More money, new schedule, no way back for LIV golfers

CROMWELL, Conn. — The Travelers Championship, with a date that numerous people would imagine is amongst the worst on the PGA Tour calendar—the week after the U.S. Open—is a accomplishment tale that commissioner Jay Monahan loves to explore. He appreciates the event well, owning graduated from Trinity Faculty, which is just 11 miles absent from TPC River Highlands in Hartford. But on a soggy Wednesday afternoon, Monahan was in the media middle to converse about anything else: the menace the LIV Golf Collection poses to the PGA Tour and what the tour programs to do relocating ahead.

As it turns out, Monahan spoke for just around 40 minutes and outlined a new composition the PGA Tour plans to employ soon.

Right here are 5 important takeaways from his news convention:

Table of Contents

FedEx Cup playoff time gets revised for 2023

At the conclusion of this season, which concludes with the final spherical of the Tour Championship on Aug. 28, the players rated No. 125 and much better on the FedEx Cup level checklist will qualify to compete in the 1st match of the FedEx Cup playoffs (the FedEx St. Jude Championship) and gain complete exemptions on the PGA Tour for next time. But Wednesday, Monahan declared that the range would fall to 70 starting in 2023.

There will however be 3 FedEx Cup playoff situations, but the major 50 in the level standings will transfer on to the 2nd spherical in 2023, and then the top rated 30 will progress to the Tour Championship just after round two.

Golfers who fall short to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs will want to make their exemptions for the subsequent year by participating in in a series of functions in the slide.

The calendar-based season returns

Starting up in the drop of 2013, the PGA Tour adopted a wraparound program that ended in the late summer season of 2014, but Monahan announced Wednesday that the tour intends to return to a calendar-centered time in 2024. That usually means the 2024 PGA Tour season will get started in January and conclusion in late August, generating it extra condensed.

The advantage of this technique, specially for elite players, is golfers can get pleasure from an off-season and not be concerned about returning to action in a low FedEx Cup place placement.

“Selfishly, for me, I would like an off-year,” Rory McIlroy explained Wednesday. “I would like to not flip up in February and be 150th in the FedEx Cup position checklist mainly because I just didn’t want to participate in in the tumble and I preferred to just take some time off and spend some time with my relatives.”

Nevertheless, starting up in 2023, golfers who make it to the next round of the FedEx Cup playoffs will also qualify for a new series of up to 3 international occasions held in the fall. These occasions are expected to be held in Asia, Europe and the Center East and have purses in the assortment of $20 million each individual.

Large purse boosts at eight activities

Some of the most higher-profile activities on the PGA Tour will have appreciably extra prize funds available to players commencing upcoming season, like the Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Enjoy and the Memorial Match. Individuals occasions will go from a overall purse of $12 million to $20 million. The Sentry Tournament of Champions will go from $8.2 million to $15 million, the Gamers Championship will have a purse of $25 million, and the FedEx St. Jude Invitational and BMW Championship will soar to $20 million.

“One of the items that we have read about the previous numerous months from our sponsors is, ‘Please tell us what we can do to support,’” Monahan mentioned. “So the alterations that we’re generating, which will be roughly $45 million in incremental purse, is coming from a blend of sponsor contribution, you know, methods to continue on to market far more in just individuals functions them selves, and our reserves.”

No cost-free lunch on the PGA Tour

The LIV Golf Collection contracts gamers to compete in its situations, then pays them extra based mostly on their effectiveness and the general performance of the group they enjoy for that 7 days. Nevertheless, PGA Tour players earn their money dependent on how they finish at that week’s event.

Above the last handful of weeks, there have been murmurs that golfers who make it to the PGA Tour ought to be compensated a established quantity at the beginning of the year to pay out for factors like travel and coaching. Requested about that matter, Monahan did not say it was off the table, but did not say it was coming soon.

“The basis of this tour, the meritocracy of enjoying on the PGA Tour, how really hard it is to get out here, how challenging it is to get at the highest amount of the match, that is ultimately going to be the attribute,” Monahan mentioned. “That is ultimately going to be the factor that will carry on to make this tour the best tour in the globe.”

For gamers becoming a member of the LIV Collection, you can find no coming back

On June 9, Monahan sent a letter to all PGA Tour users asserting that he experienced suspended the 17 associates who performed in the LIV Series occasion in London, like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia. That created them ineligible to perform in any PGA Tour-sanctioned activities.

As he spoke, LIV Golf took to social media to announce that Brooks Koepka has joined the firm, confirming the speculation and studies that began circulating on Tuesday.