There is a saying that money isn’t everything but everything needs money.
It’s not entirely true but anyone with a credit card or a hungry stomach understands the importance of good old cash money.
So does the PGA Tour and its players.
With a looming threat from two potential new golf leagues and flush with revenue set to roll in from new media rights deals, the PGA Tour this week detailed how it intends to spread its new riches around, particularly to the players whose heads and bank accounts might be tempted by outside opportunities.
There is plenty to go around and here’s a synopsis of where the money will be going in 2022:
- The FedEx Cup Playoffs, the season-ending three-tournament jamboree that culminates with the crowning of a season-long tour champion, will be worth $75 million, a not-so-modest bump of $15 million.
- The first two events in the FedEx Cup playoffs – the FedEx Invitational and the BMW Championship – will each have a $15 million purse, a 50 percent increase over their 2021 purses.
- First prize in the Tour Championship will be worth $18 million, an increase of $3 million over what Patrick Cantlay took home with his victory at East Lake in August.
The PGA Tour projects approximately $1.5 billion in revenue in 2021 and of that, $838 million will be passed on to players through tournament purses, bonus programs, pension and insurance payments.
That would be enough to spark a back-slapping celebration but there’s more where that’s coming from. Such as:
- The Players Championship purse is increasing to $20 million, making it the richest event in golf.
- Three special limited events – the Genesis Invitational (hosted by Tiger Woods), the Arnold Palmer Invitational (honoring Mr. Palmer) and the Memorial Tournament (hosted by Jack Nicklaus) – will be worth $12 million each, another major purse bump to go with the three-year exemption that comes with winning one of those.
- The Player Impact Program, which debuted this year as a way of rewarding the most influential players on social media and in other non-scoreboard related areas, will be worth $50 million, up from $40 million this year. It rewards 10 players and the tour intends to keep who ranks where private, but chances are word will leak out (hint: Tiger and Phil will be highly ranked).
- The Comcast Business Tour Top 10 (formerly the Wyndham Rewards), which pays bonuses to the top 10 players during the so-called regular season, will double from $10 million to $20 million next year. If you’re wondering, Collin Morikawa won the $2 million bonus this year with Jordan Spieth finishing second and pocketing $1.5 million. Those numbers will double next year.
And there is the Play15 initiative which will pay any player who makes 15 PGA Tour starts next season a $50,000 bonus. Every little bit helps.
In a memo sent to players on Monday detailing the details, commissioner Jay Monahan wrote that the tour is “stronger than at any time in our history.”
It certainly looks that way, at least from a financial standpoint. The PGA Tour projects approximately $1.5 billion in revenue in 2021 and of that, $838 million will be passed on to players through tournament purses, bonus programs, pension and insurance payments.
The announcement does a couple of things for the tour:
It speaks to the effect of the new media rights deals that go into effect in 2022, bringing with them the promise of more money up and down the line. The tour has made a point of explaining that 55 percent of its consolidated revenue goes to the players with the understood notion that a rising tide lifts all boats (or, in this case, all players).
It also addresses the existing challenges from a Greg Norman-led Saudi-backed group intent on starting a new league incorporating many of the game’s top stars and the lingering notion of the Premier Golf League, another concept that hopes to establish itself near the top of golf’s pyramid of power.
The PGA Tour’s strategic alliance with the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) was another step in securing the foundation of professional golf as it currently exists.
There are also plans to create more limited-field, big-money events for top players in the future, though the specifics have not been finalized.
As big as the PGA Tour money will be in 2022, the expectation is it will be significantly greater down the line, another inducement for players to stay where they are.
To paraphrase another saying, the PGA Tour is banking on the notion that money talks so players won’t walk.