GOLF: PGA TOUR CHANGES THREATEN GLOBAL ABYSS

24 AUGUST, 2022 - SHANK MEDIA, BY MATT HOOPER: AND THERE WE HAVE IT, THE NEXT STEP ON THE ROAD TO ABSOLUTE POWER IN THE SPORT OF GOLF. REMEMBER THAT WORD - GOLF - BECAUSE THE FOLKS IN PONTE VEDRA BEACH SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN IT, THEY THINK THAT THE SPORT IS ALL ABOUT THEM AND THEIR AMBITIONS. TODAY THE COMMISSIONER OF THE PGA TOUR, JAY MONAHAN, ANNOUNCED THE FOLLOWING SWEEPING CHANGES TO THE PGA TOUR, WHICH WILL BEGIN IN THE 2023 SEASON AND EXPAND IN 2024:

1. Top players will commit to at least a 20-event PGA TOUR schedule (assuming they qualify), which includes:
    A. 12 Elevated Events
        1. FedExCup Playoffs
            A. FedEx St. Jude Championship – $20 million
            B. BMW Championship – $20 million
            C. TOUR Championship/FedExCup Bonus Pool – $75 million
        2. The Genesis Invitational – $20 million
        3. Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard – $20 million
        4. the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday – $20 million
        5. WGC-Dell Match Play Championship – $20 million
        6. Sentry Tournament of Champions – $15 million
        7. To be announced: four additional Elevated Events – purses of at least $20 million each
    B. THE PLAYERS Championship – $25 million
    C. The Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, The Open Championship
    D. 3 Additional FedExCup events (of the player’s choosing)

2. For the 2022-23 season, a “top player” will be defined as:
    A. Players who finish in the top 20 under the current Player Impact Program AND players who finish in the top 20 under the revised PIP criteria

3. Expansion of the Player Impact Program
    A. Reward 20 players a total (up from 10) for 2022 and 2023
    B. Total bonus pool of $100 million (previously announced as $50 million) in 2022 and 2023
    C. For 2022, any player on the revised criteria list who is not on the current criteria list will receive a payout equal to 20th position (most likely two or three players)
    D. Players will receive their PIP bonus at the end of the season after competing in the 12 Elevated Events and three non-elevated events, as outlined above

4. Launch of “Earnings Assurance Program”
    A. For fully exempt members (Korn Ferry Tour category and above)
    B. Guaranteed league minimum of $500,000 per player (TOUR funds any gaps in earnings)
    C. Rookies and returning members will receive money up front
    D. Must participate in 15 events
    E. Replaces “Play15” Program

5. Travel Stipend Program
    A. For non-exempt members (126-150 category and below)
    B. Receive $5,000 for every missed cut
    C. Subsidizes travel and tournament-related expenses
    D. Does not impact tournament purses

JAY MONAHAN SAID: “Our top players are firmly behind the TOUR, helping us deliver an unmatched product to our fans, who will be all but guaranteed to see the best players competing against each other in 20 events or more throughout the season"

THIS MEANS THE BEST GOLFERS IN THE WORLD WILL PLAY 20 EVENTS WHICH COUNT FOR THE PGA TOUR BETWEEN JANUARY AND AUGUST, A CHANGE WHICH HAVE FAR REACHING CONSEQUENCES FOR GOLF OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES, YES JAY, IT EXISTS. THESE ARE THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING EVENTS PLAYED BY EACH OF THE WORLD'S TOP 10 PLAYERS OVER THE LAST FOUR YEARS:

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER - 25

CAMERON SMITH - 20

RORY MCILROY - 21

PATRICK CANTLAY - 18

XANDER SCHAUFFELE - 21

JON RAHM - 21

JUSTIN THOMAS - 21

COLLIN MORIKAWA - 20

WILL ZALATORIS - 20

MATT FITZPATRICK - 23

AS YOU CAN SEE THERE AREN'T MANY ADDITIONAL EVENTS SPARE FOR THESE PLAYERS TO COMMIT TO WHEN THEY ARE PLAYING THESE AVERAGE NUMBERS PER YEAR, AND WEDNESDAY'S ANNOUNCEMENT DOESN'T MENTION THE PROPOSED 3-TOURNAMENT INTERNATIONAL SERIES THE PGA TOUR WAS SCHEDULED TO LAUNCH IN 2024. IF THESE CHANGES GO AHEAD UNCHALLENGED BY THE DP WORLD TOUR, AND THE 3-TOURNAMENT INTERNATIONAL SERIES IS IMPLEMENTED THEN WE ARE SURELY WITNESSING THE TRANSITION OF THE DP WORLD TOUR FROM THE WORLD'S GLOBAL TOUR INTO A THIRD TIER FEEDER TOUR FOR THE PGA TOUR'S SECONDARY CIRCUIT - THE KORN FERRY TOUR.

