DP World Tour CEO Keith Perry has announced his resignation.
The Canadian, who has held the role since 2015, guided the DP World Tour through a strategic partnership with the PGA Tour. He has also been involved in discussions between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) to sell the naming rights to the circuit formerly known as the European Tour.
During his tenure, the DP World Tour effectively became a feeder tour to the PGA Tour, and this will be more true than ever in 2024. A player who finishes in the top 10 in the final Race to Dubai standings in 2023 (barring exceptions) has earned his PGA Tour card for the 2024 season.
Ryder Cup-scorned Adrian Melonke, New Zealander Ryan Fox and Scotsman Robert McIntyre are three of the 10 players to play on the PGA Tour this season and are part of the DP World Tour's talent pool. will be taken away.
Nevertheless, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the parent company that owns teams such as the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors, hired Perry as its new CEO. Therefore, Perry plans to leave for his native Canada in early April.
The move comes hours after R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers announced that the 2024 golf season will be his last in the role.
Before stepping down, Slumbers will oversee this year's R&A Championships, including the 152nd British Open at Royal Troon in July.
In any event, Perry and the Slumbers resigned amid ongoing negotiations between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour with Saudi Arabia's PIF.
The three organizations are working toward a deal to reunite professional golf, which could include creating a new world order for the world's best players. It remains to be seen what that will look like, but Rory McIlroy has revealed his “dream scenario” for what golf will look like in the near future.
In addition to that, Slumbers has been a strong proponent of golf ball rollback, which limits distance for both amateurs and professionals. The rollback has been controversial, but the Slumbers and USGA CEO Mike Wang insist it is a necessary step.
Still, Slumbers, like Perry, has spent a lot of time with PIF President Yasir Al Rumayan. Slumbers and Al Rumayan played a round together at last year's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St. Andrews, and there was certainly some discussion about the future of golf.
Given that both Slumbers and Perry announced their intentions to resign on the same day, many eyebrows were raised in the golf world. Perhaps there is something going on behind the scenes regarding his PIF in Saudi Arabia, or maybe this is just a coincidence.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
