Dubai: Two weeks back, George O’Grady stood down as the chief executive of The European Tour. The 65-year-old, who has been in office since 2005, has been credited with several important decisions for the players and the Tour during his nine-year tenure. Perhaps one of his biggest achievements was to influence the inclusion of golf as one of the Olympic sports at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. During the course of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, O’Grady took time off to come and meet the media and explain the reasons behind him stepping down. Excerpts:
QUESTION: What made you take this decision?
GEORGE O’GRADY: This is a good time to be going onto the next chapter. We’ve just come off the most successfully staged Ryder Cup in its history. And now The Ryder Cup is secure for the immediate future. We know we are going to be in four years’ time in France; they are very committed and the bid process is under way for the other countries who might step up to the plate. It’s certainly the wish of our players and player representatives aboard that we go for an independent chairman skilled in business to shape the Tour, shape the Tour’s board, shape the Tour’s staff so that we are properly fit to face the future.
What is the legacy you are leaving with European Tour at the moment?
The European Tour has weathered the recession and we are quite strong and have money in the bank for the first time in quite some time. We can choose which way we want to go. We are looking at regulations along with all the other tours on what age you can become a Tour member. We don’t have a regulation at the moment. We haven’t had to, and we realise that there are brilliant young golfers are coming out of China, where the Olympic effect is taking effect.
What would your list of achievements read like?
There are so many big TV contracts in America and SKY in the UK and all the other stations around the world are in place now and strong for the next few years. We have big sponsors on our side, with not just this tournament; this is the first of a four-year agreement, with a lot of different companies in Dubai.
We are strong with China; we are strong with BMW; our flagship event is strong, but even more so we are with governments. We have done our utmost to get golf into the Olympic Games. Another thing we leave is the relationship with governing bodies, the R&A, USGA, Augusta National, the PGA Tour and The PGA of America, have never been stronger.
I could recite how many players are in all the Majors now, last year, as opposed to 2004. It’s a very significant growth curve which shows the impact of European Tour professionals and their strength on the world stage and how they got there with the bodies in each country helping.
Just wondering what kind of advice you got from your predecessor before you took the job, and if you were to leave a note on your desk for your successor, what might you say to him or her?
I’m not a great one on self praise as it is no praise. I enjoyed an individual relationship with Ken Schofield [Executive Director, The European Tour from 1975 to 2004], and as one big sponsor said, you can take one of us on, but the two of us together were quite hard. But I think if you look at Ken Schofield’s remarks about me, which he gave live on the Golf Channel, and which has gone through on the Morning Drive programme in the United States, he reckons the single biggest thing I brought to the job is integrity.
And if you’re going to have relationships around the world, your word must be your bond. And if you are a voice for so many people, and you do the work we have, you must have compassion. I don’t compare where I’m clever enough or not clever enough, I’d like to be remembered for integrity and compassion.
