'Ryder Cup venue Marco Simone in Rome to host meeting vital to future of European golf'

The Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome will host the 44th staging of the biennial Ryder Cup in the autumn

While Italy will surely stage some of the year's most iconic golfing moments at September's Ryder Cup, the country this week hosts a meeting vital to the future of European golf.

The DP World Tour's tournament committee gathers on Tuesday, before the Italian Open at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. It faces a packed agenda largely determined by the current volatility of men's professional golf.

With the green light given to the Wentworth-based circuit to allow punishment of players who have moved to the Saudi Arabia-funded breakaway LIV tour, members of the committee have much to ponder.

But there are several other issues that will come under consideration, including the prospect of radical schedule changes and more tournaments being co-sanctioned with the European tour's strategic partners in the United States.

DP World Tour officials say they have been "working round the clock" to establish a new framework. They want to announce their 2024 schedule at July's Genesis Scottish Open - significantly earlier than previous calendar unveilings.

Chief Keith Pelley and fellow executives want committee approval on a number of proposals, among them shifting the tour's big tournament emphasis to the northern hemisphere's autumn months.

They have no choice given the way the PGA Tour calendar of designated events, building to its Tour Championship finale in August, now dominates the global schedule.

Pelley wants to bolster his line up of tournaments from September onwards. This will be when big time golf comes to Europe and the territories that have become traditional heartlands - the Middle East, China and South Africa.

It could mean the prestigious BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth becoming co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour, along the same lines as the Scottish Open.

But there are players on the tournament committee who will need convincing. For the Scottish it works well - the Renaissance Club event attracted 14 of the top 15 golfers in the world last year.

But the Scottish occurs in a prime slot before The Open and those players see it as an ideal tune up for the final major. They play happily in the knowledge that they can simultaneously collect potentially crucial PGA Tour play-off points.

September in Surrey might not carry the same allure for the biggest names. Top Americans will have just completed an exhausting summer with the prospect of either a Presidents or Ryder Cup to come.

Instead of attracting the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth there is a more likely prospect of the Russell Henleys and Brian Harmans taking their chance to cash in on co-sanctioned spoils.

Yes, they are very fine players and would bring reasonable world ranking points to the table, but they are not ticket-selling superstars. Furthermore, they would deny rank and file DP World Tour members places in one of the circuit's most lucrative events.

How does that sit with the objective of being a "members' organisation existing for the benefit of the membership", as Pelley often reminds us? And in the offing there could be more than just Wentworth as an additional co-sanctioned tournament.

It would also be no surprise to see one of the usual traditional early season Middle East events switching to a much later date - Abu Dhabi potentially moving from January to November, the week before the season finale DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Make no mistake, the European tour is up against it. Changes to the world ranking system have made it harder for its players to make significant climbs without playing on the PGA Tour.

It is one of the many reasons why the "pathway" of giving PGA Tour cards to the leading 10, not otherwise exempt, golfers at the end of the continental season is so attractive. Pelley insists this provides a compelling narrative, others see it as a talent drain.

The DP World Tour's diminished rankings status, after recent changes brought in following an independent study of the old Official Golf World Ranking system, will be another topic for the committee to discuss.

"With a new system there is always challenges," Pelley recently told the No Laying Up podcast. "As a result we are looking at some modification level that would help."

Australian Lucas Herbert moved from 59th to 42nd with his recent DP World Tour win in Japan while Pablo Larrazabal moved from 101st to 69th thanks to his victory in Korea last week.

There are currently only 10 Europeans in the top 50 in the world. Of those, all bar one are PGA Tour regulars and the exception is Belgium's Thomas Pieters, who is 49th and competes on the LIV tour.

Rankings are important for player sponsorship deals, especially with manufacturers, with many tied to top-100 status. The world standings are also significant for eligibility into majors.

Pelley will tell the committee that the tour has a "phenomenal" pathway into The Open and "great" access to the US Open. He is lobbying the Masters and US PGA Championship to try to ensure qualification becomes less ranking dependent and, instead, rewards performances on his tour.

There also remains the thorny issue of what to do with the so called 'LIV rebels'. Eighteen players are liable for punishment after Europe won their arbitration hearing last month.

Heavy fines are expected, but there is a belief among tour loyalists that LIV will cover those expenses, leaving those who have gone to the breakaway circuit effectively free of punishment unless they are suspended.

"I will tell you that we are not banning the players," Pelley said in his recent podcast appearance. Now he has to convince the players on his tournament committee.

It promises to be a long meeting, one likely to be as significant as the Ryder Cup between Europe and the US will prove exciting at the same venue come September.