Tag: Keith Pelley

New complaints in Florida court sue Official World Golf Ranking for allegedly colluding with PGA Tour, DP World Tour, Golf Channel

The complaint further alleges monopolization, attempted monopolization and other unfair trade practices.

Attorney Larry Klayman announced the filing of a Second Amended Class Action Complaint in Palm Beach County’s 15th Judicial Circuit on Monday which alleges antitrust conspiracy to restrain trade and harm golf fans in the state of Florida, as well as “eliminate LIV Golf in its infancy.”

Named in the court filing are the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour Golf Channel and the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).

The OWGR is alleged to be part of a conspiracy to restrain trade in violation of Florida’s antitrust laws because its board contains “the conflicted leadership of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley are both on the OWGR board.

The court filing alleges that consumers “have seen the quality of the product that they are paying for at PGA Tour events be diluted and destroyed by a deterioration of the talent level at PGA Tour events due to the exclusion of many of the top players in the world who have signed to LIV Golf.”

The court filing also claims tickets for the Players Championship in 2023 are 34 percent higher than in 2022, “and some packages for the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida are at least ten percent higher in 2023 than in 2022” and later refers to the increases as “supracompetitive prices.”

The complaint further alleges monopolization, attempted monopolization, group boycotts and other unfair trade practices. The first amended class action complaint to name the OWGR was filed on Nov. 4. The second amended complaint was e-filed Nov. 11. Golfweek confirmed with the 15th Judicial Circuit the second complaint is still pending at the time of this post’s publication. Offices were closed on Nov. 9th and 10th due to Hurricane Nicole and also on Nov. 11th for Veterans Day.

The second amended action “seeks actual and compensatory damages, in an amount to be determined” by a jury.

“Consumers, that is Florida golf fans including me, have as much right as anyone to benefit from a free market, which would allow all golf leagues and independent contractor players to fairly compete,” said Klayman via a release. “But the Defendants have illegally worked hard to prevent this, as the PGA Tour and its co-conspirator Defendants will not tolerate honest and fair competition, as it will challenge their trillion dollar plus monopoly to totally dominate the golf world.”

While representing LIV Golf’s Patrick Reed, Klayman refiled a $750 million defamation lawsuit in late September to add Golf Channel’s Damon Hack, Shane Bacon, as well as Golfweek columnist Eamon Lynch and its parent company, Gannett. Earlier this month, Klayman filed a new $250 million suit against a number of other prominent golf media members and organizations, including author Shane Ryan, Hachette, the New York Post and Fox Sports, as well as Associated Press golf writer Doug Ferguson and the organization for whom he works.

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DP World Tour 2023 schedule announced with boost in overall prize money, new guaranteed minimum earnings for members

The DP World Tour announced its schedule for the 2023 season, featuring a minimum of 39 tournaments in 26 countries.

The DP World Tour announced Thursday its schedule for the 2023 season, featuring a minimum of 39 tournaments in 26 countries and an overall prize fund of $144.2 million.

DP World Tour members will compete for an increased bonus pool of $6 million for the leading eight players on the DP World Tour Rankings. As part of the record total prize fund, the 2023 season will also see the introduction of a new Earnings Assurance Program for DP World Tour members. Exempt players in categories 1-17 will be guaranteed minimum earnings of $150,000 if they compete in 15 or more events. Rookies, Challenge Tour graduates and Qualifying School graduates can take up to $20,000 right away to fund long-haul early season travel. This is an advance against earnings.

Both the record prize fund, increased bonus pool and Earnings Assurance Program have been made possible by the DP World Tour’s operational joint venture partnership with the PGA Tour, which was announced in June.

“For us to be able to offer our members record prize funds and enhanced earning opportunities is massive, particularly when global economies are still feeling the effects of the pandemic and with the new challenge of rising inflation significantly putting pressure on costs in all facets of our business,” said Keith Pelley, the DP World Tour’s chief executive. “Our overall prize fund for the 2023 season represents $50 million more than 2021 and also underlines the strength of our partnership with the PGA Tour, who are working with us to drive revenue and a long-term growth plan.

“One of the many benefits we have been able to introduce because of this partnership is the new Earnings Assurance Program, similar to what they already have on the PGA Tour. I have always believed that it is an incredible accomplishment for any professional golfer to simply gain their playing rights on the DP World Tour and this new initiative recognizes and rewards that achievement. Although we will never lose the magic of the meritocracy and purity of a performance-based structure, this now offers certainty of income to those players who have made it to the pinnacle of the professional game in Europe.”

