Date: March 17, 2015
Author: Mark Hayes

PGA denies European merger

The PGA Tour of Australasia has dismissed a British press report it is about to merge with the European Tour.

PGA chief commercial officer Steve Ayles confirmed the Australian body was in regular talks “with the European and other tours” about the possibility of co-sanctioned events.

But he said use of the word “merger” in the Daily Mail article was inaccurate.

“We are in constant contact with several tours, but there has been no mention of mergers at all,” Ayles said.

“We make no secret of the fact that we would consider potential co-sanctioning agreements of the events that we run.

“But that’s a far cry from the wording in that article.”

The Daily Mail’s Derek Lawrenson reports that “negotiations have reached an advanced stage with the PGA of Australia for some sort of merger”.

“Whether this means an arrangement similar to that with the Sunshine Tour in South Africa – where seven events are co-sanctioned – or something more formal has yet to be determined,” he wrote.

Lawrenson said European Tour members were given an outline of plans at the recent Qatar Masters.

The two tours have co-sanctioned several events in modern times, most recently the Perth International in October last year.