PGA boss shows players the green
It’s often said in sports that the best defence is a good offence. Whether the theory is right or not is debatable, either way, it doesn’t really apply to golf.
Try telling that to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan who, this week, went on the offensive by unveiling a number of initiatives sending a clear message to any players who might think the grass — and their bank accounts — would be greener should they jump ship to a rival tour.
The details of the initiatives set to begin in 2022 have two things in common: they are all money, and they are all aimed at the game’s top players. The highlights of Tuesday’s announcement are: official prize money for the year will jump from US$367 million to $427 million; the total of various bonus programs gets a $45-million boost; and, according to the tour’s accounting, players will take home $838 million in 2022, or 55 per cent of the tour’s revenue.
This might seem like overkill to fight off a perceived threat from a still-imaginary upstart golf super league, even one backed by Saudi money and fronted by Greg Norman. Monahan seems to be using the Tiger Woods theory of competition, in which you step on your opponent’s throat when you have the chance.
The Fedex Cup winner will take home $18 million next year, up $3 million from 2021. Tiger’s, Arnie’s and Jack’s invitationals and the remaining WGCS will see their purses jump to $12 million, and the Players Championship purse soars to a record $20 million.
Besides money from the added revenue going to players, a letter Monahan sent to players also detailed that $32 million will be withdrawn from the tour’s reserves to further fund player earnings. It also seemed to want to put to bed any idea that the tour wasn’t giving its players their fair share.
“There seems to be a misunderstanding around not just the level of comprehensive earnings for players, but our financial model in general,” the letter to players said. “It is important that you fully understand and have transparency into our business, as this is your Tour.”
The truth is that an existential competitive threat couldn’t have come at a better time for Monahan and the folks in Ponte Vedra. The landmark (their word, not mine) media rights deal that the PGA Tour signed pre-pandemic in 2020 always meant that more money was on its way to players.
While more money already was destined to be funnelled to the players, who it’s targeting, and the way it was announced on Tuesday, was a clear shot across the bow.
The hope of the Saudibacked Super League was to attract the game’s top players by tapping into an apparent belief that the game’s stars are underpaid for their on-course work in relation to other global sport celebrities. Of course, there was also plenty of talk of spicing up the product, speeding up tournaments, and giving golf fans more of what they want, but it all hinged on poaching the top players, which all hinged on money.