Each year, KPMG presents a special Lifetime Achievement Award at the Golf Business Forum, in recognition of outstanding achievement and leadership in both the game and business of golf.
In recent years the Forum bestowed the Award on golfing greats including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Greg Norman, as well as visionary business leaders Dr. David Chu, Ken Schofield and Dana Garmany.
This year George O’Grady CBE, Chief Executive of The European Tour, and Tim Finchem, PGA TOUR Commissioner, have been announced as joint recipients of the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award.
George O’Grady; Chief Executive of The European Tour
A former Investment Analyst in the City of London, George O’Grady joined The European Tour in 1974 becoming a Tournament Director and Staging Director for The Ryder Cup in 1981, 1985 and 1989.
In 1984 O’Grady launched the Tour’s commercial arm, European Tour Enterprises and, together with Ken Schofield, established The European Seniors Tour. He was central to the Tour’s non-network TV policy, which ultimately led to the creation of European Tour Productions, a joint venture with Trans World International (TWI), to take control of the production and broadcasting of tournaments. It proved to be one of the most important commercial and sports marketing innovations in the Tour’s history.
Having been appointed Executive Director of the European Tour in January 2005, George O’Grady’s job title changed to Chief Executive in January 2007 to reflect his continued concentration on the business development of The European Tour.
Tim Finchem; PGA TOUR Commissioner
A lawyer by profession, Tim Finchem served in the White House as Deputy Advisor to The President in the Office of Economic Affairs, 1978-9, before co-founding the National Strategies and Marketing Group in WashingtonDC.
He joined the PGA TOUR in 1987 as Vice-President of Business Affairs, succeeding Deane Beman as Commissioner in June 1994. Since then, Finchem has significantly expanded the earnings opportunities for PGA TOUR players domestically and internationally.
Finchem has also been instrumental in the formation of the International Federation of PGA Tours and the World Golf Foundation. His personal dedication to the success of the World Golf Foundation’s The First Tee initiative has meant that, in little over a decade, The First Tee has grown to include more than 200 chapters, reaching more than 6.5 million young people.
The 10th anniversary Golf Business Forum will be staged at the Fairmont St Andrews, 3-5 June 2013.