George O’Grady’s departure from the European Tour will inevitably trigger warmer public sentiment towards the chief executive than has previously been the case. His decision to stand down after nine years in office, as revealed by the Guardian on Wednesday, has been confirmed by the Tour.
The 65-year-old, who will assist with the search for his successor and subsequently take on an ambassadorial role, will speak publicly and at length about his tenure before the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai this month.
“It is a shame that George is stepping down,” said Justin Rose, on the eve of the HSBC-WGC Champions tournament in Shanghai. “But I think he’s had a good reign, he’s had a lengthy reign, obviously, at the top. There’s no doubt there have been challenges. The economy and the markets in which the European Tour has been involved have been difficult, mainland Europe especially, so there’s been some challenges.
“Just in recent times one of the things I’ve been talking to George about is trying to get some of the historic events back on the European Tour; the British Masters, for example, stuff like that. As he rolls out of his position hopefully tournaments like that will come back on to the calendar and he can take some credit for that.”
Another challenge has been keeping peace among Tour members. The Final Series, which is now under way for a second year, earlier received criticism from leading players because of scheduling demands so late in the season. O’Grady had to defend the Tour in person against players and their representatives.
“We do our best to support the European Tour as best we can,” added Rose, who is one of a number of high-profile European players who compete mainly in the United States. “Obviously, over the last couple of seasons, they have also made the tough calls of upping the number of required events from 11 to 12 to 13 as well as toying with other ways of making us commit to the Tour.
“And some of it has been needed and some of the other things maybe have gone a little too far. So the European Tour has done their best to make us play as much as we should play and I think it’s at a fair level right now.”
He added: “Obviously, you’ve got to accept that there’s big tournaments all around the world and I think guys who are at the top end of the game have the good fortune of being able to pick and choose where they want to play. Obviously, for me, supporting the European Tour is very, very important and playing some of the key events on the European Tour is exactly where I want to play my golf.”
O’Grady’s replacement will be only the fourth chief executive in European Tour history. David Williams, who was appointed as chairman last December, will play a key role in the search.
“The European Tour and its players are admired throughout the world of golf and George has played a key part in building global relationships and developing the Tour,” said Williams. “He has always respected the traditions of the Tour and built on the strong foundations put in place by John Jacobs and Ken Schofield.
“The Tour is now embarking on a new phase in its development and that is why George has considered that it is the right time to ask the nominations committee to find his successor.”
Sergio García controversially skipped last week’s BMW Masters in Shanghai, instead opting to play on the PGA Tour despite still having a chance to overhaul Rory McIlroy at the top of the European Tour’s money list. McIlroy will not feature in China this week but García will play both here and in the Turkish Airlines Open before the European Tour season’s final event, in Dubai.
“I’m not really thinking about that too much,” said García of the prospect of overhauling McIlroy. “I just want to have three good tournaments to finish with. Finishing second in the Race to Dubai would be a good way to end the year.”
