Amid some of the greatest turmoil in the history of golf, one of the leaders of an organization squarely in the middle of the chaos announced Thursday that he will be leaving. Keith Pelley, CEO of the DP World Tour, took a position as president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors and Toronto FC.
Pelley has served in his position with the DP World Tour for eight years.
“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,” said Pelley in a statement. “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.
“This role with MLSE, and the chance to be involved with my hometown sports teams in Toronto, was the one opportunity that I simply could not resist. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do at some point in my career and I’m very grateful to be given that chance.”
The DP World Tour (formerly known as the European Tour) changed immensely during Pelley’s tenure, largely because of the threat LIV Golf brought about a few years ago. The DP World Tour formed a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour in November 2021. Then in 2022, it was disclosed that the PGA Tour had invested heavily in European Tour Productions in exchange for equity.
As part of the new joint venture, the PGA Tour will increase its existing stake in European Tour Productions from 15 percent to 40 percent, while utilizing the DP World Tour’s recognized international credentials and global footprint to continue to coordinate a worldwide schedule.
The DP World Tour will guarantee growth in annual prize funds to its membership for the next five years, all above the record 2022 levels unveiled as part of the DP World Tour title partnership arrangement announced last November.
European Tour Productions is owned by the European Tour Group; it produces and distributes coverage of the Ryder Cup and The Open along with all DP World Tour and Challenge Tour events.
This deepened the relationship between the PGA Tour and European Tour helped increase purses on the DP World Tour side and created a pathway for the top 10 players on the DP World Tour to earn PGA Tour cards. In other words, the DP World Tour became a feeder for the PGA Tour.
All this was further complicated in June 2023 when both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour formed a framework agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia as the sides eyed a deadline of Dec. 31, 2023, to coalesce under a newly formed entity. That deadline has been pushed into 2024 as all parties could not come to terms in time.
Pelley’s tenure at the DP World Tour is a mixed bag. The trend for the tour has been declining for a long time as stars exited for the more lucrative pastures of the PGA Tour. However, he did negotiate the PGA Tour deal, which, along with its partial ownership of the Ryder Cup, keeps the DP World Tour relevant into the future. The final grade is “incomplete” dependent on how the deal with the PGA Tour and PIF turns out.
Pelley will cede the reins to Guy Kinnings, the current deputy CEO of the DP World Tour and executive director of the Ryder Cup.
“It will be a huge honor to take on this role in April and I am immensely proud to have been given this responsibility,” said Kinnings in a statement. “I will continue to work … to ensure a seamless transition. I look forward to working with our players, staff and partners in the game, as well as our very impressive executive leadership and senior management teams, to continue to build upon everything our tour has achieved in recent years.”