- Keith Pelley has confirmed he will resign from his DP World Tour post in April
- He has held the role for eight years but is now walking away from the sport
- It is awkward timing as there are currently peace talks with the PGA and LIV Golf
Keith Pelley will resign from his post as DP World Tour chief executive later this year in the second shock departure to hit the sport in the space of 24 hours.
The 60-year-old announced he will be leaving the European circuit to take up a post in his native Canada and will be replaced by Guy Kinnings, Pelley’s widely-respected deputy, who has long been seen as his natural successor.
Pelley’s decision, which followed a day after Martin Slumbers said he was leaving his position as head of the R&A governing body, will only heighten the state of flux within golf.
While sources at the Tour’s Wentworth headquarters insist Pelley’s April exit is down to his desire to accept a ‘dream job’ as president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the timing is particularly awkward, with peace talks on a knife’s edge between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Saudi Arabian backers of LIV.
Pelley, whose new role puts him in charge of NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, the NBA’s Toronto Raptors and the MLS side Toronto FC, 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.
Keith Pelley (pictured) will resign from his post as DP World Tour chief executive in April
Pelley brought the Saudis, including Yasir Al-Rumayyan (right), into golf
Peace talks are currently taking place between the DP World Tour, PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, which Rory McIlroy (left) has fiercely criticised in the past
‘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. This role with MLSE, and the chance to be involved with my home town sports teams in Toronto, was the one opportunity that I simply could not resist.’
Pelley’s eight years in the post have seen him create financial stability for a Tour that faced an existential threat during Covid via a ‘strategic alliance’ with the PGA Tour.
But he also faced strong criticism for the growing perception, held by the likes of Sergio Garcia, that such an agreement relegated the European circuit to ‘feeder-tour’ status.
It was Pelley who brought the Saudis into golf via the Saudi International tournament and he has faced claims, which he has firmly disputed, that his tour rejected the chance to partner with them in a measure that might have staved off the chaos brought by the creation of LIV.
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