PGA Tour board member Webb Simpson on greed in golf, why legacy still matters and why he’s concerned more sponsors may bail

Webb Simpson, as always, offered his perspective on the world of golf.

HONOLULU — On the morning of June 6, a day that will forever live in infamy on the PGA Tour, Webb Simpson was in Toronto at an RBC outing when a couple of the Tour’s independent directors phoned to let him know about the framework agreement that was about to be announced by Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

“I said, ‘I’m so confused, I have so many questions but I have to go because I’m doing a clinic,'” Simpson recalled on Friday after shooting even-par 70 at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

It’s fair to say that Simpson is still a little bit confused on how the pending deal is going to shake out despite being one of the six player directors serving on the Tour’s board of directors. But Simpson, a seven-time winner during his career, including the 2012 U.S. Open, is always thoughtful when answering questions and generous with his time and proved to be the most willing player director of late to speak candidly on the record.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Simpson touched on greed in golf, why legacy should still matter and his concern that more sponsors could take their money and run to other sponsorship opportunities. [This conversation has been edited for clarity.]

Rory McIlroy explains why the U.S. is crucial to his ‘dream scenario’ global tour

“We’d have, say, a 22-event schedule. That would look pretty good to me.”

Rory McIlroy may no longer be a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board, but that hasn’t stopped the four-time major champion from game planning what the future of professional could look like with the help of the Strategic Sports Group and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Ahead of his first start of 2024 at the DP World Tour’s Dubai Invitational, McIlroy told Golf Digest on Tuesday he has a “dream scenario” of a global golf tour that reaches across multiple continents but still features a heavy American influence and expanded on the idea with the media at large on Wednesday.

“My dream scenario is a world tour, with the proviso that corporate America has to remain a big part of it all. Saudi Arabia, too. That’s just basic economics,” McIlroy said to Golf Digest. “But there is an untapped commercial opportunity out there. Investors always want to make a return on their money. Revenues at the PGA Tour right now are about $2.3 billion. So how do we get that number up to four or six? To me, it is by looking outward. They need to think internationally and spread their wings a bit. I’ve been banging that drum for a while.”

“I think informally, we sort of have most of that global schedule, anyway,” McIlroy added Wednesday at Dubai Creek Resort. “We still need to make sure that the biggest tournaments are in America; obviously that’s the biggest place that we play. But also trying to elevate some of the other tournaments around the world: You know, trying to, Middle East, Continental Europe, U.K. and Ireland, the Far East, whether it be Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, South Africa. I mean, you’ve got a lot of different opportunities there.”

“I think everyone needs to start thinking more globally around it but globally in a holistic way but not really like this tour, that tour and another tour,” he continued. “What is the best structure for elite professional golf, the top 70 to 100 guys in the world and what would that look like, especially if the game is going to look different going forward and everything is on the table. I just think it’s worth having that conversation.”

McIlroy argued the importance of the United States’ involvement given the size and brand of the PGA Tour but admitted the Tour’s large market has kept others from thriving.

“If we can sort of all, start to work together a little bit more, I think a rising tide lifts all ships or all boats, and that’s the mindset that I would, I guess, come to that thinking of what the best thing is for professional golf,” he said.

In a recent interview, McIlroy noted how LIV Golf has “exposed flaws in the system” by taking advantage of players as independent contractors, making it impossible for the Tour to financially compete and difficult for companies to stomach the rising costs of tournament sponsorship. His solution is simple: player contracts.

“When you look at different sports and the media landscape and how much these media companies are paying for sporting events, I think you have to be able to guarantee them the product that they are paying for,” McIlroy explained. “So in my opinion, yeah, I would say that people would have to be contracted and sign up to a certain number of events every year; that the sponsors and media partners know that the guys they want to be there are going to be.”

The SparkNotes version of McIlroy’s plan would put a heavy emphasis on classic U.S. events and national opens, including the Australian Open, with stops in the likes of Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan as well as popular European countries. Maybe even the Middle East.

“Throw in the four majors and you have a brilliant schedule for the top 70-100 guys, whatever the number is,” he said. “We’d have, say, a 22-event schedule. That would look pretty good to me.”

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What’s next: Breaking down the impact of extending PGA Tour, Saudi PIF and investor negotiations

The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund missed their agreement deadline. So … now what?

After a year of uncertainty, 2024 was meant to usher in a new era of professional golf following the shocking announcement last June that the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – the financial backer of the rival LIV Golf – had agreed to merge their commercial assets to create a new, for-profit golf entity.

Golf fans have come to realize over the last six months that the framework agreement was nothing more than a good way to end litigation and a bad way to announce plans to form a new venture, known as PGA Tour Enterprises, to reunite the professional game.

A Dec. 31 deadline was set to reach an agreement, but on Sunday night, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan sent a memo to players that stated “active and productive” negotiations would continue into 2024 with the PIF based on the progress made to date. Monahan also claimed the Tour has “made meaningful progress” with the Strategic Sports Group (SSG), an outside investment group headlined by Fenway Sports Group.

So … now what? As the PGA Tour returns to action this week, golf fans are still left to wonder what the future of the sport will look like. The New Year’s Eve update provided little information and left fans with numerous unanswered questions that need to be addressed, sooner rather than later. Until then, let’s put on our speculation hats and look at the impact extending the deadline may have on the pro game.