The Winds of Change Are Howling on the PGA Tour. Here's an Assessment
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ORLANDO, Fla. — A few days have now passed since PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s memo to players that spelled out a significant change to the way the Tour will operate in 2024 and beyond.
And it’s going to take longer than that to decipher all the nuance to the plan.
That didn’t keep opinions from flying this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Several of the top players in the game are understandably in favor of the changes that will see 11 "designated events" with most having a $20 million purse, limited fields and potentially no 36-hole cut.
Why wouldn’t they be? If you are a top player, you are in line for guaranteed paydays a minimum of 11 times—if you play them all—plus more if you qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Say what you want about LIV Golf—and many have—but the concept of guaranteed pay is exactly why the rival league exists.
Then there has been some grumbling among the rank-and-file, the loudest so far coming from James Hahn, a former member of the PGA Tour policy board who last year voted against the changes that were enacted this year with designated events.
"We’re not spending money to provide the playing experience for our members; all we’re concerned with is just pushing money to the top players on Tour," Hahn told Golfweek. "That’s where we’re getting a great divide between the elevated events and non-elevated events and the players who play those two different tours."
Hahn also took to Twitter on Sunday to voice his concerns.
There was never going to be complete uniformity on this. What’s great for some is not great for all. Hence, the varying opinions that will undoubtedly persist as the process plays out and the details get sorted. Here is an attempt to break it down.
What We Know
According to Monahan’s memo, there will be 16 events in 2024 considered as designated, including the four major championships and the Players Championship. The remaining 11 are to consist of Sentry Tournament of Champions, the three invitationals: Genesis, Arnold Palmer, Memorial; the three FedEx Cup playoff events (FedEx St. Jude, BMW and Tour Championship); and four to-be-named events.
The biggest change is that those four designated events and the invitationals are likely to see field-size reductions and no 36-hole cut. And to be eligible for the events outside of the playoffs, only the top 50 in FedEx Cup points following this year will be guaranteed a spot.
“Most people are viewing this as an either or, you’re in or you are out," said Webb Simpson, who along with Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Charley Hoffman and Peter Malnati is a player director on the PGA Tour’s policy board. "And I think we’ve provided a way.
"Basically for every designated event, there is a way to play your way in and it’s not just three or four spots. There’s going to be 10 to 15. Everybody wins in this scenario. There’s more money in the designated events and the non-designated events will likely be $9 million plus. It's a better product as a whole.
"I don’t think this is a direct response to LIV. I think it was more how can we make our product better? How can we grow our product? How can we let TV ratings grow?"
So How Is the Product Better?
Getting the top players together more often. That was the goal this year and it has worked so far. The Arnold Palmer Invitational had 44 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, the best of any event since the British Open.
The theory is you want to sell to fans, sponsors and TV that you will have the name guys playing together more often. Max Homa noted that the Tour had become "diluted" because of the spread of star players over so many tournaments. "It's not a good look that the only time you’ll see the best players in the world teeing it up against each other is the Players and the majors," Homa said.
Max Homa supports the PGA Tour's plan to get stars together more often.
Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports
In theory, you’d have those top players together for the 11 designated events, the four major championships and the Players Championship. That’s 16 weeks out of the 34-week schedule from January through August.
There are two potential problems, however.
Monahan’s memo said that would be no requirement to play all of the designated events, as there is this year, with one opt-out. It also said nothing about adding three "non-designated" tournaments, as is required in 2023. This year, the top players are expected to play 20 times, with one opt-out.
Next year it appears it will be 16 times, and that's it. Adding in the three-tournament requirement should be part of this. That’s 19 tournaments. It’s not too much to ask to get a four-month offseason.
Qualifying for the Designated Events
The top 50 in FedEx points this year—those who make it to the BMW Championship—provide the bulk of the fields, which are expected to range from 70 to 80 players. There will also be avenues into those tournaments based on current form.
One way will be through the current FedEx Cup points list. The top 10 players heading into a designated event who are not otherwise exempt will get a start in the designated event.
Another entry point will be the top five players not otherwise eligible who earn the most FedEx Cup points through a "collection" of standard events between designated events. For example, following the Sentry Tournament of Champions this year, there were four standard events—Sony Open, American Express Championship, Farmers Insurance Open and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. A points list for those events only would have determined five players who would have made the WM Phoenix Open field.
Those categories would bring the field size to 65. There would also be a place for any PGA Tour member who is among the top 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Anyone who wins a PGA Tour event during the current year. And four sponsor exemptions restricted to PGA Tour members. (The latter criteria assures that someone like Tiger Woods who might not otherwise be eligible would have no trouble getting into any of these tournaments, including his own at Riviera.)
Those additions should bring the fields to between 70 and 80 players. And so it’s true that there are opportunities for current-year players not already in the designated events to play their way among the elite.
There are differing opinions on whether the Genesis, Arnold Palmer and Memorial will go to no-cut tournaments, but it is expected that their fields at the very least will be reduced from 120 players to the 100-range if there is a cut and to 80 without.
