Remember Christo Lamprecht, the 6-foot-8 amateur who held a share of the first-round lead at the 151st Open Championship this summer?
Yeah, he’s still pretty good. And he has a chance at history this weekend in his native South Africa.
Lamprecht, a senior at Georgia Tech, sits at 8-under 136 after Friday’s second round at the 2023 Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club in Malelane, South Africa. He’s two shots behind solo leader Casey Jarvis.
If Lamprecht were to find a way to win this weekend, he would be the first amateur to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the first amateur to win a DP World Tour event since Shane Lowry in 2009.
And he’s in this position without his A-game.
“Tee to green is probably not what I’ve wanted,” Lamprecht said. “I’ve hit a lot of good shots but I’ve hit some really bad ones and I’ve kind of got away with that a little bit. I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky on some holes for sure but I’ve used that luck, I’ve played really smart golf.
“My swing is not where I want it to be right now… but I’ve been scoring really good, making a lot of crucial putts and I’m just missing it in the right places fortunately.”
Lamprecht had six birdies and three bogeys in his second-round 69. During Thursday’s first round, he hit a 418-yard drive in a clip that went viral.
This summer, Lamprecht won the Amateur Championship and then earned low amateur honors at the Open Championship, his highlight that week coming after a 5-under opening round and holding a share of the lead.
This fall, he has two wins at Georgia Tech and sits No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
A win this weekend would be a big springboard into his final college semester. If he won, he would be only the fourth amateur to win a DP World Tour event.
“Last week at the (South African) Open I didn’t play too great, and I didn’t have a chance to play the weekend, so I’m looking forward to playing this weekend and putting a good showing in,” Lamprecht said.
“I started from nothing, so I’m extremely satisfied with what I’ve done.”
France’s Victor Dubuisson, a former DP World Tour champion and 2014 European Ryder Cup star, not only withdrew from competing in this week’s LIV Golf Promotions on Monday but announced he was retiring from golf at age 33.
“I feel like I’ve reached my limits and I know I can find pleasure elsewhere, I’m convinced of that,” the enigmatic Dubuisson said during an interview with France’s L’Equipe. “I spent 15 years alone on the Tour, curled up on myself. I missed contact with people. So it’s just simple human relationships around golf that I want to have.”
Dubuisson won the 2009 European Amateur and was the No. 1-ranked amateur for eight weeks in late 2009. He turned pro in 2010, and would leave an indelible mark on the game, setting the course record at St. Andrews (62) while competing on the DP World Tour. He won the Turkish Airlines Open in 2013 and 2015, and made a name for himself in 2014 when he lost the finals of the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship in 23 holes to Jason Day despite two all-world up-and-downs from the desert that earned him the nickname “Cactus Kid.” Later that year, he earned a spot on the European Ryder Cup team and successfully paired with Graeme McDowell in two foursomes victories and halved his singles match with Zach Johnson as Team Europe rolled to victory at Gleneagles in Scotland. This proved to be the peak of his artistry.
The golf beat is full of stories about Victor Dubuisson's idiosyncratic ways. My favourite is that he regularly abandoned his clubs on luggage carousels at airports because he couldn't be arsed waiting for them. He got a new set built for him at his next event instead. 🤣
But Dubuisson never felt comfortable playing on the PGA Tour and spent most of his career on the European circuit. In his book “Slaying the Tiger,” author Shane Ryan described Dubuisson as “distant, detached and nearly sullen,” and “a sphinx,” for whom “arranging the puzzle pieces of his life would prove to be a huge challenge.”
Dubuisson, who told reporters he dropped out of school at a young age, was considered a natural talent by his peers but he was painfully shy and didn’t enjoy the spotlight and failed to reach his potential.
“Victor is a genius. I’ve seen people more talented, but he’s in the top 5,” fellow French golfer Jean Van de Velde told Golfweek in July. “He has his own way of doing the practice and play. You can have a lot of talent. His approach to the way he practices and trains needs to be reconsidered, but that’s just my opinion. The talent is still there. He hits it so far and has every shot in the bag but he’s his own worst enemy. He could’ve been a major winner and not just one time. Because his game is so complete.”
