Keith Pelley has turned the golf world on its head

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When Keith Pelley stepped down as president of Rogers Media last year to become head of golf's European Tour, it seemed like an unusual career move.

After all, Pelley had built his career around North American sports like hockey, football and baseball. Golf was something he did for fun.

But in barely a year as chief executive officer of the European Tour, he has turned the staid world of golf on its head. He has introduced new events such as a "Beat the Pro" shot contest, a six-hole playoff and a bid to get into Guinness World Records for playing the fastest hole. He has even let players wear shorts.

And there's much more to come, including a shot clock, loud music and microphones on players during tournaments. In fact, Pelley has a whole team of people working diligently on new ideas, hoping to do for golf what Twenty20 has done for cricket and Rugby7's for rugby.

He speaks with almost religious zeal about making the game more accessible, barely stopping to take a breath during an interview in his office at the European Tour headquarters, located in a converted house adjacent to the exclusive Wentworth Club outside London. He had just returned from Italy, where he met with a group of 60 players to talk about his plans and bring them around to his way of thinking.

"To hear them talk about how we're an entertainment content company with golf as our platform means they are starting to understand. Because that's what I believe," he said, leaning forward for emphasis. "I believe that if we take that adage and we take that approach, then we'll be able to do some great things."

Then he rhymed off a list of statistics to demonstrate how much room golf has to grow in Europe, where there are only about eight million players, compared with 32 million in the United States.

"I say to the players constantly, I do believe that it's part of our mission to grow the game, to showcase the game and to change the game and to adapt it to the modern world which is completely different," he said. "I believe we need to move into being an entertainment content company where golf is your platform and the players are the stars, as opposed to looking at us as a traditional golf business."

This isn't an easy time for the European Tour, which is often seen as playing second fiddle to the PGA Tour. It has struggled for years to keep players from leaving for the United States, where the prize money is higher and the television exposure better. At this year's BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, the tour's flagship event, only one top-20 player took part – Danny Willett. Missing were European stars Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey.

Like golf everywhere, the tour has also suffered from a steady decline in participation over the years and it is still recovering from the financial crisis that hit the game harder in Europe than in the United States. Throw in a history of lacklustre corporate sponsorship and it's no wonder that the tour's board turned to someone like Pelley, with his years of experience in the sports entertainment world.

Pelley knows that he has to make the European Tour a viable option for top players and it won't be easy. Most PGA Tour events award at least $7-million (U.S.) in prize money, far more than the typical European tournament.

To compensate, Pelley wants to hold a series of premier events with prize money comparable to the PGA and he has eased some of the eligibility requirements to make it easier for players to play on the European tour and in the United States.

He is also revamping the tour's digital offerings and overhauling how it attracts corporate sponsorships, something the organization has not been good at. "One of the advantages that golf has, that we've never actually marketed, is that you can play with the players," he said, referring to pro-am events. "And we've created the honorary observer package, which allows people and corporate partners to walk inside the ropes, so you are walking with the players."

But Pelley said his biggest challenge is broadening golf's reach to a new generation, one that has generally found the game too expensive, too slow and too difficult. And that's where the shot clock, music and microphones come in.

"It's all about exposing golf to a different demographic and showcasing our game by little snippets of a fast-paced, different type of coverage," he said.

"There will always be the traditional 72-hole tournaments and you will always have to respect the integrity and the tradition of the game. But at the same time if you are not prepared to be innovative at this point, you are going to fall behind."

Many changes are already under way and some have raised eyebrows among golf purists.

During the recent KLM Open in the Netherlands, amateur players got a chance to hit a shot on a par-three hole alongside the professionals, with prizes to those who "Beat the Pro" and got closest to the pin.

In April, a group of European Tour players from Spain, France and Denmark competed to break the record for playing the fastest par-five hole. The four-member French team won, playing the hole in just 34.8 seconds.

And the tour is launching an event in Australia next year called the World Super 6 Perth. Players will play the first 54 holes in the traditional stroke play format before the field is cut to 24. They will participate in a six-hole, match play, knockout event, with ties settled by a nearest-to-the-pin contest.

There's more to come, including shootout contests, putting competitions and a six-hole game that will be held at the start of some tournaments.

Pelley is looking out even further, to 10 or 15 years from now, when he sees a world without 18-hole golf courses and dominated by places like Topgolf – hyped-up driving ranges with restaurants and bars where golf balls are whacked at targets.

"I believe that if you were to build a golf course right now, if anybody was to build a golf course right now, they'd build it six, six and six, with a clubhouse in the middle," he said.

"I see a time when in the morning prior to work you play six holes really, really quickly, you play it in an hour … or after work you play six holes in the evening."

One thing Pelley has ruled out is merging with the PGA Tour. There has been discussion about bringing golf's two biggest tours under one umbrella and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has talked about creating one global association for all of men's and women's pro golf. There is some merit to the idea. Right now, the PGA Tour and European Tour compete with each other and several other professional associations such as those in Australia, South Korea, Japan, South Africa and China.

"Do I think [a merger] will happen? It could happen over time, but that's not our focus right now. I believe that we are golf's global tour," Pelley said, noting that the European Tour holds 47 tournaments in 27 countries and has partnerships with many other tours.

He is also working on deals in China, including an event with Wentworth's owners, a Chinese conglomerate called Reignwood that runs a course in China.

While he tries to revolutionize golf, Pelley keeps tabs on the sports scene in Canada. He follows the fortunes of the Toronto Blue Jays and chats with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. And he remains convinced about the merits of the 12-year, $5.2-billion (Canadian) deal he negotiated at Rogers for the NHL broadcast rights. "I think it's a great deal," he said. "I think they would do it again, absolutely, absolutely."

He's still adjusting to life in Britain – the driving, the weather, the pressure to pick a soccer team to follow. And he's learning French so he can be bilingual for the 2018 Ryder Cup. Part of him also still marvels that he's even here, running one of the biggest organizations in the game he loves.

"This is a lot of fun," he said with a wide smile. "A lot of work, but it's a lot of fun."