As a member of the PGA Tour Policy Committee that voted and approved the radical changes coming to the circuit, Tiger Woods spoke this week for the first time during the Hero World Challenge where he acts as host about what it means to “redefine what a tour professional is.” In statements where he expressed confidence that “we all think the same.” However, it doesn’t seem to be exactly like that…
“The PAC was involved, the PAC subcommittees were involved, and it was unanimous across the board what we have to do to present a better product and something better for our fans, for our events, our sponsors. Redefining what a tour professional is, streamlining it,” the Californian golfer specifically noted about modifications that are scheduled to come into effect from 2006 and significantly reduce playing options.
Specifically, the tournament ‘field’ size would in some cases go from 156 to 120 players, the number of available cards would also be reduced (from 125 to 100) and the number of players jumping from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour (from 30 to 20). The number of available exemptions would also decrease or even be eliminated in some cases in Monday qualifiers, and the distribution of FedEx Cup points would be adjusted (something that will start next year).
Patrick Cantlay, also a board member, echoed Tiger’s words saying: “We have listened to the PAC very closely throughout the year. There are 16 guys on the PAC, they are representative of every part of the membership, that’s how they are selected. So I know those changes have widespread support from many members. As board members, it’s important that we do what the affiliates tell us and listen to the PAC, that’s how that decision was made.”
But the choice of the word “unanimous” by Woods seems to be more of an exaggeration than reality. According to Golfweek, one of the members of the PGA Tour Player Advisory Council expressed disappointment with the process carried out, noting that he did not participate in the subcommittee that reshaped the access paths to the circuit. “The changes in terms of gutting the tour… I didn’t even spend a minute of my time on the PAC discussing that,” he said.
“I received an email saying: thanks to the PAC for debating these tough issues and making the circuit change for the better. And since my name is on it, it was hard for me because I’m getting this email thanking me for all my hard work and I don’t even know about these things,” he explained. A PAC member who asked not to be named but wanted his experience and what he had lived to be known.
Other players, including current and former PAC members and some of the smartest and most thoughtful golfers about the inner workings of the circuit, have spoken to Golfweek and other media to express their concerns about some of the changes that will be implemented. The American publication has compiled some of these testimonies, which make it clear that the unanimity Tiger talks about is not such. We reproduce them below.
McNealy questions the size of the ‘fields’ in designated events
Maverick McNealy has already made his mark on the circuit changes. He did the math and noticed the inequality in FedEx points this season, something that prompted a correction that will be applied from 2025. And at the RSM Classic, when asked about the new changes, he said: “I struggle to defend 72-player fields if we’re going to limit the number of players who have a card.”
“I think 120 is a nice number, I think it’s very competitive. I think a cut is an integral part of our sport and I think it would be really cool to play designated events with 120 players instead of 72,” said McNealy, a PAC member since June. “With eight tournaments, that’s 400 more opportunities to play. It seems like a bargain to me. There are a lot of arguments for why 72 is the number. None have convinced me yet, but that’s my personal opinion.”
Harris English concerned about the difference between playing in “PGA Tour A and B”
Harris English fully supports Maverick McNealy’s suggestion. English said so on Monday during an appearance on “Gravy & The Sleeze,” on Sirius XM/PGA Tour Radio. “I like what Mav has done. He’s thought a lot and put in the effort, and I think he’s now on the PAC. He’d have my vote to be on the board. He’s that smart and that committed to making the PGA Tour the best it can be.”
English finished 55th in the FedEx Cup standings, allowing him to enter the first two designated events, but after that, he is not guaranteed to be in tournaments like the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which he has come close to winning before, and the Travelers Championship, where he is a former champion. “It’s a bit like a closed shop,” he said of the 70-player fields. “It’s become more of a PGA Tour A and a PGA Tour B. I’m in the middle right now. I have a couple of starts on PGA Tour A, but if I don’t take advantage of those opportunities, I’ll be playing on PGA Tour B for the rest of the year. It’s hard to catch up.”
And he added: “It’s tough. They keep moving the goalposts a bit. It’s changed a lot since my first year in 2012. I understand why they’re doing it, to help a lot of these Korn Ferry guys. It sucks to get the tour card and not have many opportunities to play in tournaments. I understand their frustration. It will be much harder for everyone. Being in the top 100 is no easy task. I’ve been in the top 125 a couple of times, and it’s very stressful. It’s hard to move up that much in a year. Maybe five cards the first year, five the next, and keep lowering that number. Reducing 25 cards in a year is quite shocking.”
English also noted that while the idea of creating more opportunities for Korn Ferry graduates is good in theory, the deck is still stacked against them with 25 fewer cards to play. “They think they’re making it easier for them, but it’s going to be very difficult. They’re going to play the courses for the first time, they’re not going to get the best tee times, we all have to go through it, but now they’ve made it much harder,” he said.
Snedeker says there are too many changes and we need to return to “core values”
Brandt Snedeker, who turned professional in 2004, says he has witnessed more changes in the last 4-5 years than in the previous 15 combined. “I’m not saying it’s a bad or good thing, but there have been a lot of changes, and when there are a lot of changes in a short time, a lot of things get left out. All the great plans we had fall apart when it comes time to implement them,” he stated on the “Talk of the Tour” podcast.
