News
Monahan announces Tour changes: Top players to play more, guaranteed money, PIP expansion
Commissioner Jay Monahan announced several enhancements to the PGA Tour and its schedule in a press conference ahead of the Tour Championship, Wednesday.
In the wake of last week’s players-only meeting, Monahan announced additional “elevated events” for 2023. Top players (defined as players who finish in the top 20 under the current Player Impact Program and players who finish in the top 20 under the revised PIP criteria) will participate in at least 20 PGA Tour events (up from 15, previously).
Additional items include an expansion to the Player Impact Program (doubled to award $100 million to 20 players) and guaranteed league-minimum earnings ($500K) for full PGA Tour members.
“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.
Full details from Wednesday’s announcements:
1. Top players will commit to at least a 20-event PGA TOUR schedule (assuming they qualify), which includes:
A. 12 Elevated Events
1. FedExCup Playoffs
A. FedEx St. Jude Championship – $20 million
B. BMW Championship – $20 million
C. TOUR Championship/FedExCup Bonus Pool – $75 million
2. The Genesis Invitational – $20 million
3. Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard – $20 million
4. the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday – $20 million
5. WGC-Dell Match Play Championship – $20 million
6. Sentry Tournament of Champions – $15 million
7. To be announced: four additional Elevated Events – purses of at least $20 million each
B. THE PLAYERS Championship – $25 million
C. The Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, The Open Championship
D. 3 Additional FedExCup events (of the player’s choosing)
2. For the 2022-23 season, a “top player” will be defined as:
A. Players who finish in the top 20 under the current Player Impact Program AND players who finish in the top 20 under the revised PIP criteria
3. Expansion of the Player Impact Program
A. Reward 20 players a total (up from 10) for 2022 and 2023
B. Total bonus pool of $100 million (previously announced as $50 million) in 2022 and 2023
C. For 2022, any player on the revised criteria list who is not on the current criteria list will receive a payout equal to 20th position (most likely two or three players)
D. Players will receive their PIP bonus at the end of the season after competing in the 12 Elevated Events and three non-elevated events, as outlined above
4. Launch of “Earnings Assurance Program”
A. For fully exempt members (Korn Ferry Tour category and above)
B. Guaranteed league minimum of $500,000 per player (TOUR funds any gaps in earnings)
C. Rookies and returning members will receive money up front
D. Must participate in 15 events
E. Replaces “Play15” Program
5. Travel Stipend Program
A. For non-exempt members (126-150 category and below)
B. Receive $5,000 for every missed cut
C. Subsidizes travel and tournament-related expenses
D. Does not impact tournament purses
Commissioner Jay Monahan discusses the state and future of the PGA TOUR ahead of @PlayoffFinale. https://t.co/x8ADYFdINZ
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 24, 2022
A copy of the letter Monahan sent to PGA Tour members, via Golf Digest’s Daniel Rapaport, below.
Here’s the letter Jay Monahan sent to PGA Tour membership today. Some more changes.
—$5,000 for missed cuts
—Getting to Tour Championship comes with a two-year exemption
—No more 15-season minimum for lifetime membership. So Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas immediately have it. pic.twitter.com/JXyiXX09Qz— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) August 24, 2022
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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
…The Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.
Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.
Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.
According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.
He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.
Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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KP
Aug 27, 2022 at 1:54 pm
Dear LIV players,
Thank you for improving our earning potential and quality of life on tour. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Sincerely,
Every PGA Tour player
joe
Aug 26, 2022 at 12:27 am
Monahan should resign if the health of the tour is truly his aim.
I do enjoy people like TW talking about integrity and honor and such. Its good for a laugh
If nothing else LIV has removed most of the D bags from the tour and for that I’m eternally grateful.
I think what we ultimately have to come to grips with is that its too difficult for players to work their way up financially (thinking mini tour guys etc), yet its too demanding on the top talent to keep the pace of the 12 month schedule.
Does anyone remember when the tour had an off season? We started with the masters and ended with the PGA. It was better for the players and better for the fans. Perhaps less money for the tour…is the tail wagging the dog?
Jack
Aug 26, 2022 at 6:33 am
I’m also eternally grateful that most of the D bags went to LIV…
joe and Jack
Aug 28, 2022 at 5:01 pm
You two bottoms should meet up and get it over with. GAW GAW GAW slobber slobber slobber oh Im so eternally grateful GAW GAW GAW
MhtLion
Aug 25, 2022 at 2:05 pm
Great changes! 15 years late, but still a great change.
Tiger McIlroy
Aug 25, 2022 at 5:33 pm
Monahan: “us crusty boomers at PGA are finally making the changes you’ve been begging for decades, and oh by the way Saudi evil, Saudi Saudi Saudi blood money sportwashing buzzword buzzword buzzword, capiche?????”
Gary Ahlert
Aug 25, 2022 at 10:34 am
i agree with what everyone above has said. There ought to be a big thank you and apologies to all those players like Phil, Johnson and the rest who stood above all this nonsense, lies and hypocrisy.
Scott
Aug 25, 2022 at 7:30 am
I find it amazing that Phil and others had been saying “you need to make some changes or we’re looking at something new”, and that after all that has happened, they decide to make some of these changes. I’m not quite sure the logic in allowing some of the biggest names in the sport (Mickelson, Johnson, Koepka, Dechambeau) to leave and be banned from your tour, then afterwards fulfill some of their requests.
