Euro Tour's Pelley To Be "Ambitious And Aggressive" In '17

Alistair Tait reports on the European Tour's annual Golfer off the Year (Henrik Stenson) luncheon where Chief Executive Keith Pelley informed the assembled scribblers, ten-percenters and other necktie-stained types that he plans to be “ambitious and aggressive in 2017.”

While Pelley has just added a new event in May to the tour's total heading steady at a still-bloated 48 tournaments, it's the way the event was added and other promise that earns the relatively new Chief high marks from Tait.

The Canadian has shown a penchant for trying to bring the staid old game of golf into the 21st century with new ideas, such as allowing players to wear shorts, night golf, six-hole golf, enhancing the Tour’s social media department to reach out to younger golf fans, and taking an aggressive line in trying to form a strategic partnership with the Asian Tour.

And this...

We need to cut Pelley some slack, though. He’s trying to move things forward. Let’s hope Rocco Forte is the first of many new sponsors to invest in the European Tour.

It should be fun seeing how much Pelley pushes the boundaries via formats or coupling of swarms of events via the Rolex Series. Will he and new PGA Tour commish Jay Monahan inspire each to outdo the other?