VIRGINIA WATER, England -- The European Tour plans to strengthen ties with the rest of the world in order to rival the PGA Tour in the United States.
The European Tour currently includes tournaments in Australasia, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. But many events have weakened fields because of conflicting tournaments in the United States.
"The idea of amalgamating with other tours to put on a really attractive schedule, by whatever name we call it, is one that we are in the final stages of refining," European Tour executive director George O'Grady said Sunday.
"Certainly it won't be a World Tour -- that's far too grand for me to come up with -- but there might be a name change."
One factor hurting the European Tour is that three of the four majors and all three World Golf Championship tournaments are held in the United States.
Last week's Irish Open attracted only two of the world's top-50 players, mainly because it was moved from March to May this year, just after the Players Championship on the PGA Tour.
"We're the European Tour and we're working with all our partners to make, I would say, a hugely strong alternative to the PGA Tour," O'Grady said.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
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