A ‘World Tour’ is inevitable, says European Tour pro

The merging of the PGA Tour and European Tour to form a ‘World Tour’ is closer than we think, according to one professional.

Laurie Canter, who has just started his third consecutive season on the European Tour, expects golf to follow tennis with its ATP World Tour and sees many benefits, including better sponsorship opportunities and also an improved experience for fans. 

 “Eventually, I can’t see how there can’t be a world tour in golf,” he told bunkered.co.uk. “I think it’s silly that there’s not. I think it’s what people would want to see and it would make sponsorship opportunities better.

“As a fan of golf, it’s what I’d want. You want to tune in on a Saturday or Sunday and watch the best golfers play.

“You don’t want to have to tune in twice and watch Rory play well in somewhere like Hong Kong in the morning and then watch Jordan Spieth play well in Memphis in the evening. You want to see them both play against each other down the stretch.”

As well as big European stars such as Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm all being based out in the States, 2018 will see the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick also ply their trade largely on the PGA Tour.

Canter feels this willingness from young, successful European players will only accelerate the process of a ‘world tour’.

“I don’t think it’ll be that long away because the young Europeans have shown a clear appetite to wanting to go and play in the States,” he continued.

“The biggest draw in golf is Rory McIlroy. He’s just got married, he’s probably going to have kids, and he lives in America.

“The European Tour is reliant on its big stars and hopefully it can hold onto those for as long as possible but I think the reality is that, especially with the economic climate, it’s going to be tough to sustain a viable alternative to the PGA Tour.”