O'Grady bullish on Tour future

Outgoing European Tour chief executive George O'Grady says he is confident the organisation can continue to thrive after his departure.

The 65-year-old has announced his plans to stand down from a role he was occupied since 2005, at a time of fierce competition for the sport's top players and sponsors from the PGA and Asian Tours.

"We are in a very, very strong position now and it's why I have the confidence to slightly move aside," he told Sky Sports News HQ.

"We have long-term agreements with Sky and channels in the United States and long, strong contracts in place with our sponsors. We're taking bids for the 2022 Ryder Cup and we're in a really good position."

O'Grady, who replaced Ken Schofield at the helm in January 2005, has spent more than 40 years working in professional golf and wants to ensure a smooth transition to his successor.

"These things have to be planned through: I'm not going to step down tomorrow, it's going to take some time to find my successor and bed them in," he said.

Politicians

"The world of golf is a relationship business, with the tours, the sponsors, the venues, the politicians and so on and this is about a two-year journey to leave the Tour in really strong hands when they finally show me the door.

"There's no given timeframe. There's people within the Tour who will be considered for the position but I think we'll go outside the sport too and look at people who will have a different vision for it. 

"When I first got my job here 40 years ago, I was asked what I felt was the key characteristic in a role where you deal with all sorts of people, from prime ministers to volunteers, and I said the one thing was having common sense - and the fact I'm still here might mean I've got a little bit of common sense.

"But it's a science now - you need knowledge of how television works, of how golf works, and the ability to get on with people and build long-term relationships."

The European Tour has had to deal with the continued growth and financial muscle of the PGA Tour in the USA during his tenure.

"Comparisons with the PGA Tour are a bit unfair in a sense - they have riches beyond ours and we've had to go and look for them over the world.

"They have four networks fighting to show the golf and a 24-hour golf channel, but Sky and other broadcasters have been tremendous partners for the European Tour."

One of the key legacies of O'Grady's time at the helm is likely to be the part he played in getting golf back into the Olympic Games.

"The role I played was to bring people together and get behind the idea of getting golf into the Olympics," he said.

"It represents the chance to inspire a generation of children to take up the game â€" that’s what the Olympics will do."