The game’s top players want to compete against each other more often and for larger purses.
That was the message that emerged from last week’s exclusive, players-only meeting in Wilmington, Delaware. According to multiple sources, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy unveiled a new series of events that would feature elevated purses and limited fields that would bring the game’s top players together more often.
First reported by FirePitCollective.com, the series would take current PGA Tour events and transform them into must-play stops for the game’s top players. As many as 15 events would be included in the series with purses that are “comparable to elevated events,” which will range from $15 million to $20 million next year.
The proposal, which first gained traction during a meeting at last month’s J.P. McManus Pro-Am in Ireland, was submitted to the Tour and Commissioner Jay Monahan.
“[Monahan] understands the future product model needs to look different,” one player who attended the meeting said.
The Tour has already overhauled its schedule going into next year and it’s unclear how quickly the new series could be implemented, but according to one source, the changes would happen in the “near future.” It’s also unclear how many players would qualify for the elevated events.
Monahan, who wasn’t invited to last Tuesday’s meeting, is scheduled to meet with the media Wednesday at the Tour Championship.
