The PGA Tour changed this week. Here’s how it looks

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — If there’s a metropolis worthy of stress-testing skilled golf’s unique, star-focused, image-obsessed, high-priced, overtly capitalist new enterprise mannequin, it is, for apparent causes, Los Angeles.

In some methods, the PGA Tour’s Signature Events series was constructed precisely for Hollywood’s professional golf event, the Genesis Invitational. There’s an enormous, high-profile sponsor (Genesis); a dwelling legend event host (Tiger Woods); a traditionally unique and highly-regarded golf course (Riviera Country Club) and the most effective fields in all {of professional} golf. If the Tour’s new format for Signature Events — starry fields, restricted (or no) cuts, heaps of cash — can’t work right here, it’s onerous to think about the place it can.

That pondering is what bought a variety of the golf world to coach its consideration on Riviera at first of the week. Tiger’s return to the game mattered deeply, in fact, however his presence was emblematic of an even bigger shift on the PGA Tour — a world the place one of the best compete in opposition to one another extra usually and, in principle, extra apparently.

We have seen glimmers of this transition over the past 12 months, however by no means fairly just like the Genesis, which is the primary bold-faced limited-field occasion of the yr, and as such the primary bold-faced limited-field occasion because the Tour adopted its radical new construction of existence in early 2023. (Pebble Beach was additionally a limited-field occasion, however by no means fairly felt that method given the event’s pro-am construction and dreadful climate.) Could the Tour survive its first huge take a look at? And extra importantly, would LA’s entertainment-desensitized viewers care?

The first solutions arrived on Wednesday, when Riv welcomed an invite-only pro-am on the eve of the event. Those who paid the purported $10,000 entry charge bought their cash’s price: the sector was stuffed with superstars of golf and past, together with celebrities like Al Michaels, Will Arnett and Josh Allen. A smaller group of VIPs and VUJs (Very Unimportant Journalists) had been permitted to wander the fairways with these teams, watching Woods’ remaining follow spherical and Allen’s missile-launcher-adjacent driver and Arnett’s annoyingly charming scally cap in an viewers of lower than 200.

The vibe was subdued and inarguably clubby, and the dearth of followers left the entire thing feeling like the other of no matter the professionals imply of their weekly calls to “grow the game.” But there was a particular vitality among the many smaller group who had been admitted on property — the identical variety the Tour is hoping the occasion will engender extra broadly. As the teams lapped the par-4 tenth, a volunteer named Rick might hardly stifle a giggle.

“I used to play in the Pro-Am, but now I’m being ‘financially responsible’ [finger quotes] on a fixed income,” he cracked. “I might like today even more than those days.”

Rick was there once more as soon as the followers arrived on Thursday morning, although his pleasure appeared blunted. Compared to final week’s riot management, volunteering on the Genesis doesn’t provide a lot by means of drunken pleasure or concern about overcrowding. Rather, the job is pretty normal people-moving, which is admittedly much less glitzy than watching movie star tee pictures, even for an occasion with fewer gamers a ton of stars.

Did the smaller area or higher starpower have any impact on the week’s crowd sizes? It appears unlikely. Even for these watching the primary occasion (Tiger Woods), good vantage factors may very well be had on all however essentially the most claustrophobic holes. Sunday grounds tickets may very well be had on the eve of the event’s remaining day for $110, face worth, and clubhouse tickets for $175. That isn’t a red-alarm problem, however contemplating the Tour’s efforts at taking the Signature Events big-time will in some unspecified time in the future require attractive the curiosity of ticket-buying golf followers, it qualifies as notable.

We gained’t know for just a few days how the event did with these watching from elsewhere, although expectations are excessive. The West Coast hours imply primetime viewing in a lot of the U.S., and the quiet sports activities schedule means restricted competitors. Annually, the event’s scores are a number of the better of the yr.

But scores are just one measure of success with the Tour’s Signature Events mannequin; one other is leisure worth. This week’s broadcast has been a significant win to that finish, the place the brisk tempo of play and shorter tee time window offered an uncommon sense of propulsion to the motion.

