European Tour hopes to build on Fleetwood-Molinari link

Playing to the cameras before the opening round, the men teased each other about their new fame, while Molinari said: "I would not can talk to him and give him a cold shoulder and see how he accepts it. "

It was a joke that played a long friendship that was older than their recent success. The wife and manager of Fleetwood, Claire Fleetwood, managed Molinari, and during their Ryder Cup campaign Tommy Fleetwood described Molinari as "one of my best friends, not just on tour, but in life."

As the During the event in Dubai, Homer cooperates with the tournament supporters, the shipping company DP World, at a promotion event around Moliwood and the property of the sponsor of the ship Queen Elizabeth II.

Whatever form, the foamy marketing stunts have a serious intention. Ever since Keith Pelley, a Canadian media manager, became Chief Executive of the European Tour in 2015, the organization has withdrawn from the social media era.

When the organizers talk about the outlets of a tour historically financially and culturally secondary to the dominant PGA Tour, they will just as likely appeal to the character and social diversity of its worldwide locations and players because they are the credibility of their competitors. The popular success of Fleetwood and Molinari represents a rare crossroads of both.

And in a golf world where the PGA Tour represents the gold standard, Pelley and Homer know those legitimate claims for the viability of the European Tour as a standard. only circuit needs long-term performance from its elite competitors. "It starts on course," Homer said.

Historically it was a difficult sale. Despite the enormously improved prize money that the Rolex series has given to major events in the European Tour, European top players still plan their seasons around the PGA Tour. Players have complained about the travel series of trying to reconcile PGA and European Tour commitments, and Rory McIlroy suggested last year that a world tour could be made by letting the PGA Tour buy the European Tour.