My mental process is more about showing up to the event, I need to do this and this and this to play well, I need to go and play shot by shot and round by round. I usually don’t get too far ahead of myself.
“I’ll go out Sunday morning and do my best and if Tommy wins, fair play to him. He’s had a great season so far, and to win here, it would make him the deserving winner of the Race to Dubai.”