The first four Rolex Series events of 2023 have received a boost in purse with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Dubai Desert Classic, Genesis Scottish Open and BMW PGA Championship all moving from $8 million in 2022 to $9 million next year, ahead of the $10 million season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

Four new tournaments in Asia are also included on the 2023 schedule, with the Singapore Classic (February 9-12) and Thailand Classic (February 16-19) taking place in consecutive weeks, followed by the Tour’s first trip to Japan for the ISPS Handa Championship (April 20-23) and a return to Korea for the first time since 2013 (April 27-30).

In Europe, there are dates changes for several tournaments, including the Horizon Irish Open moving to Sept. 7-10, while the Italian Open will take place from May 4-7 ahead of venue Marco Simone Golf & Country Club hosting the 2023 Ryder Cup from Sept. 29 – Oct. 1.

There is also a new three-week summer break in the schedule following the 151st Open Championship and Barracuda Championship (both July 20-23) which has been introduced following player feedback. Further details about the fall events will be announced later.

The DP World Tour’s global schedule begins on Nov. 24, 2022 with the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane and the Joburg Open in South Africa. To view the full schedule, click here.

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DP World Tour suspensions temporarily stayed for Ian Poulter, Adrian Otaegui, Justin Harding, which could allow them to play in 2022 Genesis Scottish Open

LIV Series golfers Ian Poulter, Adrian Otaegui and Justin Harding might play in the Genesis Scottish Open after all.

LIV Golf Series golfers Ian Poulter, Adrian Otaegui and Justin Harding just might play in the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open after all.

The three golfers are members of the upstart LIV circuit and subsequently were suspended by the DP World Tour. However, on Monday, DP Tour officials sent an update that read in part: “following a hearing Monday before HHJ Sycamore CBE, appointed by Sport Resolutions (UK), suspensions imposed on Ian Poulter, Adrian Otaegui and Justin Harding have been temporarily stayed, pending determination of their substantive appeals by an Appeal Panel in due course.”

The Scottish Open is being co-sanctioned for the first time by the DP World Tour as well as the PGA Tour, a move that a part of a bigger strategic alliance between the two bodies. Both tours have banned players for joining the LIV circuit.

Keith Pelley, the CEO of the DP World Tour, was participating in the first day of the JP McManus Pro-Am in Ireland on Monday. When reached for comment, he said: “Out of respect for JP and Noreen McManus, their wonderful Pro-Am and the outstanding fundraising they undertake on behalf of charities in the west of Ireland, I will not be giving a detailed response on this matter right now.”

He expressed disappointment in the outcome of the hearing and said his tour will abide by the decision but also noted that “this is only a stay of the sanctions imposed, pending the hearing of the players’ appeal as to whether those sanctions were appropriate.”

Pelley went on to concede that the field for the Scottish Open will be updated, if necessary.

“The make-up of the field for the Genesis Scottish Open will be advised in due course, but based on this decision the field size will increase beyond 156.

“We will make further comment on this in due course, but not during our time at Adare Manor.”

The JP McManus Pro-Am concludes Tuesday at Adare Manor in Limerick, Ireland. The Scottish Open is set to begin Thursday morning.

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Photos: Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Bill Murray, more at 2022 JP McManus Pro-Am at Adare Manor in Limerick, Ireland

The JP McManus Pro-Am is a two-day, 36-hole charitable event which has raised more than $145 million.

The JP McManus Pro-Am is a two-day, 36-hole charitable event which has raised more than $145 million in its previous five stagings.

Adare Manor in Limerick, Ireland, site of the 2027 Ryder Cup, is the setting for the pro-am which features some of the game’s top stares, men and women, as well as leaders of industry, musicians, actors and comedians.

Tiger Woods is there, his first public golf action since the third round of the PGA Championship. Rory McIlroy is there as well. Musician Niall Horan and actor/comedian Bill Murray are in the field. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and DP World Tour Commissioner Keith Pelley are also participating.

The event will be streamed from 9 a.m.-2:30 ET on Peacock on Monday and Tuesday, with coverage replayed at 7 p.m.-12:30 a.m. both days on Golf Channel.

Check out some photos from the event.

War of words continues as DP World Tour’s chief Keith Pelley fires back at LIV Golf players threatening legal action

Fines of 100,000 pounds were handed out to each player, and they are ineligible for three upcoming tournaments.

DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley didn’t take kindly to the threat of potential legal action brought by LIV Golf players against his organization.

