Paul McGinley has been named as an ambassador for the Legends Tour.
He will play in a minimum of six events in the 2024 season, set to include the Swiss Seniors Open, Staysure PGA Seniors Championship, Legends Open de France, Senior Italian Open, Legends Championship Vietnam and the MCB Tour Championship Mauritius.
The Ryder Cup legend played in three editions of the team event before captaining Europe to victory at Gleneagles in 2014.
Speaking about his new role and playing on the Legends Tour, McGinley said: “I do a lot of things in my life now from a business point of view, but the thing I still like to do more than anything is play golf. Even though I am in my mid-fifties now, I still love to play and any opportunity I get, I try to take.
“Last year was a very tough year for my family and I did not play at all, so I am looking forward to getting back on the horse again this year and playing in the years to come. I still love to play, I love to compete, I love the grind of playing professional golf and it’s not just the tournament play and being in competitive situations, it’s the grind away from it – the practice and working towards a goal and sharpening yourself to get ready, so I am looking forward to playing again this year.
“Because I have played so little, I think I have only averaged five or six tournaments a year since I turned 50. It is very hard to get a head of steam up when you are playing against guys who are playing every one of those events in the schedule.
“You cut your teeth as a competitor by playing more and more, I am not having that opportunity as I am kept busy doing other things like TV and corporate. It is hard to prepare myself the way that I could when I was solely a golfer, so that is the challenge that I have.
“Having said that, the Legends Tour event that was on at Rosapenna two years ago, I should have won that – the one that Phillip Price won. If I were playing more, if I were tournament sharp, I would have won that one. So, I haven’t won yet as a 50-something and that is one of my goals moving forwards.”
McGinley was full of praise for the leadership and vision of Ryan Howsam, who has helped turn the over-fifties Tour around as it now goes through a period of sustained growth.
“Ryan Howsam is a very, very successful businessman who loves golf – he’s a very good player himself and he has invested in something that was really struggling,” he said. “Slowly he’s changed it, it has taken a few years to put the people in place that he wanted and he’s turning around what senior golf is. There was a great period and then there was a lull and now it is coming back again.”
Unfortunately, McGinley will not be able to play on home soil in the OFX Irish Legends at Seapoint Golf Links in June due to a prior commitment.
“It’s a real shame,” he said. “I loved hosting this event when it was up at Rosapenna in Donegal. I know it was hugely successful last year and it is such a shame that I cannot do this year. This is a date that was in the diary for two-and-a-half years. It is not just for me where I am making a lot of money – it is for my foundation where I am hosting a group from America who support the foundation very strongly. Unfortunately, it was a clash, but next year I hope to be back and playing.
“When you put the name Irish in front of a golf tournament it is always going to be successful, Irish Opens have always been successful, Irish Legends have been hugely successful – then you throw in links golf on top of that and it is something special.
“I am sure it will be a great success, they had a great winner last year in Peter Baker who went on to have a phenomenal year, maybe the best year anybody has ever had in senior golf from a European point of view. I am sure this will be no different this year with another strong field.”
McGinley has played a big part in helping shape the future of European golf, and he is convinced that golf on this side of the Atlantic is in a good place.
“The DP World Tour is in great shape, better than it has ever been before,” he said. “The strategic alliance with the PGA Tour, which I was involved in carving out, is great for the long-term future of the DP World Tour with a realistic deal based on where the world is and where golf is, how players want to migrate to America. It also provides some great opportunities and great events for the other guys who are not going to go to America to play and sustain themselves on the DP World Tour.
“Then we have our lead events when the PGA Tour has finished in September, October – so I think the DP World Tour is in a very, very strong place. We have a guarantee and an underpin from the PGA Tour to keep record prize funds going forward for the next 12 years after this.
“That success has bled into the Challenge Tour and now into the Legends Tour. We should all benefit because the reason the DP World Tour is in the successful place that it is and why it could lever itself to get such a great deal with the PGA Tour is because of guys like Ian Woosnam, Darren Clarke, Paul Lawrie, myself and Thomas Björn and all the people who played the Tour and represented the Tour, played in Ryder Cup’s and raised the value of the Ryder Cup to a new level.
“We by right should benefit from the deal with the PGA Tour, not just the present guys – that money should also filter into the Legends Tour as well as the Challenge Tour.
“It’s an opportunity to spread the love and a lot of guys who are on the Legends Tour now were responsible for the growth and success that the Ryder Cup and DP World Tour has had in the last 20 years.”
The Legends Tour 2024 schedule starts in May and features 20 tournaments across four continents with a prize fund of more than €18 million.
