There’s not a lot of holiday cheer spreading around the PGA Tour these days.
A petition has been circulating among the rank-and-file in which an anonymous group of apparently disgruntled players is calling for a “special meeting” to discuss a variety of issues on the tour, GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard reported December 2, citing a copy of the memo on social media. These unnamed players, who likely are not among the gilded top tier of the increasingly lucrative tour, take issue with the disparity in FedEx Cup points being awarded at “signature events,” the number of those limited-field $20 million tournaments, the Player Impact Program and, for good measure, tour leadership in general.
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods and the five other player directors on the PGA Tour’s Policy Board sent a memo to players in which they vowed “transparency” while seeking to update their wary membership on the tour’s negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Commissioner Jay Monahan, who said he has a meeting scheduled for this week with Saudi fund chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan, is trying to beat a self-imposed December 31 deadline to finalize the “framework agreement” of June 6, which would create a for-profit business separate from the tax-exempt PGA Tour. Monahan expects to include a second investment partner in addition to the Saudis and said that the end-of-year deadline is a “firm target.”
All of this drama swirls as golf unwrapped a big end-of-year present: the oft-injured Woods’ return to competition last week after an eight-month absence, at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
Woods spoke about being “frustrated with what happened” in the tour’s clandestine negotiations earlier this year with the Saudis, who have driven a wedge into the professional game since 2022 with their funding of rival LIV Golf. “We were not going to be left out of the process like we were.”
Woods added: “December 31st is coming up very quickly, so there’s the timetable there that we would like to implement some of these changes that have not taken place. The guys, all the player directors have spent so many hours and worked tireless hours to make sure that we have the best deal for all the players that are involved, the entire PGA Tour.”
Remember, guys: Santa Claus is watching, and he sees everything. READ MORE
Stuart Franklin, R&A via Getty Images
Rory McIlroy claimed the $15 million top prize in the third edition of the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program, edging two-time defending champion Tiger Woods, the tour announced. The news was first leaked on Instagram by tour player Nate Lashley, who questioned whether “this $100 million was well spent.” READ MORE
Jordan Spieth will replace Rory McIlroy as a player director on the PGA Tour Policy Board, commissioner Jay Monahan announced. McIlroy resigned recently, citing personal and professional commitments. Spieth served on the board in 2019-21. READ MORE
Golf’s most pampered class will find more creature comforts at the PGA Tour’s top tournaments beginning in 2024. According to a PGA Tour memo obtained by Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter, the tour’s “signature” and playoff events will be required to provide players with expanded perks such as private on-course restrooms, healthier dining options for their family and support staff, priority parking and cold-plunge tubs at all venues. The move comes after Jon Rahm called for a portable bathroom on every hole. READ MORE
John Senden disclosed that he has been struggling with Parkinson’s disease for about 18 months but intends to continue competing on the Champions Tour. Senden, 52, of Australia, is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour. Parkinson’s is a progressive disease of the nervous system that is not fatal but produces debilitating symptoms such as tremors and balance problems. READ MORE
The hype has been put on hold for TGL, the tech-infused primetime indoor golf league owned by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports and affiliated with the PGA Tour. A power failure two weeks ago caused the dome, which is under construction in West Palm Beach, Florida, to deflate, damaging the air-supported site. The league, which had been scheduled to launch with Monday night matches in January, will delay its debut until early 2025. READ MORE
Luke Donald, Europe’s winning captain at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, has been named the team’s first repeat captain since Bernard Gallacher in 1995.
The 45-year-old Englishman will attempt to become only the third visiting captain this century in the biennial contest to claim victory on the road and will have to do so at what is expected to be a feverish Bethpage Black in New York in 2025.