“The flow of everything is really nice,” Jason Day agreec. “There’s not a massive backup on 10 like there usually is. So it’s kind of nice to be able to have that. I’m pretty happy with it.”

CBS, this week’s broadcaster, has seized on the shift. The community invested further in its Genesis manufacturing, tweaking digicam setups and tracer areas to maximise the viewing expertise and shot-watching capabilities. Producer Sellers Shy rigged a remote-operated digicam inside one of many palm bushes on the tenth gap, arguably essentially the most well-known on the course, to present viewers a brand-new vantage level of the motion.

“At the end of the day, the Tour is raising its product with the Signature Events,” Shy instructed GOLF. “We feel it’s important that we raise ours. We want viewers to feel the difference.”

Of course, no quantity of cameras could make up for a dry story — and to that finish, the Tour has additionally been blessed. Friday’s “cut” day — the place solely 19 gamers had been faraway from a area of 70 — featured sufficient Tour drama to fill a whole month, with an ambulance-chasing Tiger Woods WD and an totally stupefying Jordan Spieth DQ. The draw back of these occasions is that the Tour enters Sunday with out two of the 5 largest stars within the area by any goal measure, and it misplaced each of them by no cutline of its personal. The upside is that Woods and Spieth’s exits fueled a day’s price of breathless protection from throughout the sports activities world, giving the Genesis a quick form of golf monoculture sometimes reserved just for the majors.

As for the large focus of the Tour’s Signature Events mannequin — the efficiency of the celebs who remained by to the weekend — the jury remains to be out. Patrick Cantlay (-14) leads after 54 unglamorously good holes, whereas a bunch of different stars stay inside placing distance (Xander Schauffele, -12; Will Zalatoris, -12; Jason Day, -10; Hideki Matsuyama, -8). Will these names be sufficient to raise the Genesis into must-watch TV on a Sunday in late February? The Tour hopes, however as is the case with all however just a few gamers and occasions, a heart-thumping end would assist.

And isn’t that why we’re right here? This week is the primary take a look at of the Tour’s skill to coax extra drama out of the identical pile of superstars, a take a look at that has severe implications for the long-term worth of its enterprise mannequin. In principle the Signature Events are an amazing concept, however it’s essential to do not forget that till we’ve witnessed a considerable shift, the Siggies are nonetheless very a lot in principle.

“I mean, this is — I don’t know how long these Signature Events are going to run for,” Rory McIlroy stated ominously. “If it’s going to be a year, and then they’re going to look at them again and see what worked and what didn’t work.”

And goodness, what a aid. It was many years of aggressive stagnation and contentment that resulted within the upheaval of the final two years. The answer to golf’s future absolutely isn’t to discover a totally different variety of stagnation and contentment.

After all, the purpose isn’t that the PGA Tour has changed; it’s that the Tour is the change. What it is right now and what it is tomorrow are two sides of the identical shapeshifting coin. The solely constants are the gamers … and the paydays.

McIlroy punctuated it properly from the rostrum on Saturday afternoon, the identical day he and virtually all the PGA Tour’s different stars moved one spherical nearer to a different big-money Sunday on the Genesis.

“I think for these really big events and the ones that carry a lot of meaning and history — Riviera, Memorial, Bay Hill, those sort of events — I think this week’s worked pretty well,” he stated. “It would be great to have a couple extra guys still playing over the weekend, but overall I think it’s worked pretty well so far.”

Pretty properly, certainly. But properly sufficient?

We’ll discover out on Sunday in LA.

James Colgan

Golf.com Editor

James Colgan is a information and options editor at GOLF, writing tales for the web site and journal. He manages the Hot Mic, GOLF’s media vertical, and makes use of his on-camera expertise throughout the model’s platforms. Prior to becoming a member of GOLF, James graduated from Syracuse University, throughout which period he was a caddie scholarship recipient (and astute looper) on Long Island, the place he’s from. He could be reached at james.colgan@golf.com.