On Friday, Pelley responded to a letter he and other board members received earlier this week from 16 players who are playing in the upstart, Saudi Arabia-backed golf league that is disrupting the world order of professional golf.

First reported by The Daily Telegraph, the 16 players threatened legal action against the DP World Tour for punishment administered for joining the upstart rival league. The 16 players, including Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter, were banned from playing in next week’s Genesis Scottish Open, which is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour (the PGA Tour indefinitely suspended members who joined the league). Fines of 100,000 pounds were handed out to each player, and they are ineligible for three upcoming tournaments.

The players received their punishment after the first LIV Golf Invitational Series event was played in London last month. Players who made their debut this week in the second event in Portland, Oregon, will also be punished.

The letter said there would be legal action taken against the DP World Tour if the sanctions are not lifted by today.

Pelley gave his answer in a blistering retort.

“Before joining LIV Golf, players knew there would be consequences if they chose money over competition,” Pelley said in a release. “Many of them at the time understood and accepted that. Indeed, as one player named in the letter said in a media interview earlier this year, ‘If they ban me, they ban me.’ It is not credible that some are now surprised with the actions we have taken.

“The letter claims that these players ‘care deeply’ for the DP World Tour. An analysis of the past participation statistics on our Tour in recent years of several of the leading players named, suggests otherwise. One player in particular named in the note has only played six Rolex Series events in the past five years. Another one, only four. I wish many of them had been as keen to play on our Tour then as they seem to be now, based on the fact they have either resigned their membership of the PGA Tour or, if they are still in membership, have been suspended indefinitely.

“Furthermore, given how deeply these players say they care about the DP World Tour, perhaps some of them could have played in Ireland this week in support of our new title sponsor, in particular one player who gave us a signed commitment to play at Mount Juliet.”

Part of the letter from the 16 LIV Golf players read the intention of said letter is not to further divide us: “Instead of spending our time, energy, financial resources, and focus on appeals, injunctions, and lawsuits, we would implore you, the custodians of the DP World Tour, to reconsider your recent penalties and sanctions, and instead focus our energies on forging a path forward that is better for the DP World Tour members and the game of golf.”

Pelley said the DP World Tour is focusing on the future, which included a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour.

“The DP World Tour is a vibrant, independent and global Tour with increasing and guaranteed prize fund growth over the next five years. We have fantastic tournaments across the year including a host of wonderful national Opens, all played in front of huge crowds, illustrated perfectly by this week’s Horizon Irish Open,” Pelley said. “Finally, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on any potential legal matters. I will simply reiterate that our Members’ Regulations which have been in force for more than 30 years, have been accepted by all the players, are there to protect all of our members, and we will use them to take all necessary steps to protect their interests.

“The sanctions for those members who knowingly broke our rules by playing at the Centurion Club without a release are proportionate, fair and, I believe, considered necessary by the majority of our members.”

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5 things we learned from the Jay Monahan-Keith Pelley press conference about the PGA Tour-DP World Tour ‘joint venture’

The PGA Tour needed to keep an ally in the DP World Tour and prevent LIV Golf from sinking its tentacles in.

The PGA Tour and DP World Tour expanded and strengthened their strategic alliance into an operational joint venture partnership.

“The more our teams have worked together the more one thing became clear: We are better working together than separately,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said.

The PGA Tour badly needed to keep an ally in the DP World Tour and prevent LIV Golf from sinking its tentacles – and deep pockets – into a circuit with a global footprint.

The PGA Tour dipped into its coffers to increase its stakes in European Tour Productions and guaranteed that prize funds will increase over the next five years. It’s a win for Monahan, who added, “The game of golf is rallying. Our members, partners and fans are rallying. Today’s announcement should serve as further evidence that the ecosystem of professional golf continues to innovate and thrive.”

Here are five things we learned from Monahan and Pelley’s press conference on Tuesday:

DP World Tour sanctions LIV pros, including ban from Genesis Scottish Open

“Their actions are not fair to the majority of our membership and undermine the Tour.”

The Genesis Scottish Open will be missing several big names from the field in two weeks.

On Friday, DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley banned golfers who competed in the LIV Golf Series from three tournaments, including the Scottish Open, which is being co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour for the first time as part of a “strategic alliance” between the two circuits.

“Every action anyone takes in life comes with a consequence and it is no different in professional sport, especially if a person chooses to break the rules,” Pelley said. “That is what has occurred here with several of our members.”

