The henhouse is in turmoil. Many questions float in the air and very few have a firm answer. Rumours, speculations, conjectures, assumptions, evaluations with more or less foundation… and practically no certainty. The only certainty is uncertainty. The only conviction is that the climate is not good, it does not help, it does not add up. No one dares to predict how this will end, but there is a feeling of unease and confusion.
This is the picture we can paint after a few hours at the Dubai Creek Resort, headquarters of the Dubai Invitational which consumed its third day this Saturday. Perhaps an anecdote is worth more than a thousand words to explain what is being experienced. It happened on Friday. As you know, this week’s tournament at the DP World Tour is played in ProAm format. Well, yesterday Adri Arnaus played with Keith Pelley as a partner. Between shots, the still head of the European Circuit (he will remain so until April 2 when he finally hands over to Guy Kinnings) asked the Spanish golfer if he was going to LIV Golf. Just like that. Arnaus’ response was as emphatic as the one he gave to Ten Golf days ago: “as far as I know, no”. It’s the feeling that nobody knows anything… and if someone knows something, they’re not letting on. These are days of few affirmations and many deductions.
Will there be an agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf? What will that agreement be like? Will the PGA Tour really allow those who went to LIV betraying the established order to return as if nothing had happened? Is there room for a world calendar where LIV, PGA Tour and DP World Tour tournaments can converge? Who is going to give in more? What happens if there is no agreement? Is the brutal escalation of prize money in world golf really sustainable? Can the millionaire investments being made in LIV Golf and the PGA Tour be maintained over time? Will the Saudis ever get tired of putting money in without really seeing a return? Is a bubble being created that will one day, sooner or later, burst? Is there any hidden reason for Keith Pelley‘s departure right now? How has his management been? Is the European circuit better now or before the Canadian arrived? Is there anyone who is worrying about those players who are not top-notch? Is anyone looking out for the genuine interest of the fan?
Obviously, for most of these questions there is no answer. For others there is, even if it is opinion. Ten Golf has conducted a survey among Spanish players. “Pelley’s departure is positive because we were in a moment of stagnation. I believe in a European Circuit that competes on an equal footing, or as much as possible, with the PGA Tour. I don’t think an agreement with the American circuit that has placed us below was successful. Perhaps other better partners such as the Saudis could have been explored”, says Adri Arnaus.
Jorge Campillo does stand up for the outgoing boss of the circuit. “Obviously there are things that could have been done better, but in general I arrived here in the last year of George O’Grady, just before Pelley’s arrival, and the European Tour is now in a better position than before. There are many people who criticise him, but from my point of view it is unfair. I do think that the timing does not seem the most appropriate”, he explains.
There are also those who do not give much importance to Pelley’s departure. “Personally, it doesn’t affect me, I don’t really care. I think decisions will continue to be made among a few and nothing will change too much. He has done good things and not so good things. I never liked the Rolex Series, but in the same way he has done other things well”, says Nacho Elvira, member of the European Circuit players’ committee, who is left with the feeling that, beyond golf, “we live in times when everyone only looks out for their own interests without thinking about the good of the majority and I think it is very difficult to grow in this way”.
There are those who definitely believe that the change will be good for the European Tour. “I think Guy Kinnings is more prepared than Keith Pelley because he knows much more about how golf works. Pelley knows about business, but not so much about our sport. I think with Kinnings we can return to the essence of what the European Circuit was in the past, where it was directed more with feeling and not so much for business. It was all more intimate, the relationships were closer”, points out Pablo Larrazábal.
At the same time, the Barcelona golfer leaves an interesting reflection: “I think money has skyrocketed in the world of golf to excessive limits. If we continue on this line, and it seems that we are, with higher and higher prize money, with higher contracts for players, exorbitant fixed fees… there will come a day when all this will burst. It is not sustainable”, he warns.
This is a first brushstroke of the state of opinion that world golf is experiencing at the moment. The waters are turbulent and perhaps the worst thing is that a haven of peace is not seen on the horizon.
