Male and female professional golfers may compete in joint events after the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) and ladies equivalent LPGA entered a “long-term strategic alliance”.

Under the terms of the new alliance – which has been formalised in the hope of “promoting the growth of gold” – the leading men’s and women’s golf tours will coordinate schedules, embark on joint-marketing programmes, investigate collective television and digital media representation and explore the “potential development of joint events”.

Many of the European Tour and the Ladies European Tour events will be staged simultaneously in May on the same courses.

LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said the relationship would have the “very real potential of positively impacting our members, our tournaments, and our ability to grow our sport around the world”.

“From our collaboration in bringing golf back as an Olympic sport as joint members of the International Golf Federation to our co-operation in helping grow the game of golf as part of the World Golf Foundation, our two organisations have had a long history of working together for the common good of our sport,” added PGA commissioner Tom Fincham. “Extending our relationship into these new areas is a natural extension of this work.”

However, both bodies have stressed that the agreement “involved no formal financial investment or transfer of ownership or control”.