Premier Golf League: An Uphill Battle Against Tradition and Organizations

Premier Golf League in the news again at API

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – MARCH 07: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland lines up a putt on the third green during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 07, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

In recent months, the Premier Golf League has been in the news as a potential rival of the PGA Tour and European Tour.

The much-discussed Premier Golf League (PGL) has not considered the existing world of tournament golf in attempting to create its fledgling organization. Just about every idea they have flies in the face of what has been considered acceptable to many professional golfers, to existing golf tours, to existing television contracts and more. The organizers are apparently hoping that having enough money will overcome the rest. It’s doubtful that it will.

At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, players had different opinions.

"Adam Scott said, “I’m still very positive about the concept of what it could be, for sure. It doesn’t mean I think it’s going to happen, necessarily.”"

He realized that everyone views it through the prism of their own interests.

"“Being an international player, I mean, the thought of a world tour sounds really great,” he added. “Maybe less so for someone based in Florida who doesn’t have to necessarily travel as much. But it’s what I’m used to.”"

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – MARCH 03: Adam Scott of Australia hits a shot during a practice round prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 03, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /

Francesco Molinari said he was not involved.

"“I think there’s going to be bigger names that will have to make that decision,” he noted. “I’m sure we can find ways to make this Tour and the European Tour even better, but we’re lucky to play some amazing schedules, so I don’t see why really messing up with it too much.”"

At the recent WGC-Mexico event, Rory McIlroy said,

"“For me, I’m out. My position is I’m against it until there may come a day that I can’t be against it. If everyone else goes, I might not have a choice, but at this point, yeah, I don’t like what they’re proposing.”"

However, he thought some golfers liked the idea.

Naturally, Tiger Woods was informed about this new tour idea early on.

"“My team’s been aware of it and we’ve delved into the details of it and trying to figure it out just like everyone else,” he said at the Genesis Invitational. “There’s a lot of information that we’re still looking at and, whether it’s reality or not, but just like everybody else, we’re looking into it.”"

While McIlroy was the first to come out strongly against it, like most top players, he likes the idea of playing other top players for guaranteed money. That is the concept of the WGCs.

However, that is not quite what is proposed by Premier Golf League. The main idea of PGL, according to creator and CEO Andy Gardiner in an article for golf.com, is that they want teams of golfers to play 18 weeks each year. Required play. There’s going to be a team captain who decides which players’ scores are going to count for the team that day or week. And they will play one team against another, somehow, the way they do for soccer using something called relegation.

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Forgetting the team aspect for a minute, while it looks like an 18-week season might be possible, what with 52 weeks in any year, most PGA Tour professionals, depending on their status, play between 15 and 25.

The minimum number is 15. To add a required 18 to that, would make it a mandatory 33-week schedule. That’s a non-starter for nearly every PGA Tour player.

Only Sung-jae Im comes anyplace close to that. He played 35 tournaments last season. He has already played 14 this year.

To come out of the gate and propose a schedule of 18 required events for the PGL and expect to get PGA Tour players to jump shows that the PGL does not have a good knowledge of today’s professional golf circuits. That is if they are expecting to attract top PGA Tour players. That may not be their goal.

Certainly, the Premier Golf League could get members of the European Tour who have lower number requirements that include the four majors and the four WGCs in that number. However, to get into those four majors and four WGCs, Euro players (and PGA Tour players) would have to be ranked in the top 50 or top 60 in the world, depending on the event. Leaving the PGA Tour or European Tour means there’s no way to qualify for those eight events other than winning an event on the PGA Tour.

Now once a pro plays 18 weeks on the PGL, there’s another problem: No world ranking points for any of those weeks. It might take nine months, 12 months, 18 months or two years, but a golfer’s rank could start to drop like space junk falling from the sky. The world ranking points system – flawed though it is — determines who gets into the fields of several important tournaments, including the WGCs and majors.

So, while the Premier Golf League says it won’t conflict with majors, by removing golfers from the tournaments where ranking points are awarded, they have removed the ability of top players to gain easy entry to majors that they now enjoy.

Then there are other issues, which get to be personal for every professional who plays golf: PGL players will no longer be in charge of their own schedule. Someone will tell them where they have to play. Golfers are not accustomed to that, as Rory McIlroy explained at the WGC- Mexico event.

“I’ve never been one for being told what to do, and I like to have that autonomy and freedom over my career, and I feel like I would give that up by going to play this other league,” he said.

While the Premier Golf League can probably find a television entity to air the 18 events, if the top stars are not involved, will ratings be there? And on and on.

So perhaps it’s as Tiger Woods said, “We’ve been down this road before with World Golf Championships and other events being started, or other tours want to evolve and started.”

He didn’t say he wouldn’t, but he didn’t say he would or could. And with Woods on the bench this week, having played in only two events since January, it’s pretty hard to believe he can play 18 for anybody. He’s going to have a hard time playing 10 to 12 for himself.

And there’s the matter of money. On the PGA Tour, in 2019, everybody in the top 50 earned more than $2 million. The 100th player on the PGA Tour last year earned more than $1 million. The 125th earned nearly $850,000. Will the PGL be prepared to pay the same way that the PGA Tour does?

The last time this kind of alternate tour was proposed was when Greg Norman wanted to do a World Tour with Rupert Murdoch. The PGA Tour had to negotiate with its members to keep the status quo. But as a result, the PGA Tour came up with the WGCs, basically guaranteed money and a chance for the best players to play against the best players. And Norman’s idea faded away.

Now with the Premier Golf League, Norman’s idea seems to have resurfaced in a new form. But I would not bet on it happening as proposed.

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The biggest issue is sure to be the reliance on one guy’s play affecting another guy’s income. There are more guys who want to play and earn based on their own skills than there are guys who want to earn money for other players. In this team system, the guys at the top would be the ones carrying those farther down the list. I just don’t know how long that lasts. My guess is not even 18 weeks.

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