Webb Simpson on PGA Tour and its future
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 PGA 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 in the second round of 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 PGA 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. [This conversation has been edited for clarity.]
Golfweek: Why was the Strategic Sports Group the choice on the equity side?
Webb Simpson: Number one, their bid, the amount of money they were offering, and two, the team of investors who have crazy business experience, they are owners in other sports, they know activation, entertainment, you name it, they were all there, not to mention how much they love golf.
GWK: Private equity typically wants to get a return on investment quickly. How’s that going to happen?
WS: They were very clear that they weren’t making us this offer because they love the PGA Tour or because we love golf in and of itself. They said, we’re doing it because we feel it’s a great opportunity for us to get a return on investment. That made me feel good that they see this as an opportunity.
In terms of how quickly will they get it back? I didn’t study economics in college, but they seem like the type of group and team to come alongside right now to give us exactly what we need. We don’t need to reshape a ton of things but we’re in a dire situation with LIV being a threat, and for the first time ever players are not seeing the PGA Tour as the greatest place in the world to play.
They are the right group to help us bring that image back.
GWK: Why is Tiger Woods devoting so much energy to the tour’s business structure, something he never was involved in in the past?
WS: He’s probably toward the end of his golf career, and I think he wants to do everything he can to set up the tour for the best future and leave it the best he can.
Arnold passed, and Jack is getting older. I think Tiger has assumed the role of taking care of the PGA Tour.
GWK: In doing so, Tiger’s turned down an obscene amount of money from LIV. Do you get why he did that?
WS: Greed is a very clear exposer. I’m not saying the guys going to LIV, they’re all greedy. I’m saying when these young guys, when it’s such a heavy consideration for them, I feel like this generation has missed or they don’t care about the things that other generations cared about, which is Hall of Fame, how many wins on the PGA Tour, contending in major championships. Everyone talks about the money.
I believe money can’t make you happy long-term. … So, I’m trying to get the message out. Our ultimate goal on the PGA Tour and the ultimate satisfaction of a PGA Tour player is to be in contention, being able to hit shots and make putts. That feels better than any check we’ve ever gotten.
I’m trying to convince these young guys, legacy means something. I love Dustin (Johnson), he’s a buddy of mine, but he had the opportunity to go down as one of the top 10 greatest players ever, and as soon as he signed his name to LIV – he still could be, but in the record books, we’ll never know. It’s not going to count. Things like that make me a little sad.
GWK: Are players overvaluing how much they are really worth?
WS: Probably. The amount of money we’re playing for is astonishing considering how many people watch our sport. That’s why I’m glad SSG is coming on board, because the way I see it, without SSG, kind of where we were, it’s not sustainable to keep playing for $450 million, or however much we do on tour, without some kind of subtle to major shift in how we’re thinking about everything.
GWK: Is the tour’s business model broken?
WS: The model is broken at the purse sizes we’ve been going the last year. And the sponsors are starting to feel it. Sponsors are pulling out. Wells Fargo, Farmers, there will probably be a couple more this year I would think, maybe one or two more. I hope not, but that’s a lot of money to put up for a week, considering the price of stadiums and stadium sponsorships and all kinds of stuff. Hopefully we deliver a product where like I’m close with the Wells Fargo people. They’ve been extremely happy up until having to continue to increase their purse, and they just didn’t feel like it was a good fit for them. So the product is really good. We’ve just got to sell it at the right price. We’ve got to be careful there.
GWK: Will tournaments be able to pay the increased fees to the tour starting in 2025 and still be able to match if not grow their charitable dollars? If yes, how do you envision them doing that?
WS: I don’t know is the answer to that question. I really hope so. That’s what has separated the PGA Tour from the other sports is the charitable giving. That’s really important to us on the board. That’s why we will have to be creative with SSG to figure out how can we continue to increase purses and give a lot of money away and make it sustainable for the sponsors.
GWK: What’s your biggest frustration right now?
WS: My biggest frustration, and has been for about six months, is most of these guys, they don’t know all the details of June 6. They don’t know all the details of what we’re trying to do, so they hear what other guys say and they kind of get in these echo chambers and they’re saying these one-liners that we all know really well. My frustration is that they’re not asking more questions. They’re kind of just giving their opinion. They’re not seeking to understand or learn. I’m hearing a lot of you broke my trust once, I’ll never trust you again. I don’t live like that. Somebody breaks my trust and they want to make it right and apologize, I want to forgive them and move on.
I think these guys were so jaded by June 6. But the fact remains we lost 48 – however many PGA Tour players we lost pre-June 6, we were hemorrhaging players, major championship winners. Post June 6 until (Jon) Rahm (in December), we lost zero guys. Litigation stopped. We’re saving tens of millions of dollars a year. That never comes up with these guys. I have to be careful when I remind them, hey, there was some good from June 6, some bad. The tour handled it, the communication was not good, and I’m sure Jay would like it back to be able to communicate a little more on the front end. But it is what it is, and there was some good from it.
GWK: What has Jay Monahan done to restore trust since June 6 that the USA TODAY reader and members of the tour should know about?
WS: He’s totally owned the kind of debacle of communication with June 6. He’s totally apologized. He genuinely wants what is best for the players, and he’s been as transparent as he possibly can be.
I think he saw the threat not going anywhere and knew that something needed to be done, and even though he had said what he said the year before about the Saudis and their regime or their country, however you want to say it, I think he’s like, I’m forced to do this. Like we’re in this position where we have to do it to save the tour really.
So, he’s working hard. He’s up in New York working on it.
GWK: What prevented the deal from being completed by the end of the year?
WS: A deal of this magnitude and what we’re talking about is so complex. Different people, different desires, and we’ve got to work through them. We’ve got SSG, we’ve got PIF, we’ve got so many players and it just takes time. I’m hopeful that we’ll have something done soon.
GWK: Do you think we’re pretty close?
WS: I think we’re close, yeah. Not too close but close. A few weeks, yeah.