Keith Pelley says even top US players now support bid to create 'global game'

Outgoing DP World Tour chief executive opens up on his hopes for golf as talks to shape new landscape continue

He’ll be back living on the other side of the Atlantic and be fully immersed in the Toronto sporting scene by the time talks involving the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund come to full fruition, but Keith Pelley will still be watching closely as a new landscape for golf takes shape.

Like Rory McIlroy, the Canadian hopes the opportunity is grasped in those ongoing conversations to create something “global” and, according to the outgoing DP World Tour chief executive, even leading PGA Tour players now accept that is the way forward for the game at the top level in the professional ranks.

Less than a week after it had been initially leaked then officially confirmed that he’s leaving the Wentworth-based European Tour group in early April to become the president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd in his native Toronto, Pelley sat down with a small group of golf writers at Emirates Golf Club in the build up to this week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic and spoke openly about what he’d like to see happen in golf going forward.

Rory McIlroy chats with DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley on the driving range prior to the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club. Picture: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images.

“I think it would be what I've been consistent about since 2017 – I think the growth of the game is global,” he said. “I think that's where the focus needs to be. I think with the emergence of FSG (Fenway Sports Group, which has been involved in talks with the PGA Tour as well as the Saudis), which owns Liverpool, you know, they understand the importance of global. PIF certainly understands the importance of being global.

“This is a global game. Every business now that is growing wants to be global. You see that here in Dubai. You saw that last week with the Dubai Invitational (a new event on the DP World Tour at Dubai Creek). I think for me, what I would like to see is the game becoming unified with a global strategy. I think the PGA Tour is coming to the realisation that globality is the key for growth. They have heard me say it once or twice. We've talked about a lot of different scenarios and different concepts. I think at the end of the day, the consumer, the partners, everybody wants a global approach. Now, how we execute that is to be determined. But I think every possibility is on the table.”

Through the Strategic Alliance in place between the two circuits, Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, paid his first visit to the Middle East in November to attend the last couple of days of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship. Jimmy Dunne, a PGA Tour board member, did likewise as he played in the aforementioned Dubai Invitational at Dubai Creek.

Pelley said they’d both been “blown away” by the respective events and added: “I will continue to trumpet it; the fact that this is a global game and we need a global schedule that is unified. I don't think all of the dialogue that has happened has been positive for the game, and I think that the game is growing at a rapid pace coming out of Covid and the professional game needs to be unified to capitalise on the growth of the amateur game. There's so many wonderful things happening in our game.

“I think some of the top players in the US are starting to realise that that's exactly what the purpose of the framework agreement (struck between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF out of the blue last June) was. It was to unify the game. Unfortunately, after that framework agreement, some of the top players in the US didn't support it, which we needed them to. I think they are realising now that the best way forward is to unify the game.”

Where does he think the DP World Tour will fit in? "I think we're in a really good position, but it all depends on what the actual landscape looks like,” declared Pelley, who will hand over the reins to Guy Kinnings, his deputy on April 2 to take on a new challenge of running one of the world’s premier and sports organisations, with the MLSE brands including the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL), Toronto Raptors (NBA), Toronto Argonauts (Canadian Football League) and Toronto FC (MLS).

Speaking in Dubai last week, world No 2 McIlroy said his “dream scenario” going forward would be a “world tour” that included a heightened emphasis on tournaments like the Scottish, Irish, Australian and South African Opens. Asked what he’d be happy with for the DP World Tour in a 20-event circuit, Pelley admitted: “I don't know that answer, sorry. I was overjoyed with what transpired in June, and that was the right direction. And I still believe it's the right direction. What that means in terms of what the product looks like down the road, that's the second step. That's not the first step. The first step is coming together. I'm not really worried about what happens with the product. The product will develop based on what is great for the game if you're all together in a room. And so, if that doesn't happen, I would be disappointed.”

An initial deadline of 31 December for the framework agreement to be turned into something concrete failed to be met, with the hope now that an official merger between the two traditional tours and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League can be agreed before The Masters, the season’s opening major, in April. “I think we will certainly have a direction of travel by then, yes, I do. I do believe so,” said Pelley in reply to being asked if he felt that new deadline could be met. “I think the conversations have heated up since the Ryder Cup. I think there's a will from all parties. You know, when you bring in somebody like FSG, which is now SSG, with powerful players like Steve Cohen, and then I think there's a willingness with PIF, and there's certainly a willingness with us. If we can come together, then I think it's pretty exciting for the game.”