Keith Pelley showed fun side by wearing Celtic and Rangers tops on same day on Scottish Open course

On the first green in a game that was arranged by him in the build up to the first Genesis Scottish Open at the East Lothian venue in 2019, Pelley was sizing up a birdie putt when he suddenly plucked a piece of paper out of his back pocket. “What one would you recommend?” he said in Warren’s direction of it being a page from a golf magazine on the World Cup winner’s top putting tips.

Apart from the fact I felt totally out of my depth as far as the golf was concerned as Pelley can play and the success enjoyed by both Gallacher and Warren speaks for itself, it was one of the most enjoyable days I’ve ever had on a golf course and I have been recalling it as Pelley prepares to step down from his role as the DP World Tour chief executive on Friday before returning to his native Canada to take up a dream job as president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd.

Having chatted with him at The Players Championship in Florida a fortnight, it’s clear to see that Pelley is buzzing about a job that will see him oversee the running of the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL), Toronto Raptors (NBA), Toronto Argonauts (Canadian Football League) and Toronto FC (MLS). Oh, and he’ll also be heavily involved in Canada staging some matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. All of that means he’ll be a busy man, but, at the same time, he will be keeping an eye on the golf world because he cares about it and always will.

Make no mistake, Pelley has faced a difficult time during his spell with the Wentworth-based European Tour group, notably so due to a global pandemic, but ask those who actually know what has been going on behind the scenes in golf over the past couple of years and the vast majority will tell you the same thing about the man who has been leading it. “Keith has done a brilliant job,” the aforementioned Gallacher declared earlier in the year after it emerged that Pelley’s reign was coming to an end after eight-and-a-half years, with his deputy, Guy Kinnings, stepping up to replace him.

Lots of players, including the likes of Ewen Ferguson, should be eternally grateful to Pelley for the playing opportunities he was able to provide during that Covid pandemic while his tenure took in two hugely-successful Ryder Cups on European soil in France and Italy, both, of course, producing home wins but being equally memorable for way more than just that and it was down to a Pelley push.

Some, of course, will continue to question why he brought the Saudis to golf’s table and then didn’t do a deal with PIF that could have brought riches to the DP World Tour and Challenge Tour, but it wasn’t as straightforward as many people like to think and Pelley, along with the other members of the executive team, remain confident that a strategic alliance struck with the PGA Tour instead is the best way forward for the European Tour group.

Only time will tell, of course, but, in my book, Pelley deserves praise for his overall leadership and, as that day at The Renaissance Club showed, being a bundle of fun and energy at the same time.