ROCHESTER, NY — US Ryder Cup team captain Lanny Wadkins (L) greets European team captain Bernard Gallacher (R) after Gallacher’s team arrived by Concorde at the Greater Rochester International Airport for the 1995 Ryder Cup at Oak Hill Country Club. | TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
Bernard Gallacher expressed concern regarding the stature of the DP World Tour and its alliance with the PGA Tour.
28 years ago, Bernard Gallacher worried about how his European Ryder Cup team would defend its title at Oak Hill Country Club.
This week, as Oak Hill hosts the PGA Championship for the fourth time, he continues to worry about European golf.
This time around, Gallacher’s concerns cast much broader than just a 12-man team. He now worries about the future of the DP World Tour, noting that it could become an “upmarket Korn Ferry Tour.”
The Korn Ferry Tour is a de-facto minor league to the PGA Tour. Players work their way through the Korn Ferry Tour, and if they finish in the Top 30 of the season-long standings, they earn PGA Tour cards for the following season.
Gallacher worries that the DP World Tour will suffer the same fate.
To an extent, it already has.
Two of the best players in the world, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy, primarily play on the PGA Tour.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Jon Rahm of Spain celebrates making a putt for birdie on the 18th green during the final round of the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course) on June 20, 2021 in San Diego, California.
Numerous other European stars, such as Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Shane Lowry, also call the PGA Tour home.
Although it still hails as the predominant European Tour, the DP World Tour, aptly named for the Dubai-based DP World logistics company for sponsorship reasons, has lost much of its top talent to the American tour over the years.
More financial opportunities exist stateside, but that does not mean the European Tour can not flourish.
Nevertheless, in 2020, the PGA Tour and European Tour announced a strategic alliance. Yet, Gallacher feels the move was a bit hasty.
“When I was on the board of the European Tour, we always wanted to keep our independence and be able to make our own decisions,” he said to the Telegraph. “But we tried to find ways onto the PGA Tour for our best players.”
“There were World Golf Championship events that our top guys could get entry to, and if they played well enough in those and the Majors, they could win enough money to qualify for the PGA Tour. But only the top end of our players could do that. But with ten certain to get their PGA Tour cards now, my fear is that we become a sort of upmarket Korn Ferry Tour.”
