PGA Tour adds big-money elite events for top players

TSN Senior Reporter

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The PGA Tour is supercharging its schedule, creating a series of elite events that will bring together the top players more often.

That was just one of the significant announcements made by commissioner Jay Monahan on Wednesday that will see massive economic benefits for players, especially those at the top of the talent pool. It’s the tour’s first major response to the LIV Golf series, which has pried away players by offering up huge guaranteed contracts and extra-large purses.

Starting in 2023, 12 events on the PGA Tour schedule will offer up purses of between $20 million and $25 million. Eight of those have been previously announced, while another four will be named in the next 45 days. The top players have agreed to play in all 12 of those tournaments as well as three additional PGA Tour tournaments. With the Players Championship and the four majors, this group has agreed to tee it up 20 times.

For next season, the top players will be those who finish in the top 20 under the current Player Impact Program (PIP) and those who do the same under the revised PIP criteria. It could mean as many as 30 golfers will be in the select group. 

“Our top players are firmly behind the Tour,” stated Monahan. “We’ll be all but guaranteed to see the best players competing against each other in 20 events throughout the season. It’s an extraordinary commitment and testament to what they believe in.”

The fields will include a significant number of players in addition to the top 20 and any PGA Tour golfer will have a chance to play their way in to these events.

The 12 elevated tournaments are the three FedEx Cup playoff events; the Genesis Invitational, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Memorial,