Rory and Justin Say PGA Tour Players Meeting Was Important First Step

Twenty-two, high-ranking, PGA Tour players are taking ownership of the future of their Tour and working to combat the threat posed by LIV golf.

They held a player-inspired meeting this week at a hotel in Wilmington, Delaware, to discuss what they want the PGA Tour to look like going forward.  And it doesn’t have LIV golfers in it.

The group grew out of a cadre of 11 players who met at the J.P. McManus Pro-Am in Ireland, according to Golf Channel. Usually, it’s not hard to get players to discuss what happens in their confabs, but in this case, they are keeping it mum.  However, interviews at the BMW Championship provided some guidance.

“I think the one thing that came out of it, which I think was the purpose, is all the top players on this Tour are in agreement and alignment of where we should go, going forward, and that was awesome,” Rory McIlroy

explained

about what happened in the three-hour-plus discussions.

The results, he said are going to be shared with commissioner Jay Monahan and Tour execs.

“It was a productive meeting,” Justin Thomas revealed.

"“It’s just something that the players who are involved just want the best for the Tour.”"

Thomas believes that having Tiger Woods fly up for the meeting was “huge.”

"“If someone like him is passionate about it, no offense to all of us, but that’s really all that matters. If he’s not behind something, then one, it’s probably not a good idea in terms of the betterment of the game, but two, it’s just not going to work. He needs to be behind something,” Thomas added."

Patrick Cantlay, in his pre-tournament interview, said he’d heard that Woods is the new commissioner.

“That’s what everyone has been saying,” Cantlay added.

It did look like he was kidding when he said it, but judge for yourself on YouTube. Most likely he was just pointing out the level of influence that Woods has in golf.

Thomas noted that it was important that Woods came in person instead of participating via Zoom.

“I think it shows how passionate he is about golf and wanting to improve it and paving the way for the next generation of young players to come out down the road,” Thomas added.

After the meeting, a couple of players spoke to Golf Channel reporters and gave them one or two highlights. One comment that did come up was the feeling that the PGA Tour needs to have the top players competing in the same events more often than they currently do.

The other takeaway was that PGA Tour players did not see themselves playing in PGA Tour events with LIV players participating.

The only place they could see them, in their minds, is in majors.  Or in other words, no, they don’t want LIV golfers playing the PGA Tour.

Here’s how they got where they are:

One reason top players do not face each other more often is that they are required to play just 11 of 42 or 43 events. The other four of their 15 minimum requirement are majors, assuming they qualify, and the very top players usually do.

With the advent of the World Golf Championships, that subtracted two or three additional non-regular tour events when they would come together and still remain under the 15-event umbrella.  Of course, those tournaments are on the schedule and are part of the overall in any year.

While top players want to play each other more often, it’s unlikely that they would vote to have to play in more events. The minimum number of PGA Tour events used to be 15 plus the majors, and in those days, we saw top players more often.

The reduction to 11 plus the majors, otherwise known as the repeal of the Ballesteros rule, gave PGA Tour golfers more freedom of schedule. They could apply to play in some overseas tournaments for appearance money, which is not allowed on the PGA Tour.

Finally, several members wanted to figure out a way to get young stars onto the PGA Tour faster, without playing a year on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Justin Thomas is not necessarily in that camp, but he understands that sometimes the greater good needs to be served. He, for one, said he wasn’t ready, didn’t have the maturity for the PGA Tour, when he first came out of school.

"“I think that was the best thing that happened to me is having to go through the process I did. I had to earn it. Everyone knows when they sign up for professional golf what they’re getting into,” he noted. “You have to go through Q-school to get to — at that time — and now the Korn Ferry Tour, and you have to play well here on the Korn Ferry Tour.”"