Dubuisson climbed to a career-best of 15th in the world rankings in 2015, the highest ranking by a French golfer, but he missed most of the 2018 season after having an operation on his sinuses in late 2017, and reportedly perforated an eardrum while flying back from the Spanish Open in 2019. He competed in just 12 majors and recorded two top-10 finishes. Dubuisson only played eight events on the DP World Tour last season, withdrawing three times and posting a highest finish of 69th, and lost his card following his 287th place finish in the Race to Dubai. His name attracted some attention when he signed up for the LIV Golf Promotions this week in Abu Dhabi, where three spots for next season are up for grabs. Dubuisson pulled out on Monday and then surprised the golf world when he announced his retirement at such a young age.
“It’s life, for me it’s not an end,” he told L’Equipe. “I started from nothing, so I’m extremely satisfied with what I’ve done. I still see myself as a little kid with my little bag and my Decathlon clubs. I was not predestined to have this career at all.”
He added: “Many people will say that I could have done more and that I could have been world No. 1. But I’m more than happy with it (his career). I don’t live in regret all the time. When I look behind me, where I started and where I am, I can tell you that I am very happy.”
It was a LIV Golf takeover on the DP World Tour this weekend.
It was a LIV Golf takeover on the DP World Tour this weekend.
Joaquin Niemann made an eagle on the second playoff hole to defeat Rikuya Hoshino and become the first South American winner of the ISPS Handa Australian Open at the Australian Golf Club in Sydney on Sunday. The 25-year-old Chilean had a chance to earn his victory a hole prior with an even shorter eagle putt but missed.
“It was a nice day. These last two playoff holes showed how I have been playing the last few weeks here in Australia,” said Niemann. “My putting hasn’t been the best, but I’ve been working hard on it and it was nice to make that last putt.
Down in South Africa, Dean Burmester went back-to-back with a three-shot win at the Investec South African Open Championship. Burmester won last week’s Joburg Open, also by three shots.
“Back-to-back. I’ve never done that before so that was special,” Burmester said after the round. “It’s obviously one as a South African that I’ve always wanted to win. To be involved in this tournament and to win it, with a bank that used to sponsor me and got me off the ground when I was just a kid, is super special … so to be the SA Open champion is something I’ll never forget.”
Dean Burmester celebrates with the trophy after winning during day four of the Investec South African Open Championship at Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian Estate on December 03, 2023 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Luke Walker/Getty Images)
Burmester finished the season 14th on LIV Golf’s points list for 2023 thanks to five top-10 showings, including a third place finish in Orlando. Niemann was a bit further down in 21st, also with five top-10 finishes.
The 25-year-old Australian, at a career-high 38th in the Official World Golf Ranking, is in position for the Aussie double, leading the ISPS Handa Australian Open by three shots heading to the weekend. Last week, he won the Australian PGA Championship.
Lee shot 7-under 64 on Friday at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney, including a phenomenal tap-in eagle on his closing hole. Playing from the pine straw, Lee hit a towering draw over water, and it landed on the green and spun toward the hole, leaving him an easy putt to finish his last eight holes in 6 under.
Lee sits at 12 under for the tournament and is three shots ahead of Scotland’s Connor Syme and American Patrick Rodgers.
“It’s always nice to make an eagle whenever, but on the last hole, it’s even nicer,” Lee said. “I didn’t think that we could beat last week’s crowds, but we’ve very nearly done it before the weekend, so it’s unreal. It’s really fun. Most of my golf has been really good because of the crowd and the support, and I’m really happy for that.”
Adam Scott and Cam Smith are in a tie for 27th at 4 under. Last week, Smith missed the cut at the Australian PGA, where he was the defending champion.
