Sunday 29 May 2016 15:24, UK
European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley has confirmed there will be widespread changes to the West Course at Wentworth in a bid to restore a world-class field to the BMW PGA Championship.
The layout and the condition of the course has come in for criticism in recent years, while difficulties in scheduling have also contributed to the likes of Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia all opting to miss the event this week.
But Pelley insisted the tournament remains a "premium" event on the European Tour schedule, and he denied reports that the event could be moved away from Wentworth in the near future.
At a press conference during the final round, Pelley said: "Wentworth is majestic and has an aura about it that is simply astounding. And when you drive up and see the magical building, you quickly become inspired, so we have every intention to be at Wentworth for a long period of time. This is the home of the BMW PGA Championship.
"But we have to significantly improve the golf course, and that is a critical component to it. I've talked to a number of players, and you all know that there are a number of players that aren't here because they don't want to play this golf course.
"I'm convinced, I'm confident, what Reignwood (the Wentworth owners) has planned will bring this back to the Harry Colt design and the Harry Colt magic that once made this the place where players want to play.
"This is a premium event, and will always be a premium event. Our goal is to have a number of premium, world-class events, such as this. We're confident that in our plans over the coming months, we're going to reveal such. What is important is that we have more premium events."
Pelley also hinted that another tournament in Great Britain could be added to the schedule following the success of the return of the British Masters supported by Sky Sports at Woburn last autumn.
"The success last year of the British Masters certainly showed the appetite of the golfers and the fans in England," added Pelley. "They are also incredibly knowledgeable, which is great. Having travelled across the world, it's great to see what how the Irish fans, the Scottish fans and the English fans know the game and appreciate it.
"So there could be room for another event. I will tell you that is something that we have discussed but we have no concrete plans at this place."
Pelley also believes they will be significant changes to the schedule to ease the difficulties of travel for many Tour pros, while he is also determined to persuade more players to stay in Europe rather than join the PGA Tour with better venues and increased prize funds.
He said: "The two areas that we're focusing on is one, our schedule, not only the 2017 but the 2018 schedule. Our goal is really to make it have far more travel-ease on the players, as well as more playing opportunities for some of our lower-ranked members.
"Some of the Q-School and some of The Challenge Tour players, had a tough time playing early on in the season. It is something that has not gone unnoticed. It is very critical to us and we are working very feverishly in fixing this and creating additional tournaments, and we are confident that our 2017 schedule will be significantly stronger than 2016.
"At the same time, the other thing is obviously the migration of some of our top players to the US. That is another key component of our strategy going forward, is providing the best golf courses for our players to play on, the best golf experiences and to increase the prize funds."
