Top Golf Newsmakers of 2022: No. 16 Keith Pelley
Who He Is: DP World Tour CEO
SI Golf Rank: 14 (Bob Harig), 16 (Alex Miceli), 16 (Jeff Ritter)
Why He's Here: The PGA European Tour commish tried to get ahead of the threat from a rival golf league in 2021 by launching a strategic partnership with the PGA Tour. That arrangement figured to fend off any would-be challengers and set up the DP World Tour and PGA Tour for a mostly uneventful year, assuming everything went according to plan.
(Cue ominous narrator voice.) It didn’t go according to plan.
As we all know, early in 2022 LIV Golf announced its plan to launch in the summer and in the run-up to its London debut, LIV raided the PGA Tour and DP World Tour for players to fill its roster. And so began the fight for the future of pro golf. The ugliness only accelerated during the summer, and court battles also began in earnest.
Other Top Newsmakers: No. 17 Judge Beth Labson Freeman | No. 18 Max Homa | No. 19 Rose Zhang | No. 20 Henrik Stenson
Pelley was newsworthy not only for fronting a major tour in turmoil, but for the unique challenges he faced and decisions he made along the way. At one point last summer, the golf world’s eyes turned to the bespectacled commissioner when he had to decide whether to allow LIV Golf defectors back into DP World Tour tournaments. In early July, Pelley banned LIV golfers from competing in the Scottish Open, which was co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour. So, Pelley in that instance followed the precedent of his partner-commissioner Jay Monahan.
“Every action anyone takes in life comes with a consequence and it is no different in professional sport, especially if a person chooses to break the rules. That is what has occurred here with several of our members,” Pelley said.
Pelley attempted to fine and suspend LIV players from his tour for failing to receive proper clearance from the DP World Tour before joining LIV, just as Monahan did at the PGA Tour. But a court ruled that players who were DP World Tour-eligible could continue to play and accumulate Ryder Cup points until another hearing early in 2023.
And so in September 15 LIV members who had DP World Tour status competed in the tour’s flagship event at Wentworth, while Pelley required those players to avoid wearing any LIV caps and shirts. They also did not play in the pro-am or appear in a featured group.
In November, Pelley landed in the headlines one more time by following the PGA Tour’s lead in providing a guaranteed minimum salary for players on his tour—each eligible player will receive a $150,000 safety net.
2023 Outlook: The DP World Tour and PGA Tour have circled the wagons to drum up cash to keep its membership happy and prevent further defections. The biggest news should arrive early in the year: a five-day hearing is currently set for February, where LIV and the DP World Tour will make their respective cases on the legality of Pelley suspending and fining LIV golfers for leaving his tour without receiving proper clearance. Will LIV golfers continue to play on the Pelley’s tour throughout 2023? We could find out before the winter ice thaws in the U.K.