In the women’s competition, South Korea’s Jiyai Shin holds a two-shot lead over defending champion Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa following a 4-under 68 at The Australian.
Lee had an epic celebration with the crowd on the 17th green on Sunday.
While Americans across the country celebrate Thanksgiving weekend, Min Woo Lee enjoyed some home cooking in his native Australia.
The 25-year-old from Perth shot a 3-under 68 on Sunday to win the 2023 Fortinet Australian PGA Championship at 20 under Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane. Lee recently won the SJM Macao Open on the Asian Tour and last won on the DP World Tour at the 2021 Abrdn Scottish Open.
Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino (68) put up a fight but ultimately finished second at 17 under, with Aussies Marc Leishman (64) and Curtis Luck (69) in third and fourth at 16 under and 15 under, respectively. LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann (67) – who aced the par-3 4th hole – finished fifth at 13 under.
“I made it interesting early on and through the middle but I ended up hanging on and I’m really proud,” said Lee, who began the day with a bogey before he finished the front nine 5 under over his last six holes. Two birdies and three additional bogeys down the stretch were enough to hold off Hoshino.
One of the more outgoing characters in the game, Lee put on a chef’s hat on the 17th green to celebrate with fans and honor his “Let him cook” social media mantra that took off during the Players Championship. Imagine having that kind of confidence with a hole still to play. That’s Min Woo Lee.
Lee finished T-4 at last year’s Australian PGA, one of five top-10 finishes on the DP World Tour schedule in 2022-23 season. Over on the PGA Tour, Lee earned four top 10s in 14 starts in 2023, including a T-6 at the Players Championship and T-5 at the U.S. Open.
Check out the best photos of his wild celebration Down Under below.
LIV Golf reportedly paid the hefty fine to come back.
On Thursday, Bernd Wiesberger became one of the first golfers who has played for the LIV Golf League to be reinstated on the DP World Tour.
Wiesberger, an eight-time DP World Tour winner, joined the breakaway circuit in 2022 but lost his contract for 2024 after a poor season this year. He applied for membership back to the DP World Tour, and it was accepted.
“Wiesberger’s membership ceased, and he was removed from the Race to Dubai, after he failed to comply with the Tour’s minimum counting event regulation for the 2023 season, having played in only two counting tournaments – the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the Hero Dubai Desert Classic,” the statement said.
“He subsequently expressed his desire to play a full DP World Tour schedule in 2024 and has fulfilled all sanctions – both financial and tournament suspensions – that were imposed upon him for breaches of the Tour’s conflicting event regulation across 2022 and 2023.
“Consequently, his request for reinstatement has been granted by DP World Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley, in accordance with the procedure set out in the Members’ Regulations.”
On X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, Wiesberger said he never resigned his membership to the DP World Tour.
The Australian carded a 5-under 66 for the second straight day, extending his lead to three shots at the 2023 Fortinet Australian PGA Championship. A win would be his third on the DP World Tour and one of the biggest in his young career.
“I again played pretty solid,” Lee said. “A couple of mistakes but that happens. But overall, pretty happy with the way I went today.”
For the third time in as many days, Lee birdied his opening hole at Royal Queensland and added another at the third. A pair of birdies and bogeys rounded out his front nine to turn in 2 under.
On the back, the 25-year-old added three more birdies to finish his day at 17 under, three shots in front of Rikuya Hoshino.
“It’s a course where you can shoot low, so you’re going to be aggressive no matter what,” Lee said. “There’s probably a couple of holes where you don’t need to hit driver where I did the last three days. It just all depends. It’s obviously score dependent, but I’m here because I played aggressive and I played the way that the game plan has been. So, hopefully I can just do the same.”
Lee is 45th in the Official World Golf Ranking, but his last victory on the DP World Tour came two years ago at the Scottish Open. Adding a third in his home country would be special.
