Golf opinion: Stephen Gallacher on the game’s hot topics.

Stephen Gallacher on why there should be no rush to merge PGA and Euro tours

European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley offered his thoughts on the potential of merging with the PGA Tour to create a global tour this week.

He insisted moving towards a world tour is not a priority for the European Tour and remains “just a concept”.

The possibility of merging both tours has been a talking point for a while now but I can’t see it happening, certainly not in the foreseeable future.

The PGA Tour has been branching out and playing more tournaments in Asia and South America, while the European Tour has been travelling to countries outside of Europe for a long time.

I feel like we have the best of both worlds already and don’t need a drastic overhaul. A player who is ranked inside the top 50, such as Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, are already essentially playing a global tour with the ability to choose which events they want to put on their schedule.

The European Tour is becoming stronger with the introduction of the Rolex Series so I would be really surprised if a formal merger was ever to happen.

We had a gripping finale at last week’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai with Jon Rahm winning the tournament and Tommy Fleetwood pipping Justin Rose to claim the Race to Dubai order of merit.

But there is no time to rest – the 2018 season gets under way at the Hong Kong Open today.

I must admit that is one thing I would like to see changed.

There should be a short break between the end of the season and the beginning of the new campaign. Golf must be one of the only sports that continues the full year without a proper break.

We stop for three weeks over the Christmas period but I think there is a strong argument for a more condensed season. Perhaps the European Tour should look at having a six week or two-month break over the winter period.

I am a big football fan and I know how much I miss watching games during the summer when the season finishes.

I’m always reading the papers to find out who clubs are signing and can’t wait for the first games of the season.

That anticipation helps build excitement and golf should consider doing the same.

We just witnessed a tremendous end to the year in Dubai but that appears quickly forgotten with play getting under way in Hong Kong.