In five years, I see the European Tour being on a level comparable to that of the PGA Tour. If you go back to the stretch from 2008-2011, the European Tour had finally been able to catch up to its American counterparts. The last two years, however, have been a struggle due to the economic situation in Europe and the number of European players choosing to split time between the European and PGA Tours. Definitely the loss of European events has contributed to players choosing to spend more time on the US Tour. There have been encouraging signs in the Eurozone countries in terms of their economies. Next year, the Tour will be bringing a new event to Denmark and will be returning to the Czech Republic after a two-year absence. Unfortunately, the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles will not be taking place next season due to the impending Ryder Cup, but will be back on the schedule in 2015.
The Tour needs to find ways to have more tournaments in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Only one tournament (outside of The Open Championship) in both England and Ireland is appalling. More tournaments in France and Germany would be ideal. Once Spain's economy recovers, the majority of those six events which were lost will hopefully return to the schedule. Also, Sweden's passion for golf should enable them to gain another event in addition to the Nordea Masters.
Within five years, there will hopefully be a snowball effect:
improved European economy = more European events = bigger-name players remaining in Europe = better fields = better prize funds = European Tour becomes #1 Tour in the world
That's the ideal scenario. Only time will tell if these predictions will come to fruition. One thing is for certain: the Tour will emerge from these rough 2-3 years stronger and more equipped if, in fact, the same thing were to happen again. For now, it's all about riding through the storm and seeing what's on the other side. Greener pastures lie ahead and I, for one, cannot wait.
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