"Stop Player Drain"... PGA Tour Raises Prize Money to Counter LIV

$10 Million Increase in Prize Money Across 8 Tournaments
FedEx Cup Field Reduced from 125 to 70 Players

The U.S. professional golf (PGA) Tour has launched a financial offensive. This decision is seen as a response to the crisis triggered by top players consecutively moving to the LIV Golf Invitational, supported by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund. The PGA plans to increase prize money and revise qualification methods starting next season.

On the 2nd (Korean time), the PGA Tour announced the schedule for the 2022?2023 season reflecting these changes.

According to the schedule, the 2022?2023 season will begin on the 15th of next month with the Fortinet Championship, featuring a total of 47 events including 44 regular tournaments and 3 FedEx Cup playoffs. The final event will be the Tour Championship on August 27.

The PGA Tour notably raised the total prize money for the eight major tournaments from $15 million (approximately 19.599 billion KRW) to $25 million, an increase of $10 million. Additionally, a bonus prize pool of $145 million has been set. The bonus prize will be distributed with $75 million awarded based on FedEx Cup points, $20 million allocated to the top 10 players in regular season points, and the remaining $50 million paid through the Player Impact Program.

The FedEx Cup playoffs will actually become more exclusive. Only 70 players can participate in the first playoff event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, down from 125 previously. The second playoff event, the BMW Championship, and the final Tour Championship will be limited to 50 and 30 players respectively.

Starting in 2024, the schedule will shift to an annual cycle, and the method for earning tour cards will change. The 70 players participating in the first playoff event of the 2022?2023 season will receive full tour cards for the new season beginning in January 2024. Players who do not qualify will need to compete in the fall season next year to earn points to secure full tour cards.

Due to the schedule changes, an International Series of tournaments will be held during the off-season after the fall season next year. Eligibility for these events will be granted to players ranked within the top 50 in FedEx Cup points and top performers from the next fall season.

However, it remains uncertain whether these changes by the PGA will prevent players from defecting to LIV Golf. Although the PGA has increased the total prize money for eight tournaments to $25 million for the new season, this amount is comparable to the prize money for a single LIV Golf event. Moreover, LIV Golf is intensifying its offensive by increasing the number of tournaments from eight this year to 14 next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.