The European Tour today confirmed that CEO George O'Grady "will resign" after working with the Tour "for more than 40 years," according to Alex Miceli of GOLFWEEK. O'Grady, who has been in his current role since '05, is only the "third chief executive since the tour's 1971 inception." He is "responsible for significant growth in the European Tour, including the season-long Race to Dubai, substantial growth of the Ryder Cup, the game's reinstatement to the Olympic Games beginning in 2016 and expansion beyond the European continent." Golfer Lee Westwood said, "From the conversation I've had, he's felt like it feels like the right time." Westwood added that the inclusion of David Williams as Chair of the Tour's BOD "might have hastened O’Grady’s departure." Miceli reports Williams "has been working to expand the tour in what many observers project to be challenging times ahead for all sports that rely on corporate sponsors." With much of central Europe "still in an economic freeze, corporate dollars have been more difficult to find for many growing sports such as soccer and rugby, leaving the European Tour to identify new and creative ways for sponsor dollars" (GOLFWEEK.com, 11/5). The AP's Doug Ferguson reports it is unknown when O'Grady would "officially step down," though he has "agreed to stay on until the European Tour board finds a replacement, and then sufficient time for his successor to make a smooth transition." O'Grady will "become president of international relations, in which he will represent the European Tour when golf returns to the Olympics" (AP, 11/5).
CLOSELY GUARDED SECRET: The GUARDIAN's Ewan Murray notes the departure of the 65-year-old O'Grady "may not be classed as a major surprise in some quarters," but it has been a "closely guarded secret among senior figures at the European Tour for a number of weeks." The early "suggestions are of an external appointment, and the desire to develop markets in Asia may have a bearing on the recruitment process." O'Grady "leaves with the business in generally good health, despite constant comparisons with the highly lucrative PGA Tour." He has "been a generally popular leader," but there have been "negative elements to O'Grady's stewardship, mainly due to the economic downturn." O'Grady also was "dragged into the controversy surrounding Sergio Garcia's 'fried chicken' jibe towards Tiger Woods" last year. O'Grady is "known to have been hurt by the fallout from that incident" (GUARDIAN, 11/5).
WHAT AWAITS O'GRADY'S SUCCESSOR: GOLFWEEK's Alistair Tait writes O'Grady's replacement "needs to find a way to get Europe's biggest stars to play more in its traditional heartlands of Continental Europe and the United Kingdom." One way to do that is to "acquire blue chip sponsors" that can lure the players back. O'Grady can look at his tenure as CEO "with much satisfaction," as he signed the "biggest sponsorship deal in European Tour history with the inception of the Race to Dubai" in '09. That five-year deal was initially worth $100M. However, he "singularly failed to provide more big money tournaments" in Europe and the U.K. That resulted in most of the top Europeans playing the PGA Tour and making "only occasional forays home to fulfill the requirements of membership" (GOLFWEEK.com, 11/5).
