PONTE VEDRA BEACH, United States: PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem yesterday denied the US circuit had made a bid to acquire golf’s European Tour, but said US tour officials continue to pursue collaborative efforts with other tours.
Two British newspapers, The Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph, reported the PGA Tour was in preliminary discussions to take over the Wentworth-based European Tour and that Finchem had already had discussions with his European Tour counterpart George O’Grady.
“Certain news reports today have indicated that the PGA TOUR has made an offer to acquire the European Tour. Those reports are inaccurate,” Finchem said in a statement.
“However, as I have stated publicly on several occasions, the integration of professional golf can create additional value for our players, sponsors and fans.
“Such integration has been ongoing since 1994, with the founding of the International Federation of PGA Tours, and has led to the establishment of the World Golf Championships in 1999 as well as the World Cup as a Federation-sanctioned event.
“More recently, all the major golf bodies around the world worked together to bring golf back to the Olympic Games.”
Finchem said talks among the various tours within the federation would continue “as we explore additional collaborative efforts for the presentation of our game”.
“To the extent any of those efforts prove feasible, additional information will be provided at that time,” he said.
The PGA Tour, which organises men’s pro-golf tournaments in the United States and North America, has already purchased the flagging Canadian Tour and renamed it the PGA Tour of Canada. AFP
