Wayne Riley

A former member of the European Tour and two-time winner, Wayne is part of the Sky Sports golf team. He writes exclusively for

I’ve written about the concept of a World Tour multiple times over the years, but it’s worth discussing again in light of recent reports that some of the world’s best players have been offered in excess of $30m to join a Saudi Arabiabacked Super League. A Premier Golf League was proposed at the start of last year but rebuffed as a number of top players spoke out against it. Still, it doesn’t appear as if the investors have been discouraged.

My view is that a World Tour is inevitable and should happen. However, I’d like this to be orchestrated by parties already involved in the administration of the game and not uber-rich outsiders.

The PGA and European Tour have been moving closer together in recent times and announced a strategic alliance in November last year. To me, it makes perfect sense to create a World Tour at the top of the pyramid and turn the European and PGA Tours into feeder tours. And, for the record, I’m not proposing some closed shop whereby the same players remain season after season – as the failed attempt at the European Super League in football showed us, there’s simply not an appetite for that approach.

I’m also not proposing events with 30-people fields as, in my view, drama is generally proportionate to the number of players. You can have too much of a good thing and watching the same world-class players over and over again might sound great, but I’m not convinced it’d play out that way. Variety is the spice of life.

So, I’d suggest 18 worldwide tournaments a year that don’t impinge on the Majors – they are sacred. Having the European and PGA Tour’s running the World Tour would mean it’d be less likely for any issues to arise around Major and Ryder Cup participation and tour membership (there have been reports anyone joining the Super League would be barred from competing in various Majors and the Ryder Cup).

I’d stage the 18 events around the world and the countries and venues could also change from one year to the next. I’d make fields 100 strong and, crucially, you would have to earn your keep. The bottom 20 or 40 on the year-long money list would be demoted and replaced by players from the European and PGA Tours, which would be separate entities.

We already have a very similar structure in place globally – this would just be adding another tour right at the top. The Korn Ferry and Challenge Tours would feed into the PGA and European Tours and there would be pathways from the likes of the Sunshine Tour, PGA Tour Australasia and Asian Tour into the new structure.

A World Tour like this would make for a compelling product and one that’s commercially viable, the PGA and European Tours would still be strong and the principles of earning the right and open competition would remain. I don’t think outsiders are going to stop trying to infiltrate the current structure – clearly recognised by the PGA and European Tours given the former’s Player Impact Program, for example – so why not create a new tour from within?

I can understand why some veterans who have seen and done it all might be very tempted by a new Super League/premier Golf League, as they may be prepared to waive their participation in the Majors and the Ryder Cup. But it starts getting very messy when those in their prime are being dangled carrots. I think it’s time for the European and PGA Tour to join forces and create a World Tour, not only because it’s inevitable but also because it’s the best way to avoid deep divisions at the top level.

“It makes perfect sense to create a World Tour at the top of the pyramid”