The PGA TOUR and European Tour have unveiled new details around their Strategic Alliance, with one of the main elements being a doubling of the prizemoney available for the Irish Open.
The landmark agreement announced in November 2020, (read more about it on Sport for Business here) was intended to further enhance and connect the ecosystem of men’s professional golf through a number of areas, including global scheduling, prize funds and playing opportunities for the respective memberships.
In terms of scheduling, the most significant piece of collaboration is the fact that three tournaments will be co-sanctioned in 2022 and therefore count on both the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup and the European Tour’s Race to Dubai next season: the Barbasol Championship; the Barracuda Championship; and the Genesis Scottish Open.
The latter event also has a new title sponsor in Genesis, the luxury automotive brand from South Korea, who will now title sponsor two tournaments on the PGA TOUR, with the Genesis Scottish Open joining The Genesis Invitational in the US.
The Genesis Scottish Open (July 4-10), which is part of the European Tour’s Rolex Series, retains its place in golf’s global calendar the week ahead of The Open Championship (July 11-17), a date confirmed through to 2025. The player field will be a split between members of both Tours.
The tournament will also benefit from the continued commitment of the Scottish Government, managed by Visit Scotland – the agreement also running through 2025.
Irish Open Boost
It was also confirmed today that as part of the Strategic Alliance and collaboration between the two Tours, the Irish Open will see a significant increase in prize money for its annual European Tour event – to $6 million, starting in 2022 – nearly double the amount on offer at Mount Juliet last month.
In addition, the PGA TOUR will continue to work with the European Tour on commercial opportunities for the event.
“When we announced the Strategic Alliance at the end of last year, we said it was a landmark moment for global golf’s ecosystem that would benefit all members of both Tours,” said European Tour CEO Keith Pelley. “Today’s announcement underlines that promise, with further enhancements to the Genesis Scottish Open, a strengthening of the Irish Open for our members, and direct access for European Tour members to two PGA TOUR events.
“There has been considerable collaboration behind the scenes between our two Tours since November’s Alliance was unveiled, and we are delighted to share these initial developments, which demonstrate our commitment to working together for the betterment of our sport globally. We will have more to announce in the coming months – this is most definitely just the beginning.”
“With today’s news, I am pleased to say that the PGA TOUR and the European Tour are both stronger than at any time in our history, as we are positioned to grow – together – over the next 10 years faster than we have at any point in our existence,” said Monahan. “We are committed to continuing to evolve and adapt, and with our ever-strengthening partnership with the European Tour, to take the global game to the heights we all know it is capable of.”
The European Tour will announce the initial portion of its 2022 schedule later this month, with the full season announcement to follow in due course.
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