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Golf

"The system is not broken" - Paul McGinley says he'd be "amazed" if Premier Golf League happens

Paul McGinley says he'd "really amazed" if a break-away Premier Golf League competition gets off ...



Golf

"The system is not broken" - Paul McGinley says he'd be "amazed" if Premier Golf League happens

Paul McGinley says he'd "really amazed" if a break-away Premier Golf League competition gets off the ground and attracts players away from the PGA and European Tours. 

15-time major winner Tiger Woods admitted he was "still looking" at an offer to join the proposed 48-player competition with lucrative tournaments across the world.

"I really don't think it's going to happen. I'd be really amazed if it happens and the reason why I say that more than anything is because the system is not broken," Europe's former Ryder Cup winning captain told Off The Ball's Joe Molloy.

"The guys on the tour are making so many millions, they've got so many millions in their pension funds  The new TV deal is about to be signed and by all accounts, the prizemoney is going to have a huge escalation again.

"When somebody comes in and tries to shake up a sport or do something very radically different that's fine and good if the current system is broken. I don't see the PGA Tour/European Tour dynamic as the two leaders in professional golf as particularly broken. We're very successful in Europe in terms of the Race to Dubai and Rolex have re-signed again. We have a lot of things lined up for this year, the Ryder Cup is flying as it always does and the same with the PGA Tour.

"And then on moral reasons, I really don't see the likes of Tiger (Woods), Rory (McIlroy), Dustin Johnson or Brooks Koepka, these really top players, turning their back particularly on the history of the PGA Tour and indeed to the European Tour at a different level. The history of these events, and the history of Ben Hogan and Jackson Memorial and Bay Hill with Arnold Palmer and all of those things. It's not like they're not making money.

"You take the dynamic in the ladies' game where the European Tour has just been taken over by the LPGA Tour. And you can understand why, because the European Ladies Tour was broken, they had no money and were losing tournaments left, right and centre and were on their last legs, that's when takeovers happen.

"It's increasingly becoming talked about in the locker room," former US Open winner Justin Rose admitted to the Daily Mail last weekend.

"Two weeks ago, I don't think anyone knew too much about it apart from a few top players who had been approached. Now a few lids are coming off, which is a good thing because it needs to come to a head. There are a lot of incentives for the guys to be interested."

But McGinley, a member of the European Tour committee, thinks the players will ultimately opt to stay with the main two tours.

"I really don't see it happening but I'm surprised it's got as far as it has. There's a lot of traction out there, there's obviously a lot of money behind it and a lot of players are engaging with them and it'll be interesting to see what the shakeup is going to be. But in my view, I'd be really surprised if they pull it off because I think the PGA Tour are way too powerful to let someone else come in."

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