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The Saudi International, which initially had been one more link in the bet that Arabia is making to promote itself through major sporting events (Paris-Dakar, Spanish Super Cup or Formula 1), has become in just three years a geopolitical conflict with unforeseeable consequences. Having the best golfers in the world in his test (for now the winners are dominated by the former number one in the world, Dustin Johnson, and US Open winner Graeme McDowell) has given its organizers a media exposure they didn’t expect and has made them look beyond their exhibition week.
This commitment to green sport is serving them to offer an image of openness in political and social aspects, especially with their support for women’s golf.
In addition to the men’s tournament, last season they established a women’s tournament and, more importantly, their own league in different countries. The Aramco Team Series They have been a breath of hope for some professionals who did not have many job options and who, with the unconditional support of their Real home and of a public oil company without budget limits, have been revealed as an excellent form of promotion throughout the world. The Women’s European Tour (LET) extended its calendar by four million-dollar tournaments (this year there will be five) and, thanks to its alliance with the American Tour (LPGA), saw its rosters improve with the appearance of better players. In short, a round operation for all parties.
In addition to improving the public image, another of the objectives pursued with the development of golf in the desert is to create a high-quality tourist destination that attracts fans from all over the world. For it, Twenty courses will be inaugurated on the peninsula in the coming years, which will allow them to compete with those of the other power in the area, Dubai, which has an advantage of three decades in the sector. Sports trips are presented as one of the big businesses of the future.
Now, all these lights began to dim as soon as the petrodollars wanted to break into the men’s competitions as well. And, above all, do it without looking too closely at how power relations were previously established. It is not the same to have a flashy week with which to achieve international repercussion once a year, than wanting to become the top dog in world golf right off the bat. The Saudi investors wanted to create a World League that would attract the main stars, something of great sporting and media interest, but that ultimately would leave the already established circuits orphans of figures. And that, in the case of the PGA Tour, was not something he was willing to put up with. «All ideas are welcome and over time we will have a kind of unified circuit, but it will have to be based on adding and reaching agreements, ”said Pablo Larrazábal, member of the European Tour Players Committee, at the time. «What cannot be is to want to enter here bravely and face the Americans only based on money. The PGA Tour is too powerful to ignore him and he is not a good enemy, “summarized the Catalan.
So, what for women has become a blessing, for men it is being an open war. So, determined to keep growing with or without American consent, the Arabs changed their goals. With those doors closed, and the European ones rebounding (thanks to its strategic alliance and its new Dubai sponsorship of DP World), the Asian Circuit has become his new object of desire.
ten years ahead
This year’s Saudi International is a complete change from the previous three. Due to the rupture of relations mentioned, it will no longer be valid for the European ranking and it will be for the Asian one, a new market on which they will focus in the immediate future. There is a commitment to promote it for the next ten years, with a corrected and increased strategy: its financial endowment grows by a million and a half dollars and they continue betting on the big names. Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen or Paul Casey will attract all eyes on February 3. In addition, the Asian Tour will also benefit from its new business partner and has hired Greg Norman as CEO. This indicates that things are not going to end here, since the legendary Australian already wanted to create a World Tour in the 1980s and now, with unlimited financial support, he will finally see his dream come true.
All this has led to a series of movements in which positions are increasingly defined. On the one hand, the European Tour has just reinforced its agreements with the South African and the Australasian, so, together with the American, it breathes easy by not giving up power on those flanks. On the other hand, Asia will try to recover its natural markets from China, Indonesia o Malaysia that I had long since lost. The world golf board, more interesting than ever.
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