“At the end of last week the season, technically ended but the year hasn’t ended and I wanted a win on the DP World Tour, so it was in the back of my mind and I wanted to win,” Lee said. “So yeah, it will be amazing. Any win’s awesome. I have the potential to win but I’ve only had three wins, so it’s not like it comes off. Any time you win it’s an amazing feeling.
“I mean yeah, again, tomorrow’s just another day and hopefully I can keep going. I can just control what I can do and if someone goes out there and shoots low, hopefully I’ve finished the day happy with the way I played.”
Curtis Luck is third at 13 under with Adam Scott, who played with Lee on Saturday, fourth at 11 under.
The unrelenting pressure of DP World Tour Q School left James Nicholas twisting in the wind.
After enduring difficult conditions and unrelenting pressure in the final stage of DP World Tour Q School, James Nicholas was left twisting in the wind.
For two emotional hours, the 26-year-old Scarsdale native was a mess.
“Oh my gosh,” said Nicholas, who played his way into contention with a final-round 67 at Infinitum Golf and Beach Club in Spain. “We finished the round, I thought it was gonna be very, very close, but I didn’t like my chances. I went to member orientation, came out and did some interviews, and checked the leaderboard again. I was still T19 and thinking maybe I did have a chance.”
He went looking for his caddie.
“After like 10 or 15 minutes, I finally found him sitting inside with the curtains down,” Nicholas continued. “He’s like, ‘I’m not watching anybody finish on 18. I just can’t.’ I’m anxious so I wanted to see what’s happening, so I watched players three-putt for bogey, make eagles, and hit into the water.”
Only the top 25 finishers, including ties, earn status on the DP World Tour for the 2024 season.
Nicholas had no way to gauge the impact of each birdie and bogey. After spending four up-and-down years chasing a dream of playing full-time, the former Ivy League player of the year at Yale knew a spot on the European tour could be life-changing.
When he wasn’t on FaceTime with his girlfriend, America Richmond, he was on the phone with anxious family members and friends.
A bogey late in the final round was becoming more and more difficult to look past.
“They live and breathe every swing,” Nicholas said of the folks at home. “I think it was nice for them having that time difference because when they woke up, I was on 15 so there was no praying or voodoo or anything until the final holes. I FaceTimed America once I finished and kind of told her I blew it. She was crying and upset for me, but was telling me that whatever happened, I was going to be OK.”
Optimism began to increase with each passing minute.
“After kind of telling everybody, ‘We’ll see. We’ll see. We’ll see,’ it started looking better and better and better,” said Nicholas, who’s made 39 Korn Ferry Tour starts since turning pro in 2019. “My smile got bigger and bigger and bigger, and I started walking faster and faster and faster. I was like, ‘Well, I might actually be a full member of the DP World Tour. All week, I was one shot back, one shot back, one shot back. I was never inside the top 25 until the end.”
He wound up in an eight-way tie for 22nd a week ago, finishing the six rounds at 14-under.
The mood on the next FaceTime changed drastically as the reigning Westchester and Long Island Open champion shared the news. Mom was still crying, but each tear was celebratory.
“My dad was mid-surgery with a patient on the table, so a resident was reading updates shot by shot,” Nicholas said. “My brother Steven called me, like, over the moon, wanting to know when he could play in a pro-am. My sisters were extremely, extremely proud and giving me all the congrats in the world, and my younger brother Brian called me from Sioux City after he scored two goals in his USHL game.
“We’ve always supported each other in our individual endeavors … and for me to finally like have some sort of success on the golf course, I was so proud and so thankful for the support system America and my family have provided over the years. It was an emotional couple of hours there.”
James Nicholas on the 1st hole during Day Five of the final stage of the 2023 DP World Tour Qualifying School on the Lakes Course at Infinitum Golf in Tarragona, Spain. (Photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
Taking a professional mulligan
Nicholas was all-state in football, hockey and golf at Scarsdale, and went to Yale to play football and golf. He played club hockey in college, too, but eventually dropped football to focus on golf. Nicholas went on to earn Ivy League player-of-the-year honors in 2018 and 2019.
