PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem "fired the latest shot in a power game with the European Tour by insisting professional golf should be controlled by one global organisation," according to Ewan Murray of the London GUARDIAN. He cited "commercial reasons as the logic behind his stance." The arrival of Keith Pelley as European Tour CEO has seen a "series of statements about boosting tournament status and prize funds." The aim is clear: to "provide leading players with a realistic alternative to the riches available" in the U.S. Relations between the bodies were "further tested by the European Tour’s refusal to change the date of the French Open," thereby maintaining a clash with the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Now Finchem has "questioned the need for a European Tour at all." He said, "We think that what’s in the paramount best interest of men’s and women’s professional golf is coming under one unified organization with a genuine global brand and being able to compete on a global level in the global markets, much like soccer." The prospect of the PGA Tour taking over its European equivalent "has been mooted, but publicly denied, in the past." On the grounds of finance alone, the PGA Tour "would be regarded as the senior partner in any alliance" (GUARDIAN, 3/7).
