What’s in a name? RIP to the PGA European Tour (in name only) which, under its rebranding, has been reborn as the DP World Tour Championship, the title sponsorship by the Dubai-based global logistics company subtly bringing “world” into the equation to denote an elevation of its status going forward.
A global partnership between the European Tour and the PGA Tour announced earlier this year clearly benefitted the Wentworth-headquartered circuit and, now, the lucrative tie-up with DP World (which has backed the season ending tournament on the circuit since 2009) has brought the tour onwards to a new level, with the 2022 schedule guaranteed to surpass €173 million ($200m) in prizemoney.
Most significantly, especially for card holding players who don’t also get the opportunity to compete on the PGA Tour, the minimum purse at any of the newly branded DP World Tour events will be €1.7 million ($2m).
As part of the newly announced schedule for the 2022 season, the Irish Open (sponsored by Dubai Duty Free since 2015) has been confirmed for Mount Juliet in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, which successfully hosted this year’s tournament won by Australian Lucas Herbert.
The Irish Open has been given a date of June 30th-July 3rd 2022 in the calendar, putting it immediately ahead of the Genesis Scottish Open and two weeks before the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews.
Unfortunately, the Irish Open has not been elevated back to the Rolex Series status which it enjoyed from 2017 to 2019.
The back-to-back hosting of the Irish Open at Mount Juliet would also appear to have ended the one time desire for it to occupy part of a Links Swing on the calendar.
As the European Tour heads into its 50th anniversary next year under the guise of the renamed DP World Tour, in what can be seen as a strengthening of its position in the face of the proposed new challenge from Saudi Arabia-backed funds (which has backed events on the Asian Tour and proposed a premier style world league of reduced sizes), the commitment is for a minimum of 47 tournaments in 27 countries including new tournaments in the United Arab Emirates, Japan, South Africa and Belgium and an expanded Rolex Series comprising five events: the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the Slynco.io Dubai Desert Classic, the Scottish Open, the BMW PGA Championship and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship
For the first time, the newlook tour will also feature three tournaments co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour in the United States, the Scottish Open along with the Barbasol and Barracuda championships (as part of the previously announced strategic alliance between the two tours).
Keith Pelley, the chief executive of the European Tour group, described the sponsorship move as “a natural evolution of our decade-long partnership” although - in light of the Saudi Arabia backed global golf leagues and support of the Asian Tour - the tie-up can be viewed as both timely and necessary, especially given the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on scheduling.
“(This) will herald a new era in global golf,” suggested Pelley.
Jay Monahan, the commissioner of the PGA Tour, who has been very much involved in developing the alliance between the US and European tours, said: “We are excited for the continued growth and evolution of the European Tour, as well as the momentum this provides toward our Strategic Alliance. I’ve said before that our respective Tours are positioned to grow - together - over the next 10 years faster than we ever have at any point in our existence, and (this) announcement is another point of proof in those efforts.”
In announcing his company’s title sponsorship of the European Tour, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World, said: “We have relished the opportunity to support the Tour in growing the game of golf and improving access to the sport at all levels. The key to this success has been and will continue to be the shared vision and values that underpin the partnership.”
