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The Sunshine Tour fully supports the decision made by the PGA Tour and the European Tour to stop their players from competing in the proposed new Premier Golf League (PGL).
Tour commissioner Selwyn Nathan believes the new concept will do more harm than good for golf: “We support the PGA Tour and European Tour 100%. It’s the right approach.”
World golf’s major tours reacted swiftly this week to the proposal for another top-level tour, set to tee off in the 2022/23 season and featuring 18 tournaments played from January to September.
It will target the best 48 players in the game, who will compete for a $10 million (R148 million) purse at each event over 54 holes with no halfway cut. There will be a team component to the league, as well as team owners.
The PGL is reportedly being funded by the giants of the Saudi Arabian oil industry, with further input from New York investment firm The Raine Group. Investment bank Barclays Capital has also been named.
In a memo to its members, the PGA Tour made it clear that if players chose to support the PGL, they would cease to be members. The European Tour issued a similar statement.
Reaction to the idea has ranged from expressions of interest by the world’s leading players to concern about the future of the game, and what some have described as a hostile takeover of tournament golf in its traditional form – reminiscent of the attempt by Greg Norman and Rupert Murdoch to launch a World Tour in the 1990s.
Nathan said he saw nothing wrong with seeking new opportunities within golf, but said it could have been approached in a better way.
“It’s definitely a rebel tour being put together by people seeing an opportunity. There’s nothing wrong with seeing an opportunity, but I don’t think this is good for golf. There was a better way to do it. Why not partner with the European Tour on the Rolex Series events and make these even bigger and better?
“I think the PGA Tour and European Tour did the right thing, and we applaud them. This will hurt the game, not improve it.”
The lure of guaranteed fields at every PGL event by virtue of players being contracted to play, along with the prize money, are what make the new start-up believe it has a chance to attract the major sponsors and TV coverage that will make it a viable alternative in world golf.
But Nathan disagrees: “It’s a big decision for a player to make. To risk losing membership of a major tour to chase more money? You can offer someone $100 million, but look at the consequences. Everything you’ve worked for as a player – playing in majors, and in the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup – you’re now out. Everybody has become so wealthy out of the game that it’s not about the money any more for top players. When money was the biggest reason to play professional golf, this might have stood a chance. That’s why Norman and Murdoch’s proposed tour was attractive then – they weren’t playing for nearly as much money as they are today.”
Currently, all four majors and the four World Golf Championship tournaments offer purses of more than $10 million. An average week on the PGA Tour offers between $6 million and $9 million, and the winner of the that tour’s FedEx Cup earns a $15 million bonus. Is this enough money for today’s golf superstars? The PGL doesn’t think so.
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