Next Ryder Cup could look a lot different thanks to European Tour's planned changes

When the first driver strikes ball at the 2016 Ryder Cup on Friday, there's a possibility it might herald the end of an era in golf.

On the other hand, if some of the changes planned by the European Tour are part of the next Ryder Cup, dyed-in-the-plus-fours golf traditionalists may see it as the end of civilization.

There's no indication that the 2018 Ryder Cup in France will incorporate any of those changes. But if they work the way the European Tour hopes they might, you never know.

And there's some significant Canadian content to all of this, too. Most of the revolutionary ideas on changing the game have come from Keith Pelley, former head of Rogers Communications, TSN and the Toronto Argonauts, who is now the European Tour's CEO.

“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,” Pelley told the Globe and Mail recently. “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.”

If you're thinking this might include some innovations crazier than John Daly's pants, you wouldn't be wrong.

Here's what Pelley has introduced to change the grand old game.

• A Beat The Pro contest, which allows amateurs to go head-to-head with touring pros on a par-3 contest.

• A six-hole playoff, with a closest-to-the-pin contest if it's still tied.

• A contest to see who can play a hole in the shortest time.

• Players wearing -- gasp! -- shorts instead of long pants.

And don't be surprised to see innovations like players being miked during competition (like curling), a shot clock and the addition of music on the fairways.

The Beat the Pro event took place at the KLM Open earlier this month while in April a team of tour players from France won the fast-play competition by finishing a hole in 34.8 seconds.

Next year, the tour will launch the World Super 6 Perth, which will see a traditional 54 holes followed by a six-hole, match-play knockout finale. Ties will be settled by a closest-to-the-hole contest.

There are no plans announced to include clown's mouths and loop-the-loops on putting greens, but there is more to come. Pelley has said he's looking at shootout contests and putting competitions as part of the Tour.

Reaction has been mixed with the world ``gimmick" showing up regularly. But the world of golf hasn't exactly been open to change, so that's no surprise.

The reason behind all of this is twofold. One is that the European Tour (considered by many as the equivalent of AAA baseball) can use the exposure and publicity. The other is that Europe isn't exactly golf-crazy and souping things up just might attract a new generation of golfers and golf fans.

One thing is for sure. No matter how this all works out, the European Tour is getting plenty of publicity.

(Television coverage of the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., starts at 8:30 a.m. ET on TSN.)