PGA Tour v European Tour

At this year’s BMW PGA Championship, Paul McGinley announced five players would be selected for the 2014 European Ryder Cup team based on their performance on the World Points List, and only four from the European Tour Points List. Whilst he was quick to play down the significance of this restructure, journalists, fans and commentators felt it was something more consequential:  concrete recognition that the PGA Tour had become the premier circuit in world golf.

In truth, it’s hard to argue against such an assertion. The PGA Tour frequently boasts stronger, international fields that compete for more money and a range of titles that, on balance, are more prestigious. PGA Tour fields are stronger week in, week out than those in Europe, its events are staged on some of the world’s best courses and the worldwide interest generated from PGA Tour events far outweighs its European equivalent. But just how big is the gulf between the two circuits? Below, I’ve ranked the PGA and European Tours out of 10 in four categories: membership and schedule, courses and events, worldwide interest and future prospects.

Membership and Schedule

In terms of membership, the PGA Tour is indisputably stronger. All the best players in the world have a PGA Tour card, but many don’t possess European Tour status. That is mainly due to the fact that Americans don’t have the need or inclination to play on the other side of the Atlantic, and who can blame them? Only two of Europe’s victorious 2012 Ryder Cup team (Paul Lawrie and Francesco Molinari) play full time on the European Tour, and you have to go down to 29^th in the world ranking to find the first non-PGA Tour member (Matteo Manassero). Top Europeans play on both circuits, something they don’t have in common with their American counterparts.

The PGA Tour has also moved ahead in the end-of-season series stakes. The FedEx Cup, whilst flawed, is exceptionally popular and prestigious, and the undoubted influence behind the European Tour’s four-tournament Final Series, which comes into force this season. It’s a concept that should ensure strong fields, but without American representation, it will never match up to the FedEx Cup. Some 13 of the world’s top 25 are from the USA, and only one of them, Tiger Woods, will play in any Final Series events. As long as that’s the case, the gulf will remain.

European Tour – 6/10; PGA Tour – 9/10

Courses and Events

Both European and PGA Tour competitors are fortunate to be able to play golf on some of the best courses in the world, and compete for titles that date way back to the mid 1900s and even before.

On balance, though, you’d have to say the range of locations utilised on the PGA Tour outweighs those used in Europe. Every season, PGA Tour members play normal tour events on multiple major- and Ryder Cup-hosting venues such as Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach, Muirfield Village, Bethpage Black and locations with enormous cultural and historical golfing significance, like East Lake. The European Tour, by contrast, doesn’t. Yes, some of the courses played in the Middle East are relatively new, and will work their way up the world rankings as time passes, but they aren’t on the same level. Our flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship, is contested on a course that isn’t even ranked inside the top 50 in the UK and Ireland.

What’s more, some of the tour’s oldest and most prestigious events have been scrapped in recent times – a product of wider economical and sponsorship-based factors. Valderrama, for example, no longer has a place on the schedule, and some of the events with the most heritage (the Omega European Masters and the Johnnie Walker Championship, for example) are being diminished in stature as they run concurrently with the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup series. We still have events on world-famous layouts like St Andrews, but the PGA Tour’s all-round schedule and selection of courses is better. You’d also have to say that, on average, there are more bland golf courses used on the European Tour.  

European Tour – 7/10; PGA Tour – 9/10

Worldwide interest

The PGA Tour is indisputably more of an all-round spectacle and certainly commands more of a global audience than the European Tour. All PGA Tour events are broadcast in Europe and in a wide range of countries throughout the world. Granted, improvements have been made recently, with the Scottish Open becoming the first non-major European Tour event to be broadcast in America. But, when you consider Sky first started showing PGA Tour events at the start of the 1990s, you realise just how big the gulf is.

There is also more interest in the PGA Tour in up-and-coming golfing designations like South America and Asia. All the best Japanese golfers, like Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Ishikawa, are invited to play events in America and the likes of Angel Cabrera, Camilo Villegas and Jhonnatan Vegas are facilitating an increased interest in South America. The Americans also have a channel dedicated to broadcasting golf, and not just tip-tier golf. All Web.com Tour events and LPGA events are covered live, a stark contrast to the offering in Europe.

European Tour – 6/10; PGA Tour – 9/10

Future prospects

A perennial concern for tour authorities is how to expand and grow the profile of their respective tours going forward. The FedEx Cup, whilst initially shrouded in controversy, has proved to be a very successful and exciting model, especially during the end-of-season play-offs. This has caused problems for the European Tour, though. All the world’s best players chose to compete in this four-tournament series, and understandably so, but this significantly weakens some of the European Tour’s summer events.

The issue for George O’Grady is that there is no sign of this trend being reversed. Frankly, some of the European Tour’s summer events, such as the Wales and Italian Opens, really aren’t the spectacle they once were, and nothing in comparison to the FedEx Cup events. Encouragingly, the European Tour has attempted to spruce up its own end-of-season schedule with the inauguration of the Finals Series, and that should attract some more global interest and draw some strong fields. Still, it’s about creating a year-long spectacle. The European Tour has a good start and finish, but most would agree it lulls in the middle of the season. By contrast, the PGA Tour is strong all year round, with events like the Players and the Memorial plugging the gaps between majors, WGCs and play-off events.

What’s more, the European Tour trend nowadays is to expand into areas such as the Middle East, South Africa and Asia. Whilst this may be more economically viable, events like the Nelson Mandela Championship and Tshwane Open are essentially second string tournaments, and Asian events are televised at extremely inhospitable times. It might make economic sense, and help introduce new markets to golf, but it’s worse from a European spectators’ perspective. The PGA Tour has no such problems, and simply doesn’t need to look further afield for sponsorship or non-US tournament host venues.

European Tour – 7/10; PGA Tour – 8/10

Final Tally:

European Tour: 25/40
PGA Tour: 35/40

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