When Too Much Money Is Still Not Enough: European Tour Chief Confronts "Optionality" Issues

European Tour Chief Keith Pelley chatted with media during round three of the DP World Tour Championship and Race to Dubai conclusion. And while it’s been a successful year, there are signs in Europe and in the United States that big money is reducing the urge to play often.

Alistair Tait at Golfweek noted the Rolex Series both succeeding at maintaining a certain status quo of quality while also not giving the boost promised. In defending the state of affairs, Tait says Pelley made his point that the money and options are probably too plentiful.

“I had an interesting discussion with Victor Perez, who is ninth in the Race to Dubai. Last year he was a Challenge Tour player but he got into the WGC-HSBC Champions but he doesn’t want to play four in a row, so he made a decision not to play in Turkey or South Africa.”

If a relative unknown like Perez can afford to skip two tournaments worth a combined $14.5 million, it sends a pretty strong signal. It’s why Pelley is looking at ending the 2021 schedule with just two Rolex Series events instead of the current three.

Another problem is that some Rolex Series sponsors are still having to shell out appearance money to lure the top stars. So potential sponsors have to dig deeper into their coffers to stage tournaments, and that’s not an easy sell in the current financial climate.

John Huggan at GolfDigest.com quoted the Chief Executive using a word that only Tim Finchem could love when confronted with stats showing stars playing less.

Expanding on his point, Pelley pointed out the modern reality of professional golf in the 21st century. Awash with cash, the top players are tending to compete less often than they used to. On average, that very best performers teed-up 24.9 times as recently as 2015. That number is now 22.3.

“If we expected the top players to play on a weekly basis, then out expectations would be unrealistic,” Pelley said. “There is unbelievable optionality for the players right now. There are probably less than 10 golf tournaments in the world now that are mandatory. And there are 35 tournaments offering prize money of at least $7 million. So there is no point in us obsessing over any of the above.”

Maybe there needs to be obsessing over culling the herd a bit before the sponsors do it on their terms?