The Players Championship is always one of the most special weeks of the golfing calendar, and as we look forward to the 50th anniversary of the PGA Tour’s flagship event, the 2024 staging is no different.
With PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan scheduled to speak to the press at 11am on Tuesday, Players week is sure to have plenty of additional talking points over the next seven days.
This will be the first time that the Tour boss addresses the media since a press conference ahead of the Tour Championship on August 22 – and a lot has happened since then.
Here are the key questions questions Monahan will have to answer when he takes the mic ahead of the Players Championship – there are sure to be many more.
Does The PGA Tour Still Need PIF?
After announcing the $3bn partnership with the Strategic Sports Group (SSG), the PGA Tour said that it would not prevent an “ultimate agreement” being reached with PIF.
“Today the PGA Tour confirmed progress in its ongoing negotiations with PIF on a potential future investment and both parties are working towards an ultimate agreement,” a PGA Tour statement confirming the deal with SSG said.
“SSG has consented to an investment by PIF, subject to any necessary regulatory review and approvals.”
A Framework Agreement between the PGA Tour and PIF, which shocked the world of golf, was announced on June 6, but an end-of-year deadline for a deal to be concluded had to be extended as no agreement was reached.
Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth have both offered their opinion on the matter – they’re optimistic about where the PGA stands. “We’re in a great position,” Woods has said, while Spieth, a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board that approved the agreement with SSG, shares a similar view in that the PGA Tour doesn’t need Saudi funding.
Meanwhile, Webb Simpson, who like Woods and Spieth is a PGA Tour player director, said it would be “very dangerous” for the organisation not to complete a deal with PIF, adding that they needed to work together for the “good of the game”.
What do you say, Jay?
Does He Feel The Players Championship Field Is Weaker This Year?
There are tournaments that might boast a richer history than the Players Championship, but no event outside the Major Championships carries as much prestige as golf’s ‘Fifth Major’. Past champions include Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson, and there are 43 Major titles between those four.
Woods has swerved the Players this year as he looks to get back to somewhere approaching full fitness ahead of the Masters in April. Mickelson and a number of LIV players are absent because they now play their trade elsewhere. With a number of the best players “scattered” about, as Paul Azinger and Viktor Hovland have described the situation recently, questions as to whether this year’s field has been weakened are quite legitimate.
There is evidence that the Major Championships acknowledge the quality and stature of some of the players who are now part of LIV Golf (Joaquin Niemann has been invited to the Masters). Will there ever be a time that the Chilean and some of his counterparts playing on the Saudi-backed circuit might be able to tee it up at the PGA Tour’s flagship event?
Where Does SSG Deal Leave The DP World Tour?
Following the PGA Tour's historic investment deal with SSG, its players are set to benefit to the tune of $1.5bn in equity shares, while the door remains open for further investment from PIF “subject to all necessary regulatory approval.”
It