“We've looked at all possible competitive models,” PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan said Tuesday at THE PLAYERS. “It was evident and perhaps obvious that whatever we do differently, we must showcase our top performers competing against one another more often.”
According to Monahan, they have research showing that at major championships, top players compete against each other just 95% of the time. Shockingly, in regular TOUR events, it’s just 40% of the time. So, no wonder the PGA TOUR is trying to create that major championship feeling at more PGA TOUR events.
To up the excitement for 2024, the TOUR is working on what they call the “designated event model.” That means that a limited number of events have fewer players and more top players. They also have huge purses. The idea is to attract the top players to participate.
However, in 2024, unlike 2023, the top 20 players are not required to play in all designated events.
The designated events for this year have $20 million purses, except for THE PLAYERS, which has $25 million, and Sentry, which had a slightly smaller purse of $15 million.
Another change for 2024, is that there is going to be an adjustment to the schedule so that a non-designated event isn’t between two designated events. That happened to the Honda Classic this year. The PGA TOUR plans to have three non-designated events followed by two designated events and so forth through the season. However, only the commissioner and his staff know what the real 2024 schedule looks like. We will find out in August.
The TOUR hopes that the huge purses and limited fields, typically between 70 and 80 players, will encourage top golfers to play. The TOUR staff says it is an essential part of keeping both sponsors and television interested. In addition, the fans like it.
THE PLAYERS field, so far as we know, will remain the same size. Actually, it is unlikely to be a no-cut event, ever.
What we have been told is that the 2024 schedule will have eight no-cut events. Some of the no-cut tournaments will be The Sentry and the three FedEx Cup events. Additional designated tournaments are the Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Memorial. No decision has been made yet on the size of the field for these events, but it is expected that they will shrink to between 70 and 80 players.
There has been criticism of the no-cut events, but Monahan pointed out that, in the past, Jack Nicklaus won 17 of them, Arnold Palmer won 23 and Tiger Woods won 26.
When asked if this system favors the top players, Monahan had the answer.
“The model right now would suggest that roughly a little north of 60% of the players in the top 50 will retain their position. So more than a third will not,” he said. “When you look at the top 125 and our current system, the turnover rate there is 25%. So, the turnover rate within the top 50 is greater than what it's been in the top 125 in the past.”