“Great opportunities don’t come along very often in life,” Donald said. “I’m a great believer that when they do, you need to grab them with both hands. There is no question that being a captain away from home is a tough task. But I have never shied away from challenges throughout my career, and it is precisely the kind of thing that motivates me.” READ MORE
Ryo Hisatsune has become the first Japanese winner of the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award on the DP World Tour, crowning a memorable year of progress for the 21-year-old. He was a graduate of the circuit’s Qualifying School last November and recorded eight top-10 finishes in the 2023 season, including victory in September’s Cazoo Open de France, to finish 17th in the Race to Dubai, with it securing playing rights on the 2024 PGA Tour. READ MORE
David Rickman, next year’s chief referee in the Open at Royal Troon, has announced that he will retire from the R&A in 2024, ending 37 years of employment with the governing body. “David has been at the heart of the R&A and so influential in all that we do for so long,” R&A CEO Martin Slumbers said. “He is undoubtedly one of the most respected figures in golf and will be greatly missed not only by all of us in St. Andrews but by many people throughout the golfing world.” READ MORE
Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, the first player drafted by LIV Golf, has returned to the DP World Tour after losing his contract on the Saudi-funded tour. LIV Golf agreed to pay a record £1.5 million (about $1.89 million) fine for Wiesberger, 38, to return to his home tour, according to James Corrigan of London’s Telegraph newspaper. Wiesberger, an eight-time winner on the European tour, played on Europe’s victorious 2021 Ryder Cup team before bolting for the upstart LIV Golf. READ MORE
Eddie Merrins, known as the “Little Pro” for his 5-foot-7 stature but a big footprint in the game, died recently in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 91.
Merrins, the longtime head professional at Bel-Air Country Club, was regarded as the golf instructor to the stars, spanning from dancer Fred Astaire to singer Céline Dion and many others among the Hollywood set.
A native of Meridian, Mississippi, Merrins could play, too. He won two Southeastern Conference titles at LSU and made 82 starts in PGA Tour events, including 14 major championships. He coached the men’s team at UCLA from 1975-89, guiding the Bruins to the 1988 NCAA title on a team that featured future touring pros Corey Pavin, Steve Pate, Duffy Waldorf and Brandt Jobe.
Merrins’ 1973 instructional book “Swing the Handle – Not the Clubhead,” is still celebrated a half-century later for its simplicity in teaching a mechanically sound swing. READ MORE
TAP-INS
Golfers might not readily associate Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female Supreme Court justice, with the sport, but she had strong connections to the game. Day O’Connor, who died December 1 at age 93 after suffering from dementia in recent years, didn’t pick up golf until her 40s, but she became an avid player. She sided with the 7-2 majority in the famous 2001 Supreme Court decision in PGA Tour Inc. v. Martin, which cited the Americans with Disabilities Act in allowing Casey Martin, who had a debilitative circulatory disorder in his right leg that made walking difficult, access to a cart to compete on the PGA Tour. READ MORE
The business of golf is in a good place as 2023 comes to a close and, in fact, is thriving financially as never before, according to Golf Datatech’s John Krzynowek, who compiled an industry report card for GGPBiz. READ MORE
The number of U.S. golf rounds played in October slipped 1 percent compared with the same month last year, according to Golf Datatech’s National Rounds Played Report, but the year-to-date number remained positive at a 3.3 percent increase compared with the first 10 months of 2022. The October decline was the first monthly slide since March. READ MORE
LIV Golf will play a 14-tournament schedule spanning eight countries, including a stop in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Super Bowl weekend, the tour announced ahead of its third season. READ MORE
The Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland will turn back the clock, as only the “home of golf” can do, by reversing the nines to the historic clockwise routing in the spring. On March 28 to April 2, Old Course Reversed will highlight the centuries-old routing by playing the holes in reverse order for three days before giving golfers a contrast with the remaining three days played on the current routing. READ MORE
The Ladies European Tour postponed its players’ vote on whether to merge with the LPGA, the tours announced without elaboration. READ MORE
Copper Rock Golf Course in Hurricane, Utah, will play host to the future and past stars of women’s professional golf in consecutive weeks in the spring. The developmental Epson Tour will stage the Copper Rock Championship on May 16-18, followed by the Legends Tour’s LPGA Senior Championship on May 23-25. READ MORE
The 2025 Palmer Cup collegiate matches will be played at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina, organizers announced. The dates will be June 6-8. READ MORE
Europe’s G4D (Golf For Disabled) Tour disclosed its eight-tournament schedule for next year and will introduce a net division to its competition. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon and Matt Cooper