Bill Elliott
By the time you cast a critical eye over this, we may well know what has happened in the upcoming court case that pits various LIV players against the DP World Tour and, in particular, the Tour’s usually ebullient chief exec, Keith Pelley.
The Canadian is only the fourth boss of European pro golf in the 50 years since the circuit was established, so you can see what an elite position this is. While it has never been an easy job, Pelley’s stint over the last few years has probably been the toughest on record.
The way he has dealt with the pandemic and the subsequent arrival of the LIV circuit has been admirable, mostly anyway. Still, I struggle to embrace the fact that the leading ten players on the home circuit automatically qualify for a place on the PGA Tour as part of the Strategic Alliance deal the two tours struck.
I know Europe’s best golfers have always hankered after a job in America. It makes sense to move house and home to the USA if you are good enough. It means more money, better weather and fewer long-distance flights. For a long time, the PGA Tour regarded foreigners as just that – foreigners who didn’t deserve a chance to dip their hands into an American treasure chest.
Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Greg Norman, among others, blew that narrow-eyed view out of a very big window simply because they were brilliant, not just good. US TV, sponsors and the American public wanted to see more of them. You still have to be exceptional – or at least enjoy an exceptional couple of years – to sign up to the PGA Tour, but for Europe to create potential future stars and then wave goodbye to ten of them each year seems at least a little short-sighted.
The phrase Pelley never utters no matter how many people try to place it in his mouth is, of course, ‘feeder tour’. I understand his reluctance, and yet isn’t this exactly what the DP World Tour is now? No disgrace in that, but at least admit it. And is it part of the deal that these ten talents must support at least four or five important European events for a couple of years? If there is such an exit contract then I haven’t heard of it, although Pelley is a smart cookie so maybe something is hiding in the small print.
Not that all ten of each year’s golden-ticket winners will stay on the PGA Tour or maybe even want to – be honest, American TV, cheese and chocolate can be quite difficult to stomach, while I’d guess at least half of them won’t turn out good enough to survive the hard-nosed challenge.
All of the above will not be solved by whatever decision a judge comes to. Courts only care about legal facts, strict lines and possible precedence. I suspect the LIV players have at least a half-decent case in law, although whether they have even half a leg to stand on otherwise is open to debate. It won’t be fun, but it will be interesting and certainly more captivating than Jon Rahm’s recent bleatings about how unfair it is that he is not World No.1. Instead, Jon, be really irritated you’re not even No.2 or 3 on the Big Ego List.
Leaving egos aside is easy when anyone mentions Barry Lane. The Englishman was a very good golfer and, more importantly, a great bloke. His death recently from cancer at the early age of 62 has robbed us of a man we liked, respected and admired. Elsewhere in these pages you can find out more about a player talented enough to win five European Tour titles and eight Senior events and play in a Ryder Cup.
As a human being, he was in an even bigger league. I’ve never dealt with a nicer, more grounded, more honest professional. He admitted that the pressure he felt during that 1993 Ryder Cup was more than he could comfortably handle at the time, and delivered his own legacy note when he said that while “playing golf for a living was bloody hard at times, travelling the world playing a game was a wonderful way to live a live.” My sincere condolences to his family.
“There’s no disgrace in being a feeder tour, but at least admit it”