PGA Tour Plans to Add Eight $20 Million Tournaments by 2023 as Effort Against LIV Golf, Report
The PGA Tour has responded – a number of times and in a variety of ways – to the emerging LIV Golf tournament. Their latest objection to LIV taking away some stars and multiple big winners is a reported plan to add an eight-event schedule to the annual calendar for a total of $160 million. la to grab one of the top 50 players from last season.
According to Golf DigestThe PGA Tour will likely include currently scheduled events with these eight spanning the entire season.
Starting next year, the PGA Tour schedule will include eight events with no field limit, at $20 million each, for the top 50 finishers in last season’s FedEx Cup rankings. Some of those events will be the centerpiece of the season, while others will take place in the fall. Those outside the top 50 will compete in a series of alternative tournaments where they will fight to keep their cards and win better status for the next season.
This structural change will occur with the tour going back one season based on the calendar year, something Golf Digest has reported is under review. The tour moved from a calendar-based schedule to a composite campaign in 2013-14.
The move will effectively create tournaments similar to the World Golf Championship events, which were created two decades ago. There will be twice as many big money events like this as the WGC, and these will be harder to get into as they’re limited to the top 50 from last season’s FedEx Cup.
However, the effect is the same. It’s a direct cash rebuttal to LIV Golf, which is planning double-digit $25 million tournaments next year ($20 million for individuals, $5 million for tournaments). teams).
What’s fascinating is how much money is being swirled around here. The only event on the PGA Tour currently comparable to this purse size is the Players Championship, which distributes $20 million. The biggest championship wallet right now is the US Open, which just pumped up $17.5 million at Brookline.
This is essentially how other sports leagues work. Players get paid during the regular season and then go down in history in the knockouts.
The other interesting part of this development is that there isn’t any obvious push from players for this. Part of the allure of LIV Golf is that golfers can play fewer events with more guaranteed money in the form of a contract. It doesn’t matter where Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau end up at LIV Golf events because they both get paid. This move by the PGA Tour will likely see stars play more tournaments than they’ve played – depending on how many current events are lifted and how many are added during the year – which no funds are guaranteed under the contract.
“I think there’s enough benefit programs for the top players right now, the PIP program, the Comcast Top-10, the FedExCup rewards, all of those things are designed to give the best,” said Rory McIlroy. more money in the pockets of the top players. at the Wells Fargo Championship last month. “You play the best and the ice cream comes out at the top at the end of the year. That’s why the Comcast Top-10, FedExCup bonuses are so high. And then you add PIP to it for the people who make a lot of it. money affects the Tour.”
Now, the top players may have to add to their schedule to build their regular season riches. Part of the reason for this is that the PGA Tour is a 501c(6) organization, which means it is tax free and therefore has to get creative with how it pays its members.
This new eight-tournament tournament in the tournament introduction is part of that tournament and it will help take care of the best players in terms of money, which the PGA Tour believes will likely quell the influx of players. with LIV Golf.