The tour announced any players who took part in the inaugural LIV event would be ineligible from competing in the Scottish as well as the Barbasol Championship and Barracuda Championship, which are PGA Tour opposite-field events that are being co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour for the first time. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan previously suspended 17 players who violated Tour rules by competing in the LIV debut event. Pelley also announced that players would be fined 100,000 pounds, or approximately $123,000, and noted that participation in further conflicting tournaments without the required release “may incur further sanctions.”

“Many members I have spoken to in recent weeks expressed the viewpoint that those who have chosen this route have not only disrespected them and our Tour, but also the meritocratic ecosystem of professional golf that has been the bedrock of our game for the past half a century and which will also be the foundation upon which we build the next 50 years,” Pelley said. “Their actions are not fair to the majority of our membership and undermine the Tour, which is why we are taking the action we have announced today.”

Pelley’s announcement was released while several European Tour stars who have defected from the PGA Tour to the Saudi-backed rival league were competing at this week’s BMW International Open, including Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, and South African Louis Oosthuizen. Allowing LIV players to compete there citing different tour regulations from the PGA Tour made it appear that the DP World Tour might be a safe haven for pros banned indefinitely from the PGA Tour to play beyond LIV Golf’s eight events this season. But Pelley has closed that loophole at least for co-sanctioned events with the PGA Tour, for now.

Four-time major winner Brooks Koepka, who signed with LIV Golf this week, had been announced as part of the Scottish Open field, at The Renaissance Club from July 7-10. It has long been a popular warmup for the British Open the following week. The field is expected to include world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, reigning British Open champion Collin Morikawa, reigning PGA champion Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm.

Sky Sports News reported that fines for DP World Tour players are set to double for those playing in each future conflicting event. It also noted that LIV “will not pay the fines, only possible legal fees players incur for appealing the sanctions.”

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Lynch: A standout U.S. Open steels us for turbulent days ahead

The 2022 U.S. Open might be recalled as one of the last majors of “before times.”

BROOKLINE, Mass. — Given the times, there could have been no more fitting venue for the 122nd U.S. Open than The Country Club, one of American golf’s five foundational pillars, associated in perpetuity with a man who did actually grow the game despite never competing for a nickel, and all during these waning weeks of golf as we’ve known it. Appropriate too that the championship was held 10 miles from the site of the Boston Tea Party, when aggrieved merchants rose against an imperial power, though Samuel Adams didn’t require guarantees from a foreign power before signing on to his rebellion.

This Open deserves to be remembered for all the right reasons: the transcendent performance of Matt Fitzpatrick, the magnificent old architecture holding its own against modern power, the enthusiasm of fans in a sports town that had been too long deprived of a major. That’s what it will be remembered for, in time. But it might also be recalled as one of the last majors of “before times,” when the structure of the professional game still resembled what it had been for a half-century or so.

The coming days and weeks threaten a radical upheaval in golf as more players opt for money and comfort over morals and competition, as the PGA and DP World tours scramble to align schedules, purses and priorities to retain the most elite talent, and as the major championships mull their power and how it might be best deployed, if at all. Careers and legacies were shaped at The Country Club. The shape of golf going forward will be molded in nondescript conference rooms and lawyers’ offices, beginning Tuesday morning 96 miles southwest of Brookline in Hartford, Connecticut.

More than 100 players will attend a meeting at which the PGA Tour will share more details on its plans to ring-fence assets (commercial and human) from the Saudis’ fragrant embrace. It won’t be marketed as such—there’ll be talk of upgrading products, growing opportunities, and the like—but that’s what it is. Among the audience will be some Benedict Arnolds who have already chosen to ply their trade for royalty. At 2 p.m. ET, the Tour’s board will be gaveled in to debate and potentially ratify changes that commissioner Jay Monahan hopes will begin guiding his organization out of a perilous situation.

Monahan’s team is still working on and closely guarding the specifics to be presented Tuesday. Likely included is increased cooperation with the DP World Tour (though shy of a merger) and details on three highly lucrative, limited-field tournaments that will eventually anchor a new-look Fall (which Fall, is TBD). The events will be staged in Europe, the Middle East and Asia with purses to rival the LIV Golf riches. One is likely to be held in the Emirates, a development sure to have whatabouters hurdling furniture to tweet claims that it mirrors LIV Golf’s relationship with the Saudi regime. It doesn’t. The Emirates are no one’s idea of democratic beacons, but there’s a difference between working in a country and working for a country, though that’s assuredly a nuance too complex for some.

