Thomas Bjørn has been appointed to the Board of the European Tour as a non-executive director.
The 49-year-old Dane, who was nominated to the position by the Tour’s Tournament Committee, will bring ‘important current player perspective’ to the Board, with 2020 being Bjørn’s 25th consecutive season as a Tour professional, having made his first appearance in 1996.
During that time he also served as chairman of the Tournament Committee for a decade from 2007-2016, before stepping aside to concentrate on the build-up to his Ryder Cup captaincy triumph in France.
A staunch supporter of European golf and the European Tour throughout his career, Bjørn’s time as Tournament Committee chairman coincided with some of the most significant changes to the European Tour in its 48-year history.
The first one came in 2009 with the instigation of the Race to Dubai, a year-long campaign which replaced the old Order of Merit and which crowned Europe’s leading golfer at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
Following that, together with chairman David Williams, who took up the post in 2014, and chief executive Keith Pelley, who was appointed a year later, Bjørn and the Tournament Committee oversaw the establishment of the Rolex Series, the premium event category on the European Tour’s international schedule.
Speaking of his appointment, Bjørn said: “I am delighted and honoured to be invited to join the Board of the European Tour. I have lived and breathed the European Tour for the past 25 years and, in that time, I have always strived to do the best I could to progress both the Tour itself and its membership. The same will be the case on the Board, and I am looking forward to getting to work as soon as possible.”
Chairman David Williams said: “I’m delighted to welcome Thomas to our European Tour Board. His stellar golfing career is well documented, including his 2018 experience as a winning Ryder Cup captain. He has always had our members’ interests at heart, and he will continue to do so on our Board.”