DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The European Tour is reducing the number of tournaments needed for players to maintain their membership from 13, a move designed to help those playing a full season on the U.S. PGA Tour.
European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said Tuesday the move follows "significant dialogue with all of our players" and that the five tournaments will exclude the four majors and the four World Golf Championships.
The mandatory 13 starts was becoming difficult to achieve for players who had fallen outside the top-50 of the world ranking, thus making them ineligible for some of the majors and WGC events.