The decision to become a touring professional was initially met with skepticism by a longtime friend of the family.
“I’ve known them forever,” decorated teaching professional and former Sleepy Hollow Country Club head pro Jim McLean said. “James’ grandfather took care of me when I was in New York and I taught Stephen, his dad, when he was a junior. I stay with them a lot when I’m up there.
“When they told me James wanted to play the PGA Tour, my advice was not to do it. He was like a 3.8 in pre-med and biochemistry at Yale. He was already doing things with Greyson clothing. He had a slam-dunk life in front of him if he wanted to play top-flight amateur golf in New York and maybe national stuff. I just know James had a real late start in serious golf. Most of these guys won a lot of AJGA events and were ranked top five as juniors, but here’s the thing about James: He hangs in there and keeps clawing away.”
Nicholas won Korn Ferry Tour status in 2019, but was eventually done in by a reshuffle. He’s since played in countless Monday qualifiers and regional events to keep the dream alive. He’s been to Q school on both sides of the Atlantic multiple times.
Nearly a year ago, before heading to an Asian Tour event in Thailand, he visited McLean at his golf school in Miami. A lack of results demanded change.
“We sat down and made a plan,” McLean said. “I told him what it was going to take and part of that plan was a daily routine, which stays between James and myself. I told him it would require four hours, seven days a week. I told him it was going to be really tough. He said, ‘I’ll do it.’ And he did. There are probably very few people who would do what I asked him to do and he kept going beyond six months.”
They also made swing changes after breaking down video of touring professional McLean has taught over the years and Cameron Young, another standout with roots at Sleepy Hollow who’s having success on the PGA Tour.
Jon McLean, who played at Oklahoma State and on multiple tours before moving on to instruction, went to work on Nicholas’ short game and putting.
“I was a tour player so I know how difficult it is, but you can see how determined James is and how good he is under pressure,” Jon McLean said. “Unless you’ve been through Q school, you don’t know what he was feeling, so it was good to see him thrive under that pressure. That’s empowering. My dad kind of challenged him to put in some really hard work and James stuck with it.
“This is huge. It’s a complete game-changer, having a full-time place to play on the second-best tour in the world.”
Nicholas has always had the ability to go low, but consistency was an issue. He was under par in all six rounds at the final stage of Q school in Spain.
“James surprised me, let me just say that,” McLean added. “He’s a tremendous athlete. He’s been successful in everything he’s done, but pro sports is a tremendous jump. It was nerve-wracking seeing him be so close at Q school. The PGA Tour is 1A and the DP World Tour is 1B, so this is a big deal. It’s right there. What he’s accomplished is a huge achievement.”
Wait, there’s more
Nicholas came home after Stage 1 of DP World Tour qualifying in France to play in the first stage of Korn Ferry Tour qualifying in Alabama. He needed to do more than advance. Nicholas had to finish on the first page of the leaderboard to avoid a scheduling conflict with Stage 2 in Spain. He won by two shots, locking in a Nov. 28 start at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Georgia.
Preparations are currently underway.
“I just now had a long conversation with my coaches,” Nicholas said by phone on Monday. “I need to sit down and just kind of think for a little bit about whether I should go for a Korn Ferry Tour card. Knowing that the (top five) in the final stage now get a PGA Tour card is an incentive to play next week.”
There’s no reason to rush into a decision with so much golf to be played and having a spot on the DP World Tour relieves some of the stress.
“Ending up in Europe is going to be really cool if that’s what happens,” Nicholas said. “I love traveling, I love exploring different cultures and learning new things, so that would be a dream come true, but also something I think I can handle.”
Downtime has been elusive over the last year.
Thanksgiving will be spent with family heading to Florida to continue the celebration. A tryptophan nap is not part of the plan. He will also check in with friends in New York before heading for Georgia on Saturday.
