A Restructure of Men’s Pro Golf
It has been a tumultuous couple of years in the world of professional golf. As the dust begins to settle around all of the controversy and obscenely high purses, it’s become evident that the current structure of pro-golf may be in need of a redesign.
It seems the act of balancing fan satisfaction, sponsors, rewards for top players, and playing opportunities for those coming up the ranks is nearly impossible under the current structure. Weighing all of those options under any structure would be difficult. However, golf probably needs to cease its newfound popularity before it undermines itself in this new post-Tiger era.
In this article, I will outline the idea for a system of golf tours that would attempt to balance the current issues and change the game. I will say this is not my profession and I know for a fact a lot more goes into tournament organization than just outlines. Therefore I do not have all of the details fleshed out.
Some of these ideas have been echoed by others (especially the idea of a world tour for top players). However, there needs to be an assurance that the system itself isn't a “closed shop”.
My idea is a six-tier system. Each tier is referred to as a “Level” with the top level being a world tour for the best players. Below is a breakdown and the groundwork of how they would all come together in the same system. Some of these new “Levels” have current equivalents for reference but they are not exactly analogous.
New System Structure
Level 1 World Tour (The world's best players that will mostly have full status for the year)
National opens, events in the biggest golf-centric countries, the most prestigious PGA tour events, and a couple of events hosted at major US cities
National opens are open for qualifiers: both worldwide and then in the respective countries
These qualifiers will give everyone a chance like US Open while still having spots available only for players from the host country
Other events on this circuit do not have open qualifiers and can only be entered through promotion from level 2
No Sponsors exemptions into Level 1 events
The top 75%-80% of players in Level 1 will have year-long status. The bottom 20%-25% will be subject to status changes based on promotions of players through other levels.
Level 2
(Analogous To Current Regular and Secondary PGA Tour events)
Level 3
(Analogous to regular, secondary DP world tour events, opposite-field PGA Tour events, creates a level between Korn Ferry and current upper tours
Level 4
(Current Korn Ferry Equivalent)
Level 5
(Current PGA Tour Americas with additions of world wide feeder tours)
Level 6
(Another level of US and international feeder tournaments for aspiring newcomers with a shorter season)
Framework Rules for Level System
Status promotions take place in 3-4 week periods instead of the current year-long system.
The best players are always being rewarded and mobility will be more frequent than a season-long race.
This rewards those playing well at the moment. Those that are playing great golf won’t need to wait a year to take advantage of that.
Players in the 6 levels can move + or - 2 levels throughout a given year.
This allows players to be rewarded for good play in smaller status periods (above) and earn their way to higher levels without rising or falling too far.
Smaller events will still see some stronger players when they need to earn their status back.
This will create a stronger more merit-based system that involves drama and stories throughout the levels each week
Monday Qualifiers will be at all events for levels 3,4,5,6, some for level 2 and the national opens in level 1
Top finishers in tournaments at all levels have the opportunity to move up during the next status period (unless they have already moved up 2 levels in a given year).
Different feeder levels can have simultaneous events around the world.
Other Ideas
Some tournaments that host on more than one course can have larger fields. Those events could have 250+ player fields cut to 80-120 after the first 2 rounds. This is a similar structure to some national junior and amateur golf events. Larger fields will have stronger competition for the cut and more playing opportunities for professionals.
Possible Pitfalls
Players may not always know where they stand and tournaments will not always know who will be coming to events based on status shifts.
How Does LIV Fit In?
It can be tough to say with its contract-based system how LIV golf fits into this system. Other than a rebrand and integration into the Level 1 and 2 world tours, LIV could instead keep its current structure but limit its total number of events to occupy the “off-weeks” or off-season of the Level 1 and 2 tours. Level 1 and 2 players who want to participate in these team events for fun and extra earnings may do so but are not obligated.
LIV players who want to return to the system may do so but will have to enter the system one level down from where their equivalent status was when they left. Those who have the game will not spend more than a couple of short status periods before reaching the upper echelon of the system.
Implications
This structure simultaneously creates a top league for the best players, tons of playing opportunities for other pros, as well as more fluidity in the merit based promotion system. Young stars who used to wait a year before promotion will get more experience moving back and forth between tiers in the month-long status periods. These will also create storylines on each of the tiers for promotions of new players and the resurgence of former stars who found a slump.
Sources
“Rory McIlroy lays out 'dream scenario' for global golf tour” https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/39274575/rory-mcilroy-lays-dream-scenario-global-golf-tour
Shotgun Start Podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/0jMFGCaFpcG0eKyOCNbb0T