This is causing some angst in some quarters. The LIV Golf model of limited-field, no-cut events was widely panned last year by the PGA Tour, and yet that is exactly what is being added—potentially six more no-cut events than are being played now.
It is true that the PGA Tour has always had no-cut events, which were especially prominent when there were three or four World Golf Championship events per year. (Tiger Woods's record of 142 straight PGA Tour made cuts included 31 tournaments without a cut.)
But in light of the LIV blowback, this seems particularly rich. A top player such as McIlroy could play all of the designated events and never have to worry about making the cut other than at the majors and the Players.
The other side: there would still be 23 tournament weeks during the 34-week season that would have a 36-hole cut. And unlike LIV, a majority of the players will have earned their way into these no-cut events.
"I was slightly disappointed to see the no cuts because I think having a cut is really what golf is kind of built around," said Luke Donald, the European Ryder Cup captain this year. "It’s a true meritocracy. You have to earn your way to the weekend and earn your way to paychecks and all that kind of stuff. When it's a non-cut event, the mindset is different. People react differently to those pressures. I think it’s a big part of our game."
Donald admitted the idea could evolve. “This is their first stab at it," he said. “There’s competition and a new golfing climate."
Better for Non-Designated Events? TBD
Several players have suggested that having smaller fields at the designated events will help the other tournaments. The theory is that the players who are not eligible for the designated events will now have to play more of the other tournaments, thus spreading the wealth around.
Then again, does that really mean marquee players will be left out of the biggest tournaments and having to play the lesser ones?
“The changes for this year and next year have created challenges for us," said Tracy West, the tournament director of the Valspar Championship, which follows the Players Championship next week after four designated events in five weeks and preceding another one, the Match Play. “We’re not sure how the new plan does drive the best players to the non-designated tournaments."
Valspar has commitments from Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Sam Burns. Those players are there, largely, because they are required to add three other non-designated tournaments. Next year, that won’t be the case. Then what?
With the Match Play not returning to Austin, Texas, next year and—apparently—the Houston Open taking its place, it creates some breathing room. “We won’t be an isolated event," West said. “That part of the changes is helpful.
"I think it’s too early to tell what the outcomes are going to be," she said. “I don’t think we know what the full plan is yet. What’s going to be the differential in FedEx points?"
Yep, apparently the designated events will offer more FedEx points, another difference from this year and something to keep an eye on. That, again, leads to complaints that there is too much separation between the top tier and the rest.
"And for us particularly, does the API remain a 120-player field or does it shrink?" West said. "It's obvious the four designated events that are not the legacy events are going to shrink to 70 or 80. For us that does matter. The Valspar can get some of those players from 71 to 144. But API’s field is a big deal to us."
Again, players who don’t qualify might be more apt to add a tournament such as Valspar. But will they be star players?
It’s way early in the year, but as of this moment, here is a sampling of some of the players who are not in the top 50 in FedEx Cup points—thus would be on the outside looking in at designated events next year: Sam Burns, Justin Thomas, Will Zalatoris, Hideki Matsuyama, Shane Lowry, Cam Young, Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick and Jordan Spieth.
There is plenty of time to make up ground, but it’s inevitable that some big names could be left behind.
The Bottom Line
Change at the PGA Tour was inevitable. You can argue that LIV Golf never happens if some of these enhancements had been enacted earlier. A rival tour had been in the weeds for years, and there had been more than enough grumbling that the star players were not being compensated enough.
And yet it’s quite a seismic change. The PGA Tour has always been about the interests of all, not just the elite. It was about playing opportunities and giving money to charity and enhancing the opportunities for all. That has clearly shifted.
"I am a big believer that you can’t cater to everyone," Donald said. "And you need to cater to the better players. That’s what drives the figures and what drives the fans. And for them to get compensated with more opportunities, I think that’s fine."
That doesn’t mean all will be happy. And it doesn’t mean there are not some big issues to be resolved, or at least explained.
The Player Impact Program (PIP) is being reduced from $100 million to $50 million. Will there be some sort of stipulation as there is now to collect all of the bonus?
If there is no requirement to play any of the events, how does the Tour assure sponsors and TV that all of the best will be there? That assurance is solid now—no more than three players can skip a designated event. Will that be in play?
What about the requirement to play three events outside of the designated events? That has greatly helped tournaments such as the American Express, the Farmers and undoubtedly will help others going forward such as next week’s Valspar. It was a good idea, and it would be unfortunate if it were abandoned.
And then there is the 36-hole cut issue. The Tour opens itself to charges of hypocrisy by going so strong down this road. You can’t ridicule LIV Golf for having 14 limited-field, no-cut events and then add potentially add six to your own schedule. Yes, it’s not an entire schedule of no-cut events. But this is likely to be the most scrutinized and criticized element of the entire plan.
The idea that a tournament such as Pebble Beach would change its longtime model of 156 pros and amateurs and cut its field in half is nearly unfathomable.
Again, we probably need to wait to see this all play out. Not everything can be perfect immediately and there is time to make a lot of tweaks.
If nothing else, Monahan’s news conference this week at the Players Championship should be interesting.