Tim Finchem expects a "world tour" of golf
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said that a "world tour" of golf, meaning higher cooperation and possible integration between the PGA and European Tours, could one day be a reality.
"I think that at some point in time, men's professional golf will become integrated globally," Finchem said. "Now, what form that takes, whether it's a total integration, whether it's
a FIFA-type, I don't know."
Finchem’s bold prediction comes just one day after Europe and the U.S. battled it out to the end for the 2010 Ryder Cup in Wales. The main reason for Finchem’s logic is the international
nature of many sponsors on both tours. For example, Phil Mickelson, the number-three ranked golfer in the world, is sponsored by Barclay’s, which promotes tournaments around the world including Singapore, Scotland, and New York. Mickelson will play in all
of them.
Other multinational sponsors currently supporting PGA Tour events include Deutsche Bank, BMW, Accenture, and Zurich.
The European Tour event schedule is more spread out geographically than that of the PGA Tour, with tournaments taking place on five continents. But the PGA Tour is travelling to Malaysia
later this month for an event co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, followed by a World Golf Championship event to be played in Shanghai, China in early November. The tour also holds a tournament in Mexico.
"I think it's a matter of time," Finchem said of a world tour. "Golf generally is a splintered sport, multi-organizational at every level. But there's movement. The last 15 years there's
been a lot of movement. I would see that continuing to develop toward integration."
Finchem added that he and European Tour chief George O’Grady have been "working together."
"We're talking to him constantly about what our plan would be," said Finchem, commissioner of the PGA Tour since 1994. "My guess is it will result in us doing even more together."
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