“I’m going to miss a reunion party for the Scarsdale team that won a Section 1 championship,” he said. “I’m bummed because those guys are still family to me. Those are some of the best memories I have, but I’ll be able to FaceTime in and see all the boys.”
Nicholas also has a side gig.
He’s an equity partner in Grandstand, an interactive social media app for athletes developed by fellow Yale alum Sandeep Rajan.
“We’ve been going back and forth a couple of years now,” said Nicholas, a talented content producer who’s got 104,000 Instagram followers and 375,000 TikTok followers. “I’ve been consulting with the team, giving background and sharing my vision for making life easier and giving fans a better experience while kind eliminating the haters. There are so many naysayers on Instagram and TikTok and you don’t always want to read those negative comments, especially if you’re putting in the time to create this content and form this community.”
There will be updates for invited users and paid content for premium subscribers.
“It’s going to be a space to share a more vulnerable side with people that I know are there to follow me and support me,” Nicholas said.
Grandstand is building toward a wider release and will include athletes from multiple sports.
“I don’t know if I can share exactly who’s signed up right now, but we’ve got Olympians along with athletes who play football, golf and tennis and some college athletes.”
Whatever happens in the weeks ahead, the journey will be well-documented.
“I’ve never had full status on any tour,” Nicholas said. “I’ve always complained that I don’t know what I’m doing or where I’m going to be two weeks from now. To finally reach a point where I can make a schedule and play when I want to play and where I want to play is great. I’m really looking forward to that stability, but this is only the beginning. There is a lot more work I need to do.”
Mike Dougherty covers golf for The Journal News and lohud.com. Follow along @lohudgolf.
For the fifth time in his career and second year in a row, Rory McIlroy claimed the DP World Tour’s season-long Race to Dubai title. However, he wasn’t victorious this week as that honor went to his Ryder Cup teammate, Nicolai Hojgaard.
Hojgaard, who finished second at last week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa, closed with an 8-under 64 at Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Earth Course that included a stretch of five straight birdies on the back nine – Nos. 13-17 – to beat Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Wallace and Viktor Hovland by two shots. This was the 22-year-old’s third DP World Tour title and first Rolex Series win.
“It means a lot. It’s the sweetest one,” he said. “It’s so much hard work been put in the last couple years, and this year has been a really good year if I look back on it, I feel like the only thing I need, was missing, was a win, and to get it this week, this field, is unbelievable.
“I mean, I can’t believe it’s just happened.”
McIlroy, who tied for 22nd at 10 under, sounded satisfied after winning yet another season-long title.
“It’s great. I think it shows my consistency year-to-year. I think over the last ten years, I think I’ve won eight season-long titles between America and between here, so it just shows my level of consistency,” he said. “I said to Harry on the last green, there’s a few guys that are able to beat me sort of one week or the next week but I don’t think there’s a lot of people that can beat me throughout the entire season.”
“We’re playing for record prize funds this year, we played for record prize funds last year.”
At the BMW International in early July 2022, Sergio Garcia reportedly went on an epic locker-room rant where he said, among other things, that the DP World Tour was in a world of hurt – only he used some more choice four-letter words – and that his fellow competitors should have taken the money from LIV Golf when they had a chance.
More than a year later, the DP World Tour is wrapping up a season in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in which it played for record purses and strengthened its strategic alliance with the PGA Tour and in June agreed to a framework agreement with the Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Much remains to see how things will play out but longtime DP World Tour player, board member, 2014 European Ryder Cup captain and Golf Channel/Sky TV commentator is tired of hearing critics trash the deal.
“When you’re the little guy against an absolute giant that the PGA Tour is the odds are stacked against you,” McGinley said. “When a new titan comes on the pitch in terms of money like the Saudis and you’ve got one on each side and you’re the little guy in the middle you’re in a very precarious position.”
Europe players lift their captain Paul McGinley as he holds the trophy after winning the 2014 Ryder Cup.
The first decision the DP Tour faced goes back to the days of the PGL and the original alliance between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, which was announced nearly two years ago on Nov. 27, 2021, and for intents and purposes thwarted Andy Gardiner and his brainchild of the upstart PGL.
