PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced the Tour’s most significant response yet to the rival Saudi government-funded LIV Golf series on Wednesday.
The top PGA Tour players have committed to competing in at least 20 events next season, in which they will compete against one another up to 17 times for average purses of $20 million, said Monahan.
The commitments will ensure the most popular PGA Tour golfers compete in the same events more often.
The announcement comes in the wake of a players-only meeting that Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy hosted last week at the BMW Championship in an effort to rally the top players to commit to the PGA Tour amid a steady stream of golfers defecting to the LIV.
“We’ve all made a commitment to get together more often to make the product more compelling,” McIlroy said on Wednesday. “I don’t have a crystal ball, but I think everyone in that room felt this was the best way to move forward.”
The PGA Tour also announced the addition of four elevated tournaments with $20 million purses each, bringing the total of elevated tournaments with purses between $15 and $20 million to 12 for next season.
The top PGA Tour players are committed to competing in the 12 elevated events and the four majors, the Players Championship, and three additional tournaments of their choice during the season.
“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,” Monahan said during a news conference.
“Top” players that will compete in the series of events next season are defined as those in the top 20 of the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program (PIP) standings.
The Tour is doubling the bonus pool of its PIP from $50 million to $100 million spread across 20 players, up from 10. The criteria for the program, which was created to reward players who drive the most fan and sponsor engagement based on a series of metrics, are also changing.
The new PIP criteria will eliminate certain social media criteria and expand “awareness criteria,” including internet searches, general awareness, golf fan awareness, media mentions, and broadcast exposure.
Monahan said the top finisher in PIP would get $15 million, up from $8 million.
Another change coming to the PGA Tour is an Earnings Assurance Program, which guarantees a league-minimum salary of $500,000 for each fully-exempt player. Players must participate in 15 events to receive the money.
Non-exempt members, those who were ranked 126th and below in the FedEx Cup points standings, will receive $5,000 for every missed cut and will have their travel and tournament-related expenses subsidized by the PGA.
Rookies starting their careers in the PGA Tour will get $500,000 at the start of the year, which will count against their earnings until the number is surpassed.
Monahan was asked if players who defected to LIV and might want to return to the PGA Tour after seeing the latest changes would be allowed to return.
“No,” said Monahan. “They’ve joined the LIV Golf Series and they’ve made that commitment. For most of them they’ve made multi-year commitments.
“As I have been clear throughout, every player has a choice, and I respect their choice, but they’ve made it. We’ve made ours. We’re going to continue to focus on the things we can control and get stronger and stronger.”
LIV Golf officials responded to the PGA Tour’s changes in a statement, saying, “LIV Golf is clearly the best thing that’s ever happened to help the careers of professional golfers.”