Snedeker has been one of the top 10 players in the world in the Ryder Cup and a consistent top 50. He has also spent the last few years fighting to get into the top 125 while battling injuries. The 43-year-old veteran, a former PAC member, offered great insight into the changes coming to the tour.
“The idea behind it sounds great: smaller fields, fewer cards, a way for people to move through faster, better for TV, supposedly. All these things sound great,” he said. “I’m concerned about what’s being lost, what’s being given up to get there. Last year we were told these elevated events would have more TV viewership, be better for our product, better this and that, but the reality is it hasn’t changed much at all.”
“You look at these things and wonder what the tour has always been? It’s always been a meritocracy, it’s always been about giving back to local communities, it’s always been about guys going out and competing and earning a job. I think we’re moving away from that a bit. It’s becoming more of a business with a bottom line, black and white, moving away from its core values. Obviously, there’s a better way to do things, and I’m not saying we have to stay in the past, I agree with going to 100 PGA Tour cards, I think it will produce a better product, I have no problem with that. I’m concerned about the loss of Monday qualifiers. Is losing four spots really going to do anything? I don’t think so. It’s a source of revenue that the PGA of America needs, that the PGA Tour uses. It’s a great story that those Monday qualifiers play well and support the local community, which is an area we shouldn’t lose.”
Snedeker was getting warmed up and poked fun at himself and said some hard truths. “I guess I’m getting into ‘get off my lawn’ mode now, but it’s not up to me. I understand we have to change with the times, I understand golf has changed and those things, but sometimes you lose that north star and what drives your tour and you move away from your core values. Every now and then you need a reality check. Why are we moving away from that now? What has changed? Obviously, the professional golf landscape has changed, okay, but our values shouldn’t change. Our values should remain the same, and we tweak them here and there to improve them, but we don’t change the core values of who we are as a company and what has been so successful for so long. That’s what I think and what I believe.”
Snedeker concluded by saying that too many changes are not good and have led to some half-baked ideas. “The changes should be implemented much more slowly and should be much better thought out, rather than every year it seems like the tour is changing immensely, drastic changes, every year for four years in a row,” he continued. “It’s hard to know what’s going to happen when you don’t give time to figure out what the first change did. If the next year you change everything, what was the point? I don’t know. We haven’t had more than two years with the same policy in the last five years. It’s hard to see how changes are really going to happen if you don’t let something simmer for a while in the oven.”
Streelman is concerned about turnover
Kevin Streelman is a former board member and current PAC member. At 46, he’s seen it all and could argue that he has the least at stake among PAC members as he knows he’s in the twilight of his career and is looking at the bigger picture for the future of the professional game. In June, Streelman was optimistic about the changes the PAC was advocating, but now that the changes have been approved, he has become cautiously optimistic.
“From the beginning, I’ve said I believe in the way it has been, but I’ve been a traditionalist, probably to a fault. I know things have to evolve, and we have to make the best product we can. This is something the top players wanted to try. I think it’s a reaction to the signature changes. It was a major change for scheduling and creating two different circuits within one, with a different points structure. We didn’t know what would happen in terms of which players would play which events and which fields would be strengthened and which would be weakened. Now that we have a full year of work to see the stats, they didn’t think the rookies had enough opportunities, and the best way to get more people into tournaments is to take points off the field sizes.”
“I think the concern is going to be the turnover rate of players keeping their card. I think right now, every five years or so, 50% of the top 125 players on the Tour turn over. If that reduces to 3 and a half years, and it’s a guess, our stars won’t be stars long enough. There will constantly be new names in the rankings. If guys are constantly coming in and out of the top 100, it will be harder for fans to pick someone to follow.”
Lucas Glover: ‘They think we’re stupid.’
Glover has been one of the players most opposed to the constant changes. He didn’t like the concept of reduced fields, no-cut events when he wasn’t in the designated events, and he didn’t like them after he won twice in 2023 to qualify for this season’s eight. But Glover has never served on the PAC, calling it a waste of time. “The tour does what it wants,” he said.
When asked to Cantlay what he saw as the advantages of the changes introduced, he replied: “Well, a couple of obvious ones for me are that I think we’re going to have the opportunity to finish some of these tournaments that never finish on Friday and have a cut on Friday. That’s one of the biggest things we’ve heard: the reduction in the number of participants in some of the early spring tournaments. Also, the Korn Ferry guys who are rookies on the tour are going to have more starts than they have. They’ve had fewer and fewer starts in recent years, so I think it’s important to give them a fair chance to get a full card.”
Glover argues that there was an easier way to solve the problem: play faster. On the latest changes to reduce field sizes to 132 and 120 (depending on daylight), Glover delivered one of the most famous player quotes on the subject. “I think it’s terrible,” he said. “And hiding behind the pace of play, I think it defies our intelligence. They think we’re stupid.”
Glover argues that 20 years ago, when he was starting on the PGA Tour, there were only a handful of slow players. And now? “We have 50,” he says. “So let’s not reduce the fields because it’s a pace of play issue. Tell us to play faster, or just say they’re trying to appease six guys and make them happy so they don’t go somewhere else to play golf.”