IF A PLAYER IS PLAYING 20 EVENTS ON THE PGA TOUR FROM JANUARY TO AUGUST THEN THE DP WORLD TOUR, AND EVERY OTHER TOUR AROUND THE WORLD HAS A BIG PROBLEM. RORY MCILROY SO FAR THIS SEASON HAS PLAYED 16 EVENTS, WHICH INCLUDES THE ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSHIP AND THE SLYNC.IO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC. THIS MEANS HE HAS SO FAR PLAYED 14 PGA TOUR EVENTS, WITH THE 15TH THIS WEEK AT THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP. ADDING AN ADDITIONAL 5 EVENTS WILL SURELY SEE HIM EITHER NEVER PLAY THE IRISH OPEN OR SCOTTISH OPEN AGAIN, OR HE WILL NOT PLAY IN ABU DHABI AND DUBAI. POTENTIALLY THIS MOVE BY THE PGA TOUR WILL SEE THE END OF THE ROLEX SERIES, AND SURELY PUTS THE EUROPEAN TOUR GROUP'S LONG TERM DEAL WITH DP WORLD UNDER THREAT AS WELL. WHICH COMPANY WOULD WANT TO SPONSOR A TOUR WHICH CANNOT POSSIBLY ATTRACT THE WORLD'S BEST PLAYERS, EVEN FOR A FEW SELECT EVENTS, LET ALONE FOR THE SEASON.

YES, THE DP WORLD TOUR COULD POSSIBLY MOVE ITS EARLY SEASON ROLEX SERIES EVENTS TO THE END OF THE YEAR, CREATING A MIDDLE EAST FINALE TO THE SEASON, BUT HOW WOULD THAT FIT IN WITH THE PROPOSED PGA TOUR INTERNATIONAL SERIES? AND IF PLAYERS ARE PLAYING 20 EVENTS AS A MINIMUM FROM JANUARY TO AUGUST IT IS LIKELY THEY WILL WANT TO HAVE A REST, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ADD IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES AND RYDER CUP OR PRESIDENTS CUP.

SADLY MY FEARS OF WHAT THE PGA TOUR HAS WANTED TO DO FOR MANY YEARS ARE COMING TO FRUITION. PERSONALLY I DO NOT SEE HOW THE DP WORLD TOUR CAN BE VIABLE AS A MAJOR TOUR IN THE FUTURE, AND I BELIEVE THE END GOAL OF THIS "PARTNERSHIP" OR "STRATEGIC ALLIANCE" IS TO SEE SEVERAL KEY DP WORLD TOUR SANCTIONED EVENTS BECOME EMBEDDED INTO THE PGA TOUR'S FEDEX CUP SEASON OR MAKE UP THEIR INTERNATIONAL SERIES. THEN THE DP WORLD TOUR WILL CEASE TO EXIST AS AN ENTITY AND BE DOWNGRADED TO A PGA TOUR CONTROLLED TOUR IN EUROPE - PGA TOUR EUROPE, JUST AS THE PGA TOUR DID WITH THE CANADIAN TOUR AND TOUR DE LAS AMERICAS. THIS IS HOW I SEE GOLF'S PROFESSIONAL LANDSCAPE BEING STRUCTURED BY 2030:

WHAT DOES THE ABOVE GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATE? IT ILLUSTRATES A EUROPEAN TOUR WHICH HAS LESS EVENTS AND MUCH SMALLER PRIZE FUNDS, AND EVENTS WHICH ARE INCAPABLE OF ATTRACTING ANY OF THE WORLD'S TOP 200 GOLFERS. SO NO MORE TOP PLAYERS PLAYING IN SWITZERLAND, SPAIN, FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM, IRELAND OR PORTUGAL, EVER AGAIN. IT MEANS THAT TO HAVE ANY SORT OF CAREER OR CHANCE OF COMPETING IN THE MAJORS PLAYERS WILL HAVE NO CHOICE AT ALL BUT TO MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES. THIS IS A VERY REAL PROPOSITION, WITH THE NEW OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING SYSTEM ALREADY LENDING A HAMMER BLOW TO EVENTS IN EUROPE.

I SERIOUSLY DOUBT THAT THIS LATEST DEVELOPMENT WAS PART OF THE PLAN FOR KEITH PELLEY AND THE TEAM AT WENTWORTH WHEN THEY ENTERED THE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE, AND PERSONALLY I IMPLORE THEM TO EXIT THE PARTNERSHIP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THE DP WORLD TOUR WAS ALWAYS MORE CLOSELY ALIGNED WITH GREG NORMAN'S VISION FOR WORLD GOLF. AND WAS AND STILL IS THE PERFECT PLATFORM FOR IT. SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO MAKE A CONTROVERSIAL DECISION IN THE SHORT TERM TO ACHIEVE YOUR LONG TERM GOALS, JUST AS NEWCASTLE UNITED DID WITH THE SAUDIS AND JUST AS GREG NORMAN HAS WITH LIV GOLF. IF THE EUROPEAN TOUR GROUP DOES NOT WAKE UP TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE VERY MUCH THE JUNIOR PARTNER IN THIS ALLIANCE THEY WILL BE ON THE VERGE OF BEING CONSIGNED TO THE HISTORY OF THE GAME, WHEN THEY COULD BE THE FUTURE IF THEY CHOOSE A DIFFERENT PATH.

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