LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA | After several years of discussion and development, the creation of what is being called the Premier Golf League has bubbled to the surface again with the goal of reshaping the face of professional golf.
While it remains a work in progress, the idea has gained momentum in recent months as organizers seek to create an 18-event world tour that would feature 48 of the top players in both individual and team events around the globe.
Originally called Tour de Force and, later, the World Golf Series, the Premier Golf League would feature events with $10 million purses starting in 2022 or 2023, according to various reports. Tournaments would be 54 holes rather than 72 and there also would be four-player “teams†that would compete for a lucrative prize fund.
Will it happen?
“I think it might be a catalyst for some changes on (the PGA Tour) that can help it grow and move forward and reward the top players the way they should be, I guess.â€
RORY McIlROY
It still seems to be a long shot but with substantial financial backing, including money from Saudi Arabia, the concept is being taken seriously. It would be a potentially devastating blow to the PGA and European tours because players would be required to play all 18 Premier events as well as the four major championships.
It raises the question: Would the top players commit to playing 22 events each year with nine of the Premier events played outside the United States? Tiger Woods, who would figure to be critical to the group’s success, has not played 22 events in one year since 2006.
This comes as the PGA Tour is nearing the completion of new television contracts that are expected to significantly raise purses – to an expected average of more than $11 million per event – across the board after the new deals go into effect in 2022. The tour will offer a $15 million purse for the Players Championship in March, the Associated Press reported last week.
The Premier Golf League does not yet have a television deal and has not disclosed any sponsors.
The PGA Tour’s recent extension with FedEx is also expected to drastically increase the payout to players during the FedEx Cup playoffs, with the champion winning potentially $40 million in the future, according to a source familiar with negotiations.
Top players have been briefed on the Premier Golf League, and contracts have been offered to certain players, according to a source familiar with the concept, but none have committed, at least publicly, to the idea.
“I’m curious but I don’t know enough to talk about it,†Phil Mickelson said last week at the Farmers Insurance Open. “I’m listening to it. I think it’s intriguing but I just don’t know enough about it to comment publicly but I hope to learn more.â€
Rory McIlroy said Saturday he first was approached by organizers in 2014. The new proposal could lead the PGA Tour to make changes going forward, McIlroy said.
“I certainly wouldn’t want to lose what’s been built in the last 40 or 50 years,†McIlroy said. “Tournaments like (the Farmers Insurance Open), tournaments like Riviera in a couple weeks’ time, everything that we have gotten to know and love over the years. I’m still quite a traditionalist, so to have that much of an upheaval in the game I don’t think is the right step forward.
“But I think it might be a catalyst for some changes on this tour that can help it grow and move forward and reward the top players the way they should be, I guess.â€
The PGA Tour issued a statement last week that said, “We don't comment on the business of other tours, real or hypothetical.â€
European Tour CEO Keith Pelley told the Press Association news agency, “We focus on the business of our tour and the growth that we're having right now so I don’t really have much more to say.
“I think they’ve been trying to move forward for eight years, but I can’t comment on other tours. I wouldn't comment on the business of the PGA Tour or certainly one that is not real.â€
The new initiative was a subject of discussion during a regularly scheduled PGA Tour players meeting before last week’s tournament at Torrey Pines.
The timing of the new push from the aspiring tour could work to the advantage of players, particularly the top golfers, who may be able to enhance their marketing value through the PGA Tour in the face of this potential challenge.
The Premier Golf League idea is the brainchild of Andrew Gardner, a British lawyer, who has remained active in meetings and discussions related to the project, sources with knowledge of the venture said.
Saudi Arabia, which is hosting a European Tour event this week that has attracted Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed among other PGA Tour stars, is working to raise its profile in international golf with efforts from Majed Al- Sorour, chief executive of the Saudi Golf Federation.
Another key figure is Colin Neville, a partner at the Raine Group, a boutique investment bank. Neville has been involved in major business ventures across the sports landscape, including assisting Steve Ballmer’s purchase of the Los Angeles Clippers, Joe Tsai’s purchase of the Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center and Raine’s involvement with fantasy sports provider DraftKings, among other businesses.
Additionally, the talent agency Endeavor, which owns IMG, has a minority investment in Raine.
The new tour would seek to incorporate several existing tournaments overseas, including the Emirates Australian Open.
Stephen Pitt, chief executive of Golf Australia, told the Australian Associated Press, “We're aware of what is being proposed with this new league and that the Australian Open has been included in those plans. However, it is too early in the process to make any further comment.â€
It is not the first time the concept of a global professional circuit has been raised. In the 1990s, Greg Norman pushed the creation of a so-called “world tour†independent of the PGA Tour. The plan, announced in November 1994, called for eight tournaments with purses of $3 million, much higher than PGA Tour averages at the time.
The concept never materialized after threats from the PGA Tour toward players who required permission to play in non-tour events. It did, however, lead to the creation of the World Golf Championships in 1999.
Ron Green Jr.
