The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
New chief executive must make sure the elite are tempted to linger longer
Former Open champion Paul Lawrie gives his take on the local, national and international golf scene
Good luck to whoever takes on the task of filling the void soon to be left by George O’Grady as European Tour chief executive.
He has done a wonderful job in a difficult economic climate.
We have lost some tournaments in recent years due to the financial downturn, but I think George has done an excellent job to keep the European Tour heading in the right direction.
The biggest job for his successor will be getting some of the European Tour’s biggest names to play in more of our events.
The Tour has struggled given the number of players who have moved across the pond and now play the bulk of their golf on the PGA Tour.
I am not critical of the players who chose to do that – it is entirely their decision how they organise their schedule.
They are playing more than their minimum schedule in America because they live there and it is easier, which I totally understand.
But it has presented George and the European Tour with a major challenge in persuading these players to compete in the European Tour events – even one or two more appearances on our side would make a huge difference.
The next chief executive has to find a way to get these players into the fields for more than the big events on the European Tour, such as the majors, the WGC events or the Scottish Open and the BMW PGA Championship.
In the past, the European Tour has put pressure on the America-based players to play a certain amount of events, but that has often had an adverse effect.
I’m no expert but I think the Tour has to take the opposite approach and start a discussion with the players about how they can make it easier for our leading lights to play in these events.
A better field will guarantee more sponsorship money, bigger crowds and better television ratings.
Everything becomes easier when the bigger players are on board.
“The Tour has struggled given the number of players who havemoved across the pond”
Last week’s announcement about the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open proves that.
At one stage the tournament’s sought-after place in the golfing calendar was in doubt after Barclays pulled out, but Aberdeen Asset Management have stepped in and the event has gone from strength to strength.
This year’s field at Royal Aberdeen was possibly the strongest ever with players such as Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson all present.
The tournament is now secure until 2020 with an increased prize fund planned for the coming years.
The challenge for George’s replacement is to achieve similar success stories with the other events on the European Tour – not an easy job.
Bubba Watson is the type of golfer I would pay to watch play.
The American lefthander is not one of those players who takes four or five minutes to play a 100yd pitch shot – he plays well within his time which is good to see and is a lesson for everyone to learn when they next play a round.
He hits the ball miles and is exciting to watch as his ultra-positive approach means he makes lots of eagles, but also plenty of double bogeys.
He is one of the swashbuckling players of the modern game and a bit similar to the late, great Seve Ballesteros in that regard.
And Watson certainly
“I have been watching these big events on the television and it hurts to be missing”
enjoyed his win at the WGC-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai. He had made a mess of the 16th and 17th in his final round but forced a playoff against Tim Clark by chipping in from a bunker on the 18th before going on to win.
That is exactly what the paying public want to see.
I have been watching these big events on the television and it hurts to be missing out on them.
I had been hoping to get an invite for this week’s Turkish Airlines Open, but the four places have gone to Colin Montgomerie, Darren Clarke, John Daly and David Lynn.
That is my fault – I shouldn’t need invites to play in these events but I do at the moment and it is disappointing to miss out.