George O’Grady
and fog. Instead, a week which had hovered
on the brink of meteorological disaster turned
into one more triumph as the skies cleared and
Europe came out on top.
No less than some of his top golfers, O’Grady
is enviably calm and in control. For example,
where others at his level will often have scant
patience with the media, he mostly opts for the
considered response over the defensive snap.
Again, his sense of balance is everywhere apparent, with specific reference to the time and
attention he gives to his wife, Barbara, who is
suffering from multiple sclerosis.
Proud though he is of the players under his
umbrella, this 61-year-old father of two has
good reason to be quietly satisfied with his own
achievements. Back in 1984, he launched the
development of the Tour’s commercial arm with
the formation of European Tour Enterprises.
Two years later, he was responsible for the
founding of the Tour’s Benevolent Trust.
He combined with Ken Schofield, from whom
he took over as CEO of the Tour in 2005, in starting the European Senior Tour and further paved
the way for the hugely successful European
Tour Productions, the Tour’s television arm. Still
more impressive, he did as few had anticipated
in steering the Tour virtually unscathed through
the credit crunch.
Born in Singapore, O’Grady is a 15-handi-
cap golfer who, in the days when he had rather
more time on his hands, was down to six. He is
a member of Sunningdale, Royal Lytham and St.
Annes and the R&A, while he is also an honor-
ary member of Wentworth, where the European
Tour headquarters is based.
early predictions was the suggestion that
the Race to Dubai would attract players
from other Tours. I know that Camilo Vil-
legas took up an affiliate membership with
the European Tour in the first year and that
Phil Mickelson came close to signing along
the dotted line, but interest from outsiders
“It struck me, then, that if anyone had been looking down at the match
(Ryder Cup) from Mars and seen four people sitting out on the first morning
when none among them had hit a ball, they would have thought it ridiculous.”
— George O’Grady
q&a
In the wake of a year in which things could
not have gone more right, European Tour chief
executive George O’Grady (CBE) was nothing
if not relaxed for his recent interview with the
Post’s Scotland-based senior correspondent
Lewine Mair. Ian Poulter, Ernie Els and Francesco Molinari from among his flock had won
a WGC event apiece; Graeme McDowell, Louis
Oosthuizen and Martin Kaymer had annexed
three of the season’s four majors; and Lee
Westwood had overtaken Tiger Woods at the
top of the world rankings.
Things might have taken on a different slant
had the Ryder Cup Monday been lost amid rain
course, we can’t expect our players to win
three majors and three WGC events every
year, not to mention a Ryder Cup. But there
are different kinds of success. Rightly or
wrongly, I suspect that this could be a good
year for youth. We have some great young
players, starting with Rory McIlroy and Matteo Manassero. I’m still shaking my head
in disbelief at how mature Matteo is for his
age. I love his attitude. When he was the
2009 Amateur champion, I heard him taking
part in an Olympics presentation in Copenhagen and I couldn’t believe how wise he
was for a 16-year-old. Last year, of course,
he turned professional and won the Castello
Masters and Rookie of the Year honours. It
was a sensational start to his career.
would seem to have waned. Presumably, the
fact that you have increased the number of
tournaments it takes to be a Tour member
(the figure has been raised from 12 to 13)
has contributed to this state of affairs.
GO A number of players from other tours have
considered joining up for the Race to Dubai
at different times but, first and foremost,
nothing matters more than that you hang on
to your own players and keep them happy. It
was a committee decision to raise the total
from 12 to 13, and, personally, I don’t think
it is asking too much. There are players
who have complied with the minimum 15
in America and managed to compete in 13
events and more at home.
POST The season ended in the Middle East, with
Robert Karlsson winning the Dubai World
Championship and Martin Kaymer at the
head of the Race to Dubai. The only thing
which hasn’t come to pass from among the
POST The 2011 schedule is heavily peppered with
tournaments in Portugal and Spain. Is that
due to these countries trying to heighten
their chances of hosting the 2018 Ryder
Cup? If that is the case, do you expect a
lessening of interest from one or the A
