PGA Tour Injects $153 Million to Combat LIV Golf Rivalry

The PGA Tour and its rival tour, LIV Golf, have been locked in a rivalry, with LIV players being granted permission to play in the Masters Tournament of 2023. This rivalry has caused a great deal of tension between the two sides and has resulted in the PGA Tour banning LIV golfers and suspending them with a lawsuit.^[0] The PGA Tour’s response to LIV’s poaching of its stars is to inject $153 million into player payouts for prize-money increases and the Player Impact Program.^[1]

The injection of money will mostly come in the form of more lucrative tournament purses in 13 “designated” events, such as the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the WM Phoenix Open.^[2] Furthermore, the player who finishes 30th in the FedEx Cup standings in 2023 will earn $7 million, including bonus money, and the 70th-place player is projected to earn $3.5 million.^[2]

At the top, the PGA Tour is offering an incentive of $25 million to players like Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler who remain loyal to the tour. The PGA Tour is also countering one of the LIV golfers’ perks of covering travel expenses for their entourage by offering $500,000 in upfront cash for expenses to rookies or players returning from a three-year absence, as well as $5,000 to any non-exempt player who makes the field in an event and misses the cut.

However, despite the incentives, players who have joined LIV Golf will not be welcome at the Seminole Pro-Member, a high-profile event played the Monday after the Honda Classic at venerable Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida.^[3] PGA Tour Policy Board director, Jimmy Dunne, who has been the president of Seminole since 2012, has been appointed to the board of the PGA Tour and has stated that “PGA Tour players get the first priority.^[4] This event has always been supported by the PGA Tour. We try to make this a special and unique day for Tour players.^[5]

0. “‘It’s Not Playing Centre Field For The Yankees’: High Level PGA Tour Official Publicly Mocks LIV Golf” EssentiallySports, 18 Jan. 2023, https://www.essentiallysports.com/golf-news-pga-tour-liv-golf-its-not-playing-centre-field-for-the-yankees-high-level-pga-tour-official-publicly-mocks-liv-golf/

1. “2023 season preview: The $153 million question” Australian Golf Digest, 24 Jan. 2023, https://www.australiangolfdigest.com.au/2023-season-preview-the-153-million-question

2. “The $153 million question: Breaking down the PGA Tour’s response to LIV” GolfDigest.com, 18 Jan. 2023, https://www.golfdigest.com/story/breaking-down-pga-tour-response-liv-golf-153-million-dollar-question

3. “Report: LIV Golf players not welcome at Seminole Pro-Member” Golf Channel, 26 Jan. 2023, https://www.golfchannel.com/news/report-liv-golf-players-not-welcome-seminole-pro-member

4. “Exclusive: LIV Golf players unwelcome at prestigious Seminole Pro-Member event” Golfweek, 26 Jan. 2023, https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2023/01/26/liv-players-unwelcome-prestigious-seminole-pro-member-event/

5. “Seminole Pro-Member event officially bans LIV Golf members” Sportskeeda, 26 Jan. 2023, https://www.sportskeeda.com/golf/news-seminole-pro-member-event-officially-bans-liv-golf-members