The PGA Tour isn’t the only party to this conflict we’ll hear from. LIV Golf is expected to announce more player defections ahead of its second event, scheduled for July 1-3 in Portland, Oregon. And higher pitch whining should be expected from players who’ve already bolted, who after years of being lauded now feel unfairly maligned for laundering a butcher’s bloodied bonesaw. Graeme McDowell got a head start on that, bemoaning a “smear campaign” by critics, whose ranks include Jamal Khashoggi’s widow, September 11 families, Amnesty International and many players he once shared a locker room with.

All of this will take place amid the prevailing miasma of rumor and innuendo about who’s jumping and for how much, who’s double-dealing and why, and on whose turf the chief executive of the DP World Tour lays his flaxen head at night. As ever, it will be difficult to discern business from bluster.

In most respects, it has been a very traditional U.S. Open: 156 competitors arrived at a celebrated course in varying states of optimism, all but one of them were ground down to the nubbin, and not one of those contending Sunday afternoon spared a thought or word for the number on the check (it was $3,150,000, enough to impress everyone bar Greg Norman, but then he never cashed a dollar check for finishing first in a major).

This Boston tee party showcased much of what has bound players and fans alike to this game: competition with meaning, championships with stature, and yes, money. But never in the reverse order of importance. In 25 days, we’ll do it again, as golf’s oldest major championship is contested over its oldest course. Given the times, that kind of permanence is something to be grateful for.

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DP World Tour opts not to punish LIV players (for now); could it partner with LIV or strengthen ‘strategic allegiance’ with PGA Tour?

Keith Pelley is facing a critical decision that could play a key role in defining the future of professional golf.

Could the DP World Tour play a pivotal role in the future direction of men’s professional golf?

As first reported by Golf Digest, the circuit, which has long played second fiddle to the PGA Tour, is reportedly debating whether to take the next step to strengthen its “strategic alliance” with the PGA Tour or jump into bed with LIV Golf.

Last week’s LIV Golf debut event included several DP World Tour members, including Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Richard Bland, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer and Bernd Wiesberger. While PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan was quick to suspend any members who violated Tour regulations, Keith Pelley, the CEO of DP World Tour, remained quiet on the matter and several DP Tour members remain signed up for next week’s BMW International Open in Munich, Germany. On Tuesday, Pelley broke his silence in a memo sent to players:

“From many of your messages and my conversations, I know that many of you share the same viewpoint that Jay Monahan expressed in his note to PGA Tour members,” Pelley wrote in a letter leaked to Golf Channel initially. “Namely that the players who have chosen this route have disrespected the vast majority of the members of this Tour.”

“Some members asked me why we simply do not follow what the PGA Tour have done and immediately suspend these players,” Pelley continued. “While I understand the frustration, I remind you all that although we work closely with the PGA Tour, we are different organizations and our rules and regulations are therefore different too…”

A decision on how violators of its policies will be dealt with will be handed down on June 23. That happens to be the same date as the commitment deadline for the Genesis Scottish Open, which for the first time is scheduled to be co-sanctioned by the two premier circuits.

That is if Pelley, who struck a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour in late 2020, doesn’t do an about-face and strike a relationship with upstart LIV Golf.

“I heard on Sunday that Pelley might be thinking of a U-turn,” a multiple-time DP World Tour winner told Golf Digest. “I think that is very disappointing. But I’m not surprised. Pelley has never been very truthful in what he has told the players. I understand you have to make some decisions that are best kept behind closed doors. But I think this is something that went too far down that path. We should have been told what was going on right from the start. The motivation for this I think is coming from the pressure Pelley is feeling from tournament sponsors. They won’t be liking the fact that they are losing some of their star players. … Pelley is not coming out of this too well. I think it will be the end of his reign. How can you go into a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour then six months later — after they found sponsors for the Irish Open and the Scottish Open — backstab them like this?”

The Golf Digest story also noted that Pelley attended the LIV Golf Invitational Series debut event near London last week. On Wednesday, the DP World Tour released the following statement: “We are aware of some reports in the media that DP World Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley attended the event at Centurion Club last week. This is categorically untrue as Keith was in Sweden attending the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed tournament.”

What is clear is that Pelley is facing a critical decision that could play a key role in defining the future hierarchy of professional golf.

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Rory McIlroy on the Premier Golf League that would threaten PGA Tour, European Tour: ‘I don’t see why anyone would be for it’

Rory McIlroy on the Premier Golf League that would threaten the PGA Tour and European Tour: “I don’t see why anyone would be for it.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rory McIlroy’s views on a potential rival golf league that would threaten the PGA Tour and European Tour remain steadfast.

