European Tour CEO Keith Pelley said that the European golf tour's planned alliance with its Asian equivalent "is likely to be rubber-stamped in time for next season," according to Tony Jimenez of REUTERS. The two circuits, which first collaborated for a co-sanctioned event 17 years ago, announced in August "an innovative joint vision for the future of professional golf" without going into details.
Pelley said that the two organizations "are close to finalizing an agreement that will lead to more tournaments being held in Asia." He said,
"What has transpired with the Asian Tour over the last number of weeks has been incredibly positive. It has taken time because they have gone through a complete board change. The original Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that we negotiated in November was put on pause until they had a new board in place and they knew what they were doing with their organizational structure." Pelley, who took over as European Tour CEO from George O'Grady last year, said that the joint agreement "would work well for both sides."
Asked if the new alliance would be finalized in time for the start of next season, he replied, "I think so" (REUTERS, 5/30).