I’ve never been offered more money than I’ve made in my entire working career to work for someone I don’t align with morally, so I’m not going to speak to that. I will say, however, that if McIlroy and others are so concerned about this “money grab”, then why are they pushing for so much more money for their own pockets? Does he need the extra millions from the PIP that could easily be donated to the charitable causes the tour helps? Hard to listen to someone criticize the greed of others while they are working to line their pockets more.
GMatt
Aug 25, 2022 at 9:53 am
You hit the nail on the head, what I want to know is where is all this money coming from? If the PGA tour is truly a 503c entity then will the money come from present salaries, charitable donations, increased sponsorship fees?
Just like the present economy, the money has to come from somewhere, they can’t match the ? from the Saudi’s so is the PGATS now unsustainable?
Jack
Aug 25, 2022 at 1:41 am
Just a minor point, they can’t have the Top players competing if 30 percent of them play on the LIV tour. This is a watered-down tour trying to match LIV. The PGAT tried hard to discredit LIV and the players that departed for LIV. The PGAT failed in every way imaginable and now are left scrambling and pushing lame limited field events.
dat
Aug 24, 2022 at 10:28 pm
Flop here, not really advancing the game or tour at all.
Paul
Aug 24, 2022 at 9:29 pm
Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. The love of money is the root of all evil. Beware and bow in prayer for forgiveness before the Lord. A once pure game is tainted even more. Repent of your sins and be baptised and you shall be saved. This is why no one plays a 1 iron anymore.
Michael
Aug 24, 2022 at 8:22 pm
Did the PGA tour just rob a bank or hit the lottery? Where’s all this extra money coming from, lesser %’s to charity?
For me, the average golf TV watcher, I do see pluses. Yes, there e/b top-tier & lower tier events. And some lower tier events will not have much star power. But that’s the way professional sports are going anyway. It’s definitely a factor of the rich getting richer but it’s good to see some compensation for everybody on the tour as it may give new guys a bit more time to develop into stars.
I’m glad to see PGA tour commissioner Tiger Woods come out with all this stuff. Ugh, you seriously think Jay Monahan has this was influence? He’s been overmatchef & outplayed since LIV started. Finally had to bring in the big dog to lay down the law & implement some changes.
Tom K.
Aug 24, 2022 at 5:54 pm
The Greg Norman lit a fire under Jay “Klaus Schwab” Monahan.
Roy
Aug 24, 2022 at 4:22 pm
So basically now the PGA tour is a 17 event tour. All the other lower tier events will exist for players to try and qualify for this tour…..
Roy
Aug 24, 2022 at 3:16 pm
SO basically you will have 17 events on the PGA tour. The remaining events on the PGA Tour 2nd Tier will be used to try and qualify for “the worlds greatest tour”
Jolter
Aug 24, 2022 at 2:26 pm
So the rich get richer while the players who actually make up the Tour for all the other events get the shaft. For saying they can’t compete with the money, it sure looks like that is what they are doing. This reactionary philosophy could be the downfall of the PGA Tour as we know it.
GMatt
Aug 24, 2022 at 12:41 pm
Seems as though Jay Boy is scared sh!fleas from LIV and is trying to prevent his top talent from leaving. Problem is the “secondary talent” players aren’t getting squat and it’s giving new Korn Ferry grads an eye opening as to whether to join the PGA Tour and struggle to cover expenses or take whatever offers they may get from Norman. I think Monaghan royally miscalculated and is hedging the future
Sam
Aug 24, 2022 at 12:25 pm
Isn’t this precisely why Phil Mickelson joined LIV originally? To leverage the PGA tour into change. It would seem Phil got them to do exactly what he wanted them to ultimately.
Chris
Aug 25, 2022 at 6:48 am
Exactly. Phil Mickelson was correct all along. The players owe him a debt of gratitude at a minimum. I still see very little change for the bottom players who deserve better compensation.
DG
Aug 24, 2022 at 12:18 pm
Monahan and McIlroy are jokes to use words like “integrity”. Where did all this newfound money for te PGA Tour come from? Monahan has obviously been asleep at the wheel. He makes over $4M per year and needs to be replaced. McIlroy needs to now apologize and recognize the martyrdom of Norman and the LIV players and thank them for having the guts to stand up to the PGA Tour. The abuse and vilification they’ve absorbed has enriched all of the cowardly and/or stupid PGA Tour players. I think it should now be obvious that McIlroy is a money-grubbing hypocrite. Now, fire, Monahan and have the new commissioner welcome the LIV players back.
Kelly
Aug 24, 2022 at 11:26 am
All the PGA talks about is money and looking after the elite players. No different that the LIV tour. I like the big start fields of well over a 100 players. I enjoy watching a Monday qualifier play well. All it seems you are doing is making the rich get richer and the average PGA pro or Horn Ferry Pro have a tougher time to make a living. It seems the PGA only wants to look after the top players. So much for Jay’s put down of the LIV tour. Yes money is the be all and end all for these guys.
Paulo
Aug 24, 2022 at 10:29 am
Too little too late. They need to be proactive not reactive