FOCUS ON £5m upgrade set to breathe new life into iconic Wentworth
EUROPEAN TOUR chief executive Keith Pelley believes the £5-million renovation of Wentworth is going to provide an iconic course for an iconic event.
The stars of European golf will gather this week for the BMW PGA Championship, one of the biggest events on the calendar.
In recent years, the tournament has been undermined by absentees and strong criticism from the players about the state of the classic course.
But work began as soon as last year’s tournament ended and the West Course is now ready for action.
The biggest difference is on the greens, where all 18 have been reworked with new grass and a special new sub-air system.
They have been transformed from bumpy greens subject to the vagaries of spring in England, to super-slick new surfaces.
Thanks to these changes, the star names are back as European heavyweights Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson tee it up, with the Swede having only played at Wentworth once in the last seven years.
All this leaves Pelley looking forward to a special event for one of the most important weeks for the European Tour.
“The golf course now matches the iconic nature of the event,” he enthuses. “The ownership at Wentworth recognised the need to change and that is terrific.
“It will be interesting to see what all our players say about it after the tournament.
“World-class players have a plethora of opportunities. But one of their decisions when choosing their schedule is the golf course and the amenities around it.
“The amenities at Wentworth are spectacular and we have now addressed the course, too. So that is a very positive step for us.
“This year we have the Open Champion, the Olympic Champion and last year’s Masters winner, so it’s a great field.
“All we need now is for some great weather and for people to come out to support and be entertained by all facets of the tournament.”
Prize money has also been increased for this year as it’s one of the European Tour’s Rolex Series, where each of the eight events carries a purse of at least $7 million (£5.4 million).
That compares very favourably with the corresponding tournaments on the same weeks on the PGA Tour and Pelley is bullish about what impact it will have.
With the introduction of events such as GolfSixes and the one-hole Hero Challenge, the European Tour boss is not afraid of change.
“We are optimistic this will be something significant and a gamechanger for us,” he declares. “It will elevate the entire Tour, the brand of the Tour and in turn will elevate our other tournaments.
“It’s an important initiative for us and it is great to have the support of the players.
“We’ll continue to be aggressive and innovative in everything we do. We always have the consumer and the player at the forefront of our minds.
“The 72-hole event will always be the backbone of our Tour, and of golf. But there is a need to be imaginative and to experiment with a number of different formats.
“That is critical to engage a different audience to the game. People are consuming content in so many different ways now and we need to broaden the reach globally for our game.
“Golf is a terrific game and one of unbelievable skill. But just like any other sport, you can’t just rest on the past and on your laurels.
“You need to continue to push the envelope and continue to improve. It happens in sport and business.
“If you don’t move ahead, you risk falling behind.
“It’s a very traditional sport that will always support 72-hole tournaments. But I do believe there needs to be another format and innovation that we globally endorse and embrace.”
“Whether that’s GolfSixes or another format we haven’t yet discovered, that is critical for the growth of our game.”