Keith Pelley stated he has “no regrets” as the end of his time as DP World Tour chief executive approaches.
Since 2015, the Canadian has navigated the tour through the COVID-19 pandemic, extended the strategic alliance with the PGA Tour and weathered a significant exodus of players to the newly formed LIV Golf League.
Pelley has overseen an eight-and-a-half-year period full of turbulence and without precedent and, while speaking to Tom Kershaw of the Times, asserted confidence in each decision he has made.
“I have absolutely no regrets,” he said. “We have rebuilt the tour. Our business is fully underpinned by the strategic alliance with PGA Tour and prize funds are at a record level in the midst of an economic crisis and a new entrant into our sport. I’m not sure how you put a negative spin on that.
“Would I love to stay and see it through? Yes. But you can’t control timing.”
By the time Pelley leaves his post in April to become the President and chief executive of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment in Toronto, there is no guarantee the DP World Tour, the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund that bankrolls LIV Golf, will have a framework agreement signed.
The trio of parties announced their intention to strike an unexpected compromise last June, ending what had been a lengthy period of hostility and legal battles that formed a divide in professional golf.
ALSO: Assessing Keith Pelley’s career with the DP World Tour…
Keith Pelley: Rory McIlroy aligned with my view of professional golf
Despite remaining in talks with the PIF, the PGA Tour announced a deal with Strategic Sports Group (SSG) in January, a US-based sports investment consortium, worth $3 billion which cast more doubt over the likelihood of golf’s civil war concluding.
When this lucrative new partnership was signed, part of the small print said that SSG had consented to a further deal between the PGA Tour and the PIF and that negotiations were ongoing.
Advertisement
Although an agreement hasn’t materialised yet, some attitudes that were once combative towards LIV Golf and its Saudi association have now cooled and there has been no clearer change in view than Rory McIlroy who, once a hater of the breakaway tour, has now called for a ‘World Tour’ to be formed.
“Whether it be in six months, a year, two years or 10 years, I think people are coming to the realisation that a collective product is in the best interest of global golf,” Pelley added, supporting McIlroy’s perspective.
“It is the only way growth and prize funds continue at this level. It is inevitable.
“They’re entitled to their opinion but I’m very much aligned with Rory,” he added. “Rory is the player I have leant on the most, going back to the beginning of (the saga with LIV Golf). You need people who aren’t afraid to say what they really think.”
What have you made of the DP World Tour-Keith Pelley tenure? Tell us on X/Twitter!
NOW READ: Rory McIlroy reveals his ‘dream scenario’ for golf’s future
NOW READ: What are the details of the PGA Tour’s deal with SSG?
Advertisement