DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley is leaving his role to take up a position with Canadian sports media giants MLSE, and one pro has suggested that may not be a bad thing.
In an email to Golfweek’s Adam Schupak, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano said that Pelley, who will be replaced by Guy Kinnings on 2 April, had lost some support among the Tour’s members.
He explained: “I believe KP’s departure might be a good thing for the tour as some of the membership have lost confidence on his guidance over the last couple of months.”
Despite that assertion, the seven-time DP World Tour winner admitted the task Pelley had faced isn’t one he would have envied. He continued: “I wouldn’t have liked to be on his shoes over the last few years, when he had to deal with the pandemic and with very a poor financial situation, mostly created by poor management.”
During Pelley’s time in the role, he has helped foster closer ties between the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour with their Strategic Alliance. That was strengthened in June 2022, and included an initiative to hand PGA Tour cards to the leading 10 players on the DP World Tour rankings at the end of the 2023 season.
As a result, stars including Robert MacIntyre, Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee will now play significantly more golf on the PGA Tour, and that’s something that Fernandez-Castano thinks has diminished the DP World Tour. He wrote: “I can’t really understand the logic of giving away your best 10 players every year to your biggest competitor.”
That's an issue that was touched on by Matt Fitzpatrick in the immediate aftermath of the announcement of Pelley’s departure, who, when asked by Golfweek what he considers his legacy to be, responded: “Probably giving away the 10 best players for Europe to the PGA Tour.”
Keith Pelley has faced criticism for his performance as CEO of the DP World Tour
Despite his criticisms, though, Fernandez-Castano offered some thoughts on what he felt Pelley had done well, including his desire to innovate and his management during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He wrote: “On the bright side, he wasn’t afraid of innovations, as he proved with the Golf Sixes or the ShotClock events, and he did outstanding management during the 2020 season through the Covid pandemic where he got us playing back pretty fast in comparison with other sports.”
Ultimately, though, Fernandez-Castano felt Pelley’s tenure had been disappointing, and also wrote: “I’m afraid he leaves the Tour on a worse place than where he got it.”
Pelley had previously been president of Rogers Media in Canada before taking on his position at the DP World Tour in 2015.
Following the news he would return to his homeland to take on the new position overseeing the sports and entertainment group, he said: “When I came over from Canada back in 2015, I set out to create a culture of innovation and to grow our prize funds and our Tour for our members by ensuring that we appealed to new, younger and more diverse audiences.
“We have done that and so much more because our players, staff, partners, broadcasters and fans have all fundamentally bought into that philosophy that we are in the entertainment industry. I would therefore like to thank everyone for their support and commitment to innovation and evolution in our sport."
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