On the course, we have had plenty to celebrate in terms of the achievements of our members, from those at the very start of their careers, such as 21 year old Tom McKibbin making the cut in his first Major Championship at the U.S. Open, to the longevity of Søren Kjeldsen and Jamie Donaldson who passed the notable milestones of 700 and 500 career appearances respectively.
Robert MacIntyre
Our various international pathways have also continued to yield dividends, with Yuto Katsuragawa becoming the fourth Japanese winner on the DP World Tour in seven months, while Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, one of ten DP World Tour players to earn dual membership on the PGA TOUR at the end of 2023, earned his breakthrough win in America with an emotional victory in the RBC Canadian Open.
Bob followed in the footsteps of France’s Matthieu Pavon, who has also taken full advantage of the opportunity provided to him via the ten PGA TOUR cards initiative. Matthieu won the Farmers Insurance Open in January and recently recorded his best performance in a Major Championship by finishing fifth in the U.S. Open, playing alongside winner Bryson DeChambeau in the final group in the final round at Pinehurst.
At the start of June, we announced the creation of a new pathway – the Global Amateur Pathway – for the leading amateurs to play on the DP World Tour and Challenge Tour, and we look forward to seeing who become the first beneficiaries of this new initiative later this year.
Off the course, we have also made sustained progress over the past two months in our efforts with the PGA TOUR, the Strategic Sports Group and PIF to bring greater alignment to the men’s professional game.
Although there remains much work to be done, conversations have unquestionably accelerated since the Masters Tournament at the start of April and we hope they will ultimately lead to a positive outcome for players, fans and sponsors, reshaping our game in a way that benefits golf globally.
To that extent, the week after the U.S. Open, European Tour Group Chairman Eric Nicoli and I attended the first joint meeting of the PGA TOUR Enterprises Board and the PGA TOUR Policy Board at the Travellers Championship, while PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan and some of his Senior Executives reciprocated by attending our own Board Meeting the following week.
Whilst such complex discussions must be conducted privately for reasons of confidentiality, I have also been trying to spend as much time as possible with our players to keep them as informed as possible.
One of the advantages of having spent more than 30 years in golf, including the last six years at the Tour, is that I did not come into the position of CEO needing to establish new relationships across our industry. That has meant that alongside the ongoing negotiations and the other day-to-day business of running the Tour, I have been able to spend time with our members, including at the three Major Championships played so far and at events in our Asian Swing and European Swing. I have also attended Player Meetings held at both Challenge Tour and Legends Tour events recently.
We are fortunate to have such great characters on all our Tours and also to have such a passionate and knowledge membership and it has been hugely insightful to listen to their views.
Having recently passed the halfway mark in the DP World Tour’s 2024 season, we head into a particularly busy summer period optimistic about opportunities that await us in the remainder of the year.
The co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open, as well as the ISCO Championship in Kentucky and Barracuda Championship in California which form part of our Closing Swing, will offer further examples of how our ongoing Strategic Alliance with the PGA TOUR is benefitting our members.
The Open Championship at Royal Troon represents one final chance this year for one of our members to become a Major Champion, while in my role as Chairman of the International Golf Federation, I am also excited about golf once again being part of the Olympics in Paris in August. Both the men’s and women’s competitions will take place at Le Golf National, a course we know so well from the 2018 Ryder Cup, and in October the venue will also host the FedEx Open de France which take place as part of our new-look ‘Back 9’ played across the autumn.
We have already begun to announce some of the enhanced fields for those nine events, which will be compelling viewing as the season builds towards its conclusion at our two DP World Tour Play-Off events in the Middle East, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
I am confident that by the time we arrive at Jumeirah Golf Estates for the latter, we will be able to reflect on many more successes by our members on the course and on some significant developments and progress in the Boardroom.
