Rory McIlroy, world No 2, highlighted his preference for a global tour, along the lines of F1, and Pelley agrees. He is determined to do all he can to help the parties reach a compromise before he returns to his hometown of Toronto to take control of four sports franchises.
“I think we will certainly have a direction of travel by then,” he said. “The conversations have heated up since Ryder Cup. We expected that I think there’s a will from all parties. You bring in somebody like FSG which is now SSG [the Strategic Sports Group], with powerful players like Steve Cohen [billionaire owner of the New York Mets]. And then I think there’s a willingness with PIF, and there’s certainly a willingness with us. If we can come together, then I think it’s pretty exciting for the game.”
Pelley plainly feels that after ‘the framework agreement’ with PIF in June, things went awry in the months that followed. “It was to unify the game,” Pelley said “Unfortunately after that framework agreement, some of the top players in the United States didn’t support it, which we needed them to support. I think they are realising now that the best way forward is to unify the game. If in six months time, the game hadn’t unified, I would be quite disappointed.
“I’ve believed that we should unify and all work together. I’ve believed that for years. So I was overjoyed with what transpired in June, and that was the right direction. I still believe it’s the right direction. What that means in terms of what the product looks like down the road, that’s the second step.”
