- Rory Mcilroy
- Padraig Harrington
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Thomas Pieters
- Henrik Stenson
Is the PGA a Wealthier Tour?
As the European Tour generally takes place during the average working hours, many spectators miss out on the live action whereas the PGA Tour takes place in the evening due to the different time zones. This is a very important factor as the PGA has an extremely higher viewership rate as many people can only find time to watch television in the evening time. Sky Sports Golf has been recently introduced and it airs a variety of different golf competitions and golf programmes throughout the day. Although this is very beneficial for the European Tour, the events in the US are more attractive to the eye with insights from the likes of Butch Harmon. Harmon, who currently coaches a number of the golfing greats, gives tips for the viewers on how to better their game and analyse the tour professionals. Therefore, many viewers may tune in to the PGA events for that reason alone but the European Tour may try but cannot possess the same effect on the audience.
Better Courses?
Arguably the second most famous golf course hosts the Players Championship every year at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach in the southeast of Jacksonville. Similar to the US Masters, this event is competed at the same infamous venue every year. Astonishingly the winning purse that this tournament offers is $1.89 million and is someway considered as the non-official fifth golfing major. Noteworthy, the most recognisable hole on the golf course which makes the course legendary is the Par 3 seventeenth which is known as ‘island green’. This hole can be a pitfall for golfers and could make or break the outcome of the tournament.
Better Weather
How will the European Tour address this situation?
Like Rory Mcilroy in the Irish Open, the top European players must try emulate Rory and engage in their local events as sponsorship is a key aspect in order to generate greater audiences and make more money for the event. Evidently there are not as much standout sponsors in the European Tour as there is in the US such as Rolex, Mercedes and American Express. However, more corporate sponsors for the European Tour will generate the needed income in order to compete with the PGA Tour in the United States.
In conclusion, despite being a very well established organisation, the European Tour must try to vie with the US PGA in order to maintain their elite players along with sustaining their current viewership. It is not a surprise that the US generally has the nicer weather, the more pleasant golf courses and greater wealth in their well respected association. Hence, Europe must try modifying their golf courses and try bringing greater wealth into the association from sponsors in order to compete with the US. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about the weather, especially in the west of Europe! In the nearby future, the PGA Tour will continue to grow and this is very worrying for the European Tour.
Author - Graham Byrne
4th Year Recreation and Sport Management Student