ORLANDO, Fla. — For all of you casual golf fans out there who don’t really understand the PGA Tour’s revolutionary new format that begins next season, just think of it in terms of college football.
Beginning next season, the PGA Tour will essentially be split into the Power 5 and the Group of 5. The star golfers will be raking in the big money and getting all of the perks — sort of like Power 5 juggernauts Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Clemson. The rank-and-file golfers — the ones who really don’t matter to the average fan — will be demoted to second-tier status just like Group of 5 programs such as Coastal Carolina, Boise State, USF and FAU.
For the first time in history, there is a clear line of demarcation between the haves and have-nots on the PGA Tour. As you would expect, this has created quite the controversy on the Tour, which always has prided itself on being the ultimate meritocracy. But that all changed just before the Arnold Palmer Invitational teed off on Wednesday when PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan sent a memo to players outlining a series of 11 “designated” events that will have bigger money and smaller fields beginning next season. Many of these designated tournaments, which will include the game’s top stars and eliminate many rank-and-file Tour players, will not include 36-hole cuts.
