Scottie Scheffler’s win on the WM Phoenix Open got here in opposition to a full subject. Next yr, that will not be the case.
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Joel Dahmen was being humorous when, three years in the past, he defined that there’s a “PG-A” Tour, crammed with the Tigers and the Rorys and the JTs, after which a “PG-B” Tour crammed with a lot extra folks like him.
He wasn’t speaking about Designated occasions again then. Rather, he was speaking about financial institution accounts, recognition and time constraints. He didn’t actually really feel equal, although at occasions his scorecard actually mentioned he was. On Thursday mornings, in fact, none of that mattered. Within the highest echelon of professional golf, the variations between the PGB Tour and the PGA Tour had been largely flattened. The greatest 125 gamers on this planet might play principally any occasion they desired. They’d shoot their rating and noticed how it stacked up.
Looking again, there’s an irony to the setting the place Dahmen shared these ideas. We had been in a board room on the Genesis Invitational, a event that has since change into a Designated occasion — capital ‘D’ — which implies Dahmen will should work his buns off to qualify for. He’s one of many 100 greatest golfers on the planet, however that’s not fairly sufficient.
Wednesday’s information arrived within the type of a report from Golfweek and ultimately a memo from commissioner Jay Monahan to the membership. The message: the most important occasions on the Tour schedule, which function mega-millions purses, are going to be extra unique. Just since you’re on the PGA Tour doesn’t imply you’ll get in. Eight of the most important tourneys — excluding the most important championships, playoffs and Players — will be crammed by the 50 gamers who performed greatest final yr, the following 10 gamers taking part in effectively this yr, and 5 gamers taking part in rather well lately. If you’re not amongst that group, welcome to the PG-B Tour.
To greatest perceive what this means, we will have a look at Dahmen, who’s ranked Thirty fourth within the present FedEx Cup and 89th on this planet. Since he didn’t end Top 50 final yr, if subsequent yr’s guidelines had been in place proper now he can be spending Genesis Week hanging out at dwelling. If he holds onto that Thirty fourth-place spot, he’ll be taking part in all of them.
We may look to considered one of Dahmen’s greatest associates and school roommates, Nick Taylor. The title ought to ring a bell. Taylor pushed Scottie Scheffler to his restrict final month in Phoenix, beating Jon Rahm and the remainder of the sphere within the course of and eking out a solo second-place end value $2.18 million. Taylor entered the week ranked 51st within the FedEx Cup, incomes his means into the sphere by way of a victory in 2020. Under 2024’s guidelines, he’d be in Scottsdale solely as a result of that’s the place he lives.
The undeniable fact that Taylor wouldn’t have been within the subject for a event he almost gained is the right illustration of why lower-level Tour execs might not like the brand new qualification requirements. They’ve been uneasy about it in latest weeks, although members of golf’s higher class have the ground to talk out in press conferences. It’s all about entry.
What can we make of the PGA Tour’s new Designated Events Model?
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Life on the PGA Tour is a good life, interval. That’s one of many essential issues Dahmen mentioned again in early 2020. But there’s a saying that everyone in professional golf agrees upon, and it goes, Eat what you kill. It’s fairly self-explanatory: You get what you earn. But the PGA Tour at all times provided a lot to go round. Wednesday’s information difficult the meals chain. It added restrictions to the looking season. Eat what you’re allowed to kill.
The new system feels very rational. Monahan and people round him have rethought the Tour from the highest down, rewarding its greatest performers after which worrying about the remainder. They’ve labored out how it might make monetary sense, a stress that its competitors at LIV Golf doesn’t but really feel. Business leaders would reward the system for its logic, and it’s enterprise leaders who dominate the PGA Tour’s coverage board. But there are folks and traditions and norms on the opposite finish of these choices. The Tour’s new efficiencies can nonetheless affect the lives of greater than a hundred Tour members. Those gamers are allowed to be dissatisfied, particularly given they’ve had the identical seat on the desk for years.
Rory McIlroy was significantly judicuous two weeks in the past, once I requested him who ought to play in particular occasions with $20 million purses: “The best players should be playing in them, because ultimately the PGA Tour needs to be built around the best players because that’s what will maximize the value of the product.”
There goes that phrase once more. Product. We’ve been utilizing it a lot the final 12 months. What does it imply? How many individuals contribute to the product? We’ve by no means put a particular quantity to it, although we’ve gotten nearer in recent times. We can agree that Collin Morikawa influences the product. But what in regards to the affect of the numerous, many execs who’re, on common, only one single stroke per spherical worse than he’s?
What we all know now’s that clarifying the product meant clarifying the hierarchy. When Joel talked about the PG-B Tour, we laughed. But now the PG-B Tour is official Tour coverage. This week’s announcement was a blunt public declaration that there have been two circuits taking part in as one. The haves and the have-nots? Not fairly; the professionals on Dahmen’s stage are nonetheless doing simply advantageous. They’re only one step farther from the highest stage of the skilled recreation, a stage they already thought they’d reached. As Dahmen tweeted Wednesday night, “It’s a good time to #playbetter.”
The creator welcomes your feedback, considerations, and some other notes at sean.zak@golf.com.
