The truth is, making money solely from running a tour is tough – whether it’s the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour, most of the money gets funnelled back to the players.
So we’re thinking bigger. For example, we’re about to launch our first Legends Tour Resort, a project worth £600 million.
We’re also exploring branded academies, real estate opportunities tied to golf courses, and even apparel lines. We want to create an ecosystem around the Tour that taps into various revenue streams beyond just the tournaments.
The discourse around professional golf, certainly in the men’s game, has been dominated by prize money and the vast amounts that players can earn. Do you think the public is getting tired of the constant focus on money?
There’s a lot of money in professional sports generally — look at football or Formula One — and I don’t think people are necessarily fed up with it.
The challenge is making sure tournaments remain commercially viable, especially with all the competition from entities like LIV Golf.
We’ve grown our prize fund on the Legends Tour significantly since I took over, from $3.9 million to around $8 million this year, and we’re aiming for $10 million next year.
By 2030, we want to have 15 tournaments with $2 million prize pools each, plus the majors. It’s ambitious, but we’re building an ecosystem to support that growth.
Can you tell me about your relationship with the Trump organisation?
It’s been fantastic. Eric Trump, in particular, has been very supportive of our events, and the team at Trump Aberdeen did a phenomenal job with the hosting of the PGA Seniors Championship.
Donald Trump himself even took the time to send a personal message to the players before one of our tournaments and called the winner afterwards, which was a nice touch.
Say what you will about Trump, but the people in his organisation are top-notch, and they’ve been great partners for us.
Finally, where do you play your golf and do you have a favourite course?
In the UK, Wentworth and Beaverbrook are my clubs. Wentworth is my home club and I love the West Course. Beaverbrook is a private members club near Leatherhead in Surrey where the whole environment is something really special.
I spend quite a lot of time in southern Spain and Finca Cortesin is my home club when I am based over there. A little bit like Beaverbrook, it has a special feel to it. I absolutely love it there!
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