The Loop
Is European Tour ‘bending over backwards’ to keep Patrick Reed as a member?
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Stories of interest you might have missed…
Is the European Tour tweaking its rules to allow Patrick Reed to retain his membership? James Corrigan of the Telegraph suggests that that might be the case.
“Patrick Reed was the scourge of Europe at the Ryder Cup, so many could find it interesting to watch the European Tour bending over backwards to allow the American match-winner to retain his membership. Some might even believe that Keith Pelley, the Tour’s chief executive, was bending the rules to ensure the world No8 remained on his circuit.
“Reed, together with Rory McIlroy and a few other players, pulled out of the Turkish Airlines Open here because of security fears after a bomb exploded in the Antalya region. But he has played only three ‘regular’ events and, with only two events left, the minimum is five…
“However, even if Reed opts to stay at home in Texas, Pelley is ready to grant a controversial ‘chief executive exemption’. ‘I would, absolutely,’ Pelley said. ‘It would be my decision to keep him as a full member of the European Tour.’”
Professional gambler Billy Walters selling his Vegas golf courses
Billy Walters, a professional gambler and golf fixture in Las Vegas, is ridding himself of his golf properties, including his pending sale of Royal Links Golf Club, noting that “the golf business isn’t what it used to be,” he said in this story by Brian Hurlburt in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“Walters said the golf business hasn’t been kind to him lately. Despite public opinion and media reports he never agreed with about receiving sweetheart deals from local government two decades ago to build Desert Pines and Royal Links, Walters said he lost millions over the life of the projects,” Hurlburt writes.
“He also said he lost money when he recently sold water rights to Discovery Land Company. He had purchased the rights from Las Vegas Country Club in 2009 when he had a hunch that water rights would be a good investment.
“The only Las Vegas golf course now remaining in Walters’ portfolio is Bali Hai Golf Club, and he said it’s for sale or could be redeveloped.”