• Asked if those who have left would be welcomed back if lured by the changes to the PGA Tour, Monahan replied: “No. They’ve joined the LIV Golf Series and they’ve made that commitment.
• Four-time major winner McIlroy is one of the chief architects of the new regime
Image: FILE
The PGA Tour is increasing prize money at 12 events to match those of LIV Golf, but the tour’s chief says players who have already joined the breakaway league will not be welcomed back.
Commissioner Jay Monahan announced on Wednesday that 12 PGA Tour events would have an average purse of $20m (£16.9m).
Top players will play in all 12, and at least 20 events, across the season. The changes come after Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods met other top Tour players to discuss the threat of LIV Golf.
A number of high-profile players have left the established tours for the £1.6bn Saudi Arabian-backed start-up which is holding eight invitational events in 2022 with a prize fund of £200m and turning into a league from next year. Major winners Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson are among those to have joined, and the PGA Tour responded by indefinitely banning those players.
Asked if those who have left would be welcomed back if lured by the changes to the PGA Tour, Monahan replied: “No. They’ve joined the LIV Golf Series and they’ve made that commitment.
“For most of them, they’ve made multi-year commitments. As I’ve been clear throughout, every player has a choice, and I respect their choice, but they’ve made it. We’ve made ours.”
World number two Cameron Smith, who won this year’s Open Championship and the PGA Tour’s flagship Players Championship, has been linked with joining LIV Golf. McIlroy said he had spoken to the Australian two days after he won The 150th Open at St Andrews in July.
“I don’t care if they leave or not, it’s not going to make a difference to me, but I would at least like people to make a decision that is completely informed,” said the Northern Irishman.
Speaking before this week’s Tour Championship — the final PGA Tour event of the season - Monahan explained that the top players have committed to play in all four majors, the Players Championship, the 12 events with increased prize money, and an additional three events per season.
Other changes include an increased payout for the player impact programme, which pays players who generate coverage for the tour.
That will be doubled from $50m (£42.3m) to $100m (£84.6m) and reward 20 players.
There will also be guaranteed earnings of at least $500,000 (£423,000), which can be taken up front by rookies, while lower-ranked players will receive a travel stipend of $5,000 for each missed cut. Monahan was also asked if making these changes earlier could have prevented LIV Golf from starting up.
“I don’t think there’s any scenario where they weren’t launching,” he responded. “I think that the moves that we’re making right now are the right moves for this organisation, and we’re going to continue to make more of them.”
Four-time major winner McIlroy is one of the chief architects of the new regime. The Northern Irishman said: “I saw a stat yesterday: apart from the major championships and maybe the Players [Championship], the top 20 players in the world get together to play against each other one other time during the year.
“I think if you’re trying to sell a product to TV and to sponsors, and to try to get as many eyeballs on professional golf as possible, you need to at least let people know what they’re tuning in for.
“When I tune in to a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game I expect to see Tom Brady throw a football. When I tune in to a Formula One race I expect to see Lewis Hamilton in a car.
“Sometimes what’s happened in the PGA Tour is we all sort of act independently and we sort of have our own schedules and that means we never really get together all that often. I think what came out of the meeting last week... is that fact that we’ve all made a commitment to get together more often to make the product more compelling.”