A week after announcing a historic investment worth 1.5 billion dollars (by SSG), the commissioner of the PGA Tour, Jay Monahan, has updated the members of the circuit through an internal memorandum on the value of the shares that will be issued and how many players will receive them.
It was one of the most repeated questions after the announcement: 930 million dollars is a very significant figure, but who is going to receive them? In an exclusive call for players last week, Monahan made it clear that the number would be “close to 200”, but the note sent this Wednesday revealed more details: there will be 193 players who will benefit, to be exact.
Players divided into four groups
Most of the initial grants from PGA Tour Enterprises (a new for-profit entity) -750 million dollars, or more than 80%- will go to a group of 36 golfers. It can be inferred that names like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and other relevant stars will be part of what the note called Group 1. These beneficiaries receive grants based on their career performance, their results in the last five years and their relevance in the annual Player Impact Program, a system that measures the positive impact on the PGA Tour.
After Group 1 comes a much larger Group 2, which will be fed from a fund of a much smaller monetary grant. Group 2 is made up of 64 players, whose grants will amount to a total of 75 million dollars and will be based on their performance in the PGA Tour over the last three years. The Group 3 continues with a total of 57 players who will receive grants for a total value of 30 million dollars, depending on their status as members of the circuit.
Finally, Group 4 will encompass 36 players “who were decisive in building the current PGA Tour, based on their career performance”. It remains to be seen which former players would qualify through Group 4. Could these Group 4 grants reach Jack Nicklaus or even the estate of Arnold Palmer? It seems likely. Nicklaus met with SSG investment representatives last week and joined the exclusive call for players led by Monahan. He intended to share some ideas, but there was an apparent technical problem that prevented him from doing so.
Unresolved questions and the rest of the money
It is important to note that eligible members can only opt for one grant, which means that McIlroy, although he would fit into all four groups, will receive a grant only from Group 1. For players to see how their grants are consolidated, they will have to play a minimum of 15 events in the PGA Tour annually, and/or “meet requirements in line with the value of the grant”.
What is clear is that the application of this program will be subject to much scrutiny, not only from a legal point of view, but also from the members who receive these grants. It also remains to be seen what will happen in the future with these shares, whether players will be able to trade them in some way, what is the impact on them if the performance of the golfer in question drops…
The PGA Tour organized a players’ meeting on Tuesday night at a hotel near the venue of this week’s WM Phoenix Open, where this information was shared for the first time. Over the next six weeks, players will be informed about eligibility, taxation, benefits and other details. Then, during the week after the Players Championship, they will know exactly where they stand within the Group ranking.
The more astute will see that 930 million dollars does not match the 1.5 billion that the PGA Tour has promised will be issued in total in the form of capital grants. The 600 million dollars missing from that equation will go to recurring grants that will be awarded from 2025 and will continue (at least) until the 2030 season. This means that 100 million dollars in grants will be distributed each year and will be rewarded, according to the memorandum, “based on the performance of the last 3 years, the performance of the last year and the results of the Player Impact Program“.
In other words, from 2025, a high-performance player like, for example, Xander Schauffele, could expect to receive additional grants to the initial one received in March.
