McGinley: Pro-am format key to Legends Tour success
Paul McGinley didn’t need much convincing when he was invited to take up an ambassadorial role in the Legends Tour.
Why? Because the revamped European over-50s circuit is taking an existing formula and making it better.
What was the European Seniors Tour and then the Staysure Tour has a new owner, Staysure founder and CEO Ryan Howsam, who becomes the first person to hold a majority stake in a major golf tour.
Each Legends Tour event will be played in the Alliance format, a pro-am setup much like at Pebble Beach or the Dunhill Links, that gives amateurs the chance to compete alongside the game’s biggest names in tournament conditions for places in the grand final.
And McGinley, the four-time European Tour winner and victorious 2014 Ryder Cup captain, told the NCG Podcast he is “a great believer in not having to reinvent the wheel for success”.
“It’s taking something that’s proved successful and moving it forward,” he added.
“What’s been very clear over the years, whether it be in America or Europe or anywhere in the world, one of the things that’s been critical to the success of professional golf is the pro-am formats on a Wednesday.
“A lot of sponsors got involved in tournament golf because of the pro-am. You can play on the venue, with the players, on the day before the event. There’s no other sport that offers that.
“So what makes me so excited about this idea is you’re taking that dynamic that’s been proven successful for years and years and building a tour around that dynamic.
“We’re very confident of its success because it’s not a new standalone idea that somebody’s come out of left field and tried, this is a proven success formula that we are repackaging and putting in a different dynamic.”
Would you like to see more pro-am type events on the European Tour? Let us know in the comments below or you can tweet us.
The NCG Podcast: Everything you need to know about the Legends Tour
Legends Tour owner Ryan Howsam and ambassador Paul McGinley join Alex Perry on the NCG Podcast to dive into more detail…
Alex Perry
Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.
