The PGA Tour recently announced radical changes coming to the 2024 schedule.
In several designated events next season, there will be no cut and the fields will be limited to 70-78 players. These changes will not apply to majors, the Players or FedEx Cup Playoff events.
So far, the ratifications have received mixed reviews not only from fans but some Tour players including James Hahn.
“All the big names that are talking about this ‘new product,’ if you just came out and said, ‘Hey, we’re doing this for the money,’ they want more guaranteed money and this is another way to funnel more money to the top players in the world, I’d have a lot more respect for them,” he said in a recent interview with Golfweek writer Adam Schupak.
In a recent tweet, Phil Mickelson claimed to have approached PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan with a similar idea for events and said he was denied.
Before I left I brought a $1 billion commitment from a current PGATour partner to have 8 elevated events and give equity and ownership in these events to the players. JM’s quote was “ I don’t believe the league is going to happen so we won’t be doing that.” No vote,no discussion
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) March 7, 2023
It’s tough to know for sure if this is true, but it’s interesting to see how LIV has changed the climate of professional golf.
During his pre-tournament press conference this week at the Players Championship, Rory McIlroy acknowledged the changes have been accelerated by the emergence of the Saudi-backed league.
“I’m not going to sit here and lie; I think the emergence of LIV or the emergence of a competitor to the PGA Tour has benefited everyone that plays elite professional golf,” he said.
McIlroy also pointed out that some of the game’s biggest names have won no-cut events throughout history.
“Tiger Woods won 26 no-cut events in his career. There’s always been no-cut events … Jack Nicklaus won 20 no-cut events. Arnold Palmer won 17.”
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