The Round Table: The PGA Tour is about to get more cutthroat

Each week, we ask our panel of writers, PGA members and golf industry experts to weigh in with their views on the hot topics of the day.

Last week the PGA Tour Player Advisory Council put forward a list of proposed changes that the players will vote on this month. They include reducing the number of exempt Tour spots from 125 to 100 starting in 2026, reducing field sizes, eliminating Monday qualifying and reducing the number of spots available to Korn Ferry graduates. What’s your take on the proposed changes?

Jim Deeks, Fairways Magazine (@jimdeeks): Sounds to me like the leaders of the Five Families meeting in upstate New York to carve out the northeastern Mafia zones.  Seriously, I find this very discriminatory and self-serving of the leading players, making it harder for ambitious young players, and still-able older players, to compete and make the kind of living they all strive for.  Maybe I’m mistaking something, but it just doesn’t seem fair at all.  Not that they care.

Michael Schurman, Master Professional / Hall of Fame Member, PGA of Canada:  It sounds like someone isn’t very confident in their abilities. However, the real people to ask are the fans. How many fans attend the tournament at 7:00 AM to see the first groups? How much golf can you see if you attend the tournament for the closing holes only? How much golf can you see if the field is small (Ryder Cup)? The balance of watching noticeable players, enjoying a reasonable view and not getting up at 4:00 AM is probably close to 50. I wonder if that gets any support.

TJ Rule, Golf Away Tours (@GolfAwayTJ): Why are they making it more difficult for fringe players to make a living? I don’t get it. Are all the players on the advisory council are at no risk of dropping outside the top 100, so they are trying to get more of the pie for themselves?  I don’t like it.  I like giving more guys a chance to make the jump to the PGA Tour and stay there, and with smaller field sizes and no chances to catch lightning in a bottle with Monday qualifying, it takes a lot of that opportunity away.

Peter Mumford, Fairways Magazine (@FairwaysMag): I applaud anything that makes the Tour more cutthroat. That’s the essence of competition. These proposed changes will make it harder to get to the PGA Tour and super competitive for those that are there. Players inside the Top 100 will be working their tails off to keep their card. The only valid one is: Play better. Take more chances to move up a leaderboard. Go for a win. Don’t just settle for a cheque. I think golf fans will like that.

A couple of weeks back we discussed the exorbitant price of Ryder Cup tickets for Bethpage in 2025. Now word comes that the 2024 Presidents Cup players each received a stipend of $250,000 that they could spend as they saw fit. In earlier years, any stipend from either the Pres Cup or Ryder Cup was designated for a charity of the player’s choosing. With all the money being raised by the PGA of America for next year’s Ryder Cup, is it time the players were paid to participate?

Deeks: Yes. Why should the players volunteer their time (albeit being given money to give to charity), while the PGA makes gazillions on TV and merchandising, and gouges the public on ticket prices? National pride and team pride are all well and good, but I think the players should all be paid an equal amount ($200K is ample) for their time, talent, and commitment.

Schurman: The players have been short-changed for years and years until recently. I think it was David Duval who suggested a charitable donation. These are the best players in the world. Their profession is Professional Golfer. They play golf to get paid. I haven’t heard of TV networks donating their broadcast revenue to a charity.

Rule: Yes, I do think players should be paid to play that in event.  Think of it as a player’s bonus structure in a contract.  In major team sports, players are compensated when they make All-Star teams, why can’t it be the same for golfers?  And with the money these events pulls in, paying 24 players doesn’t seem to be too difficult.  It doesn’t have to be as high as $250K pp, but they should be rewarded.

Mumford: I have no problem with paying the team players, caddies and captains. It looks like both team events are awash in cash right now. However, I look forward to a day when some aggrieved player decides it’s not enough. Then the fun begins.

Another week, another meeting between the Saudi PIF and the PGA Tour – yet still no details about a proposed merger. However, one topic trending on social media and in the news is that players are taking sides on all things merger-related, not the least of which is a pathway for LIV golfers back to the PGA Tour. Assuming there is a merger somewhere down the road, how do you think LIV players should be dealt with?

Deeks: I’ve said several times…  Let the LIV players apply for Qualifying School and play their way back onto to the Tour like all outsiders who haven’t earned their way.  They turned their back on the Tour, they should not get ANY kind of pass back onto it, other than hard work.  I bet very few would play well enough to make it but let them apply as often as they wish.

Schurman: The LIV players should be boiled in sulphuric acid, lashed with a cat ‘o 9 tails and then dragged by horses through rocks. These disgusting, evil, vile, repugnant people accepted money from the highest bidder to play golf, how revolting! Oh, the source of the funds is the problem? Every Canadian person who buys gasoline is buying 15% from the same source. When they buy our vehicles, pharmaceuticals or electronics do we refuse to be paid with their filthy money? Dealing with the LIV players is simple. They have to qualify through the normal channels. If they have exemptions fine. If they have some status somewhere that satisfies the PGA TOUR qualifications, fine. Otherwise, play your way onto the PGA TOUR through the normal qualifying process. I would impose one penalty; LIV events are non-sanctioned events and bear no recognition.

Rule: I have said all along, I just want to see all players on the same tour, so the best players in the world are competing against each other more than a couple of times a year. Sure, the LIV guys took a risk (although how risky is accepting 9-digit dollar amounts), so maybe they should just be let back in, and we can all move on. I know that’s not fair to the top players that stood their ground and stayed with the PGA Tour, but life isn’t always fair. Don’t get me wrong, in an ideal world, they give back or donate some of most of the money they received, but how to you force that on the LIV guys? Phil may have already gambled his all away. Let’s just find a way to have them all back in the same sandbox together.

Mumford: If the aim of the Tour is to have the best players together again, then whatever stipulations are made, better ensure that Rahm, Koepka, DeChambeau, Smith et al can pass the smell test and be reinstated quickly. For those suggesting that LIV players should be punished because they weren’t loyal to the Tours that helped nurture them, they’ll get over it.