“Jay came in heavy,” McGinley told author Alan Shipnuck in his new book Liv and Let Die. “He showed us the color of his eyes.”
An unnamed PGA investor declared: “Monahan basically threatened to take all of their sponsors and said he would pump money into the purses of Tour events played opposite the Euro Tour’s flagship events so all the top Europeans stayed in the States. He might as well have parked tanks outside of Keithy Pelley’s office.”
According to Shipnuck, the European Tour had two top executives make their cases for the better deal, with Guy Kinnings advocating for the alliance with the PGA Tour and Rufus Hack pushing for the PGL merger. Shipnuck writes: “Monahan’s offer would give the European Tour a needed cash infusion without it having to sell its soul, while allowing the PGA Tour to thwart a formidable competitor for a reasonable price, part of the deal was that the European Tour would be barred from partnering with or supporting any other tour.”
The DP World Tour and PGA Tour extending its relationship, especially in terms of international events, was a critical decision in reshaping the trajectory of the tour.
“We had a big question to make: if we do nothing we’re going to slowly die, or we align ourselves with one of the titans,” McGinley mused. “Any venture capitalist will tell you it’s not just about money, particularly when you’re managing a members’ organization like we are. We had to balance up not only the financials but also the security and future of the European Tour. The Saudis were new on the pitch and it was difficult to assess how committed they were going to be long term and could they just disappear as quickly as they arrived on the scene. The chances of that were realistically strong.
“The idea of us aligning with the Saudis would’ve been a massive risk to our members because A, we would’ve pissed off the PGA Tour massively. They would’ve never done any business with us again; in fact, they would’ve gone out of their way to bury us. And B, if after a couple of years, the Saudis decided we’re losing money on golf, we’re out, we would’ve been at the mercy of those people and we would’ve been in a vulnerable position. I think we made a savvy decision and the path of least resistance and least risk to align with the PGA Tour. That was a very strong deal for us.
“The odds were heavily in our favor and we hitched our wagon and we did so knowing that the days of us going toe to toe with the PGA Tour are gone.”
To hear McGinley tell it, the PGA Tour’s business model has accelerated in the last five years, particularly because of TV rights. As a result, he’s convinced the European circuit never would compete with the PGA Tour again as it once did in its heyday.
Paul McGinley guides Europe to a Ryder Cup victory in 2014.
“These misty-eyed people who think, oh, the days of Seve and Langer, that’s bullshit, because the commercial model has exploded in the U.S., and hasn’t and it won’t in Europe,” McGinley said. “We had to deal with the dynamics that were in play and we’re at mercy of people being critical of it but they’re not being critical based on reality.”
Most of the critics ignore the fact that the board of the European Tour is incredibly strong.
Martin Gilbert, founder of Aberdeen Asset Management, one of the biggest funds in the world, is on the policy board and his world is assessing risk.
“Do you think when it came down to the nitty gritty that David Howell, Thomas Bjorn and myself were front and center in all of this? Absolutely not. We had experts in there on the board doing the deal,” he said. “We were well advised from the business point of view. It was a well-considered and thought-through deal that we did with the PGA Tour.”
McGinley is convinced the DP World Tour is in a stronger position and while the circuit’s fortunes still may be evolving, he argues that the European Tour weighed its options and found the safety of the PGA Tour to be a winning combination.
“The good news is by aligning with America we did a good financial deal and all our players committed to playing four events outside of the majors and the world events and continue to come back and play European Tour events,” McGinley said. “We’re playing for record prize funds this year, we played for record prize funds last year, and that’s guaranteed for the next 13 years. Tell me how that’s a bad deal for the European Tour. And we’ve minimized our risk. The PGA Tour isn’t going away in the next three years but potentially the Saudis could. We couldn’t take that risk. That would not have been proper due diligence for us as a members’ organization that represents 500 people.”
