The PGA Tour has unveiled a revamped schedule that PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan says will “transform and set the future direction” for the Tour, but one that critics say introduces elements of LIV Golf’s format that have been so widely condemned, including limited fields and no cuts.
The 2024 PGA Tour season will feature eight ‘designated events’ that will have fields of 70-78 players competing for boosted prize funds and FedExCup points. These events also will not have a 36-hole cut, guaranteeing that all of the top players will be competing in all four rounds. These eight designated events will be in addition to the majors, The Players Championship and three FedExCup Playoffs events.
The PGA Tour’s policy board approved the changes on Tuesday and Monahan announced the new approach in a letter to Tour membership. More details will be unveiled at a later date, including which events would be considered ‘designated’ in 2024 and beyond.
“These smaller, designated event fields will not only deliver substantial, can’t-miss tournaments to our fans at important intervals throughout the season, but they will also enhance the quality of full-field events,” Monahan said in the memo. “Together, this approach provides a schedule that is cohesive, compelling, consequential and with clarity for fans, players and sponsors alike.”
The majors, The Players, and the FedExCup Playoffs events will be unaffected, retaining the same field sizes and 36-hole cut. Several of the designated events, such as the three FedExCup Playoffs events and the Sentry Tournament of Champions already were without a cut, as well. The Sentry will now feature the previous year’s tournament winners as well as the top 50 in the previous year’s FedExCup.
This year, which Monahan has described as a bridge to a new future for the Tour, has already provided a foretaste of what to expect in 2024. The 2023 schedule is highlighted by 12 designated events – in addition to The Players and majors – that feature elevated purses and participation from the top players on the PGA Tour. There will be no mandatory participation regulations for the Designated events. The increased purse and FedExCup points, strength of field and prestige of the events will incentivize top performers to participate.
The eight designated events will be made of players who finished in the top 50 in the previous year’s FedExCup standings, as well as 10 players from the current standings not previously eligible, five players who have earned the most FedEx points from non-designated events, current year tournament winners, any players currently inside the world’s top 30, and up to four sponsor’s exemptions drawn from the PGA Tour’s membership.
The Tour says that schedule is designed to allow top performers the flexibility to participate in both Designated and Full-Field events. Full-Field events will become more consequential as they allow new and upcoming stars to rise to the top and give the membership an ability to play their way into the Designated events. Top performers in the Full-Field events will have ample opportunity for play-in from season long performance and different intervals throughout the season.
“Over the last year, we have spent a massive amount of time exploring how to better position the PGA TOUR for continued growth,” Commissioner Monahan wrote. “How to innovate and deliver a better product. How to further showcase our top performers, while staying true to the meritocracy and legacy that define the TOUR. How to create a season of consequence that deepens and expands fan interest. How to make every tournament better and deliver more value to sponsors, media partners and host organizations – to the benefit of the entire membership.”
Among of changes announced for 2024, the Player Impact Program will be reduced to $50 million paid to the top 10 players, as opposed to $100 million to the top 20 as it was in 2022. The remaining funds will be reallocated to the FedExCup Bonus Program and Comcast Business TOUR Top 10.
LIV Golf players were among those quick to point out the perceived similarity between the PGA Tour’s changes and the competition format currently in place on the LIV Golf League. Ian Poulter wrote on Twitter: “Sounds very similar to another product that’s been spoken so badly about by media and commentator’ while the official LIV Twitter account commented: “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Congratulations PGA Tour. Welcome to the future.”
Rory McIlroy defended the PGA Tour’s move saying: “There have been no-cut events since I’ve been a member of the Tour and way beyond that as well. Is there going to be a few more of them? Maybe. It keeps the stars there for four days. You ask Mastercard or whoever it is to pay $20m for a golf event, they want to see the stars at the weekend. They want a guarantee the stars are there. At the end of the day we’re selling a product to people. The more clarity they have on that product and knowing what they’re buying is really important.”
Max Homa, the world No 8, said LIV has partly shaped the direction of the PGA Tour. “It does seem like the emergence of LIV forced us as players and the executives of the PGA Tour to look at their product. I don’t think we would be here this soon without LIV, but I would hope at some point we would have looked at this and said, hey, there might be a better way to do it.”