In the long and ongoing saga of the protracted merger talks between the PGA and the Saudi PIF, the question keeps coming back to what golf would look like if we reached a deal.
So far, we've only heard platitudes from key players, with limited updates on “negotiation progress” and “complications” that need to be addressed before a roadmap for the future can be developed.
It's all very depressing, as the lack of details suggests the future remains unknown, but thanks to a senior executive at DP World – the title sponsor of DP World, we may just see a glimmer of hope and A glimpse into the future. European tour.
In an exclusive interview with Gulf News, Daniel van Otterdyk gave an unusually optimistic update on the situation, claiming a deal could be reached within six months.
What's more, while DP World is not directly involved in the discussions, as title sponsor of the European Tour they will have some idea of the details – and Van Otterdyk is very adamant about how things are going.
In his view, the result of months or even years of negotiations will be a full year of top golf events, with the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf all having a place on the schedule.
“I could see an end-to-end calendar from January to December with the PGA Tour prominently, LIV Golf prominently and the DP World Tour prominently, but there would be overlap,” Fan Otterdijk told Gulf News.
“A guy like Tommy (Fleetwood) can say, 'Listen, I want to keep my PGA Tour card, I want to play in the DP World Tour, but I also want to play in some LIV golf events.'
“I think LIV Golf will merge with their current team structure – that may be down, but they will still have team competitions.
“If done well, which we think it will be, you can see this fantastic buffet of golf in different locations around the world throughout the year, as well as one or two different formats that we’re not used to seeing, such as team events.
“I believe there will be an end-to-end calendar of around 60 games, with players looking to play around 25 games to collect all the points they need if they perform well.
“If they're not playing well, they can add some events throughout the year and then at the end of the year, you tally up the points and they're right where they were. I think that's a good thing for the sport.”
What is the future of golf?
Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan during the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
(Image source: Getty Images)
The new future of golf that Van Otterdyk describes makes a lot of sense – as we speak, he may not be around the table, but he'll have some idea of what's going on.
One of the major sticking points ultimately was whether LIV Golf players might want to return to the PGA Tour — even in small numbers — and what mechanisms would be used to reintegrate.
There's still a lot of bad feeling among many PGA Tour members, especially among those in the top 30 or so – the elite are the main beneficiaries of the new wealth pouring into the game.
Rory McIlroy's previous idea for a 'Champions League' format was similar to that proposed by van Otterdyk, but the latest one perhaps focused more on each different tour having its own place in the calendar.
An interesting point is that van Otterdijk is fairly certain that LIV Golf will abandon the current league format but continue with team-based competition to offer a variety of formats within the annual structure.
So, it looks simple on the surface, but when you factor in world ranking points, chances of making it to the majors and most importantly financial rewards, it's another piece of red tape that needs to be unraveled for golf to really make this happen. . Finally moving forward.
