The Ryder Cup could become the next piece to move in the apparently never-ending game of elite golf’s three-dimensional chess. Multiple sources have confided during the Masters that PGA Tour Enterprises, a commercial body set up almost two years ago, is seriously considering an offer to take part ownership of the United States element of the Ryder Cup. That domain is controlled by the PGA of America, which also runs the US PGA Championship. Any such deal would cost PGA Tour Enterprises hundreds of millions of dollars.
PGA Tour designs on the Ryder Cup are nothing new. Indeed, it has been a longtime frustration of the PGA Tour that the five key elements in the sport – the four majors plus the biennial joust between Europe and the US – are run by other organisations. PGA Tour Enterprises now offers an avenue to do something about that.