“I’m very much against it. I don’t see why anyone would be for it,” McIlroy said Wednesday ahead of the start of the Well Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow. “You go back to what happened last week in Europe with the European Super League in football. People can see it for what it is, which is a money grab, which is fine if that’s what you’re playing golf for is to make as much money as possible.

“Totally fine, then go and do that if that’s what makes you happy.”

On Tuesday, The Telegraph reported the aspiring breakaway tour backed by Saudi Arabian money has made multi-million dollar offers ranging from $30-$50 million to several of the game’s biggest names and best players, including world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Rickie Fowler and Justin Rose.

“The money is there,” one agent told Golfweek on condition of anonymity. “I heard $1 billion. This is real.” Another agent added, “We’re in the listening stage again. Nothing is concrete.”

The proposed league – whether known as the Premier Golf League or Super Golf League – would feature 40-48 players playing 12-18 events around the world with lucrative purses. The league would have a lot of guaranteed money and include a team concept that would dole out ownership stakes for 10-12 players who would captain four-man teams.

“Maybe the source of the money’s changed or the people that are in charge have changed, but nothing has happened,” said McIlroy, who added that he was first approached about a competing league in 2014. “No sponsorship deals, no media deals, no players have signed up, no manufacturers have signed up. There’s been so many iterations at this point.

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“I’m playing this game to try to cement my place in history and to win major championships and to win the biggest tournaments in the world. That’s why I’m playing this game. Golf has been very good to me obviously over the years by playing in Europe starting off, coming over to the PGA Tour and playing here. I honestly don’t think there’s a better structure in place in golf, and I don’t think there will be.”

As the threat of the proposed league mounted, the PGA Tour and European Tour circled the wagons. The two formed a strategic alliance, with the PGA Tour buying an estimated $90 million stake on the European Tour’s media operations.

This year, the PGA Tour also established a $40 million Player Impact Program that would reward 10 players not for their results inside the ropes but their work to promote the game outside the ropes.

That is on top of the roughly $390 million in purses, $60 million in FedEx Cup bonuses, $10 million for the Comcast Business Tour Top 10 bonus and $1 million for the AON Risk Reward bonus. All told, more than $500 million is in the pie this season.

In 2022, a nine-year, $700 million TV deal with NBC and CBS kicks off and will likely boost prize money and bonus money.

“We are aligned with the PGA Tour in opposing, in the strongest possible terms, any proposal for an alternative golf league,” Keith Pelley, chief executive of the European Tour, said in a statement. “Since the launch of our Strategic Alliance last November, our two organizations have been working together to make global golf less fractured and not create further division, with the interests of all players and fans at the forefront of our thinking.”

The PGA Tour did not release a statement, but commissioner Jay Monahan told players in a meeting at Quail Hollow on Tuesday that any player joining the league would face immediate suspension from the PGA Tour and possible expulsion, according to three players who attended the meeting. Presently, the PGA Tour requires players to get releases for conflicting events on other tours, which are limited to about 3-5 per year.

“You have to protect your product, right?” McIlroy said when asked about the immediate suspension and possible expulsion for defecting players. “It’s a competitive threat. And Jay took us through that last night. It’s in the bylaws that were written by the members.

“I just can’t see how it works. I just can’t see how it happens.”

If the league does happen, it’s unknown how the four major championships would handle matters. Or what would happen to the Ryder Cup.

“From the beginning (the league) seemed like something that seems pretty farfetched to actually happen,” world No. 9 Webb Simpson said. “To come in and shake up the way golf’s always been.

“I love the PGA Tour. It’s given me an incredible opportunity these last 12 years of my life. It’s hard for me to believe that the guys will really jump ship and go to a completely different way of golf than we’ve always had.

“Are the best players in the world really going to go to this tour if only eight of the top 25 in the world ranking are going to go? I think as a top player, I want to play against the best. I don’t think throwing X amount of money at guys is as appealing now as it maybe once was because of how great the opportunities we have on the PGA Tour. I’s not that I’m against it, it’s just I’m for the PGA Tour.”

As is world No. 2 Justin Thomas.

“I don’t feel the need to completely up and leave the PGA Tour because not only have they been great to me and everybody else, but we have it pretty good here and I do understand that and respect it,” he said. “I love it out here on the PGA Tour, and we’re very fortunate to get to go to some unbelievable places and play for a lot of money and have an opportunity to grow our brands and grow the game of golf. I’m very content and very happy with everything how it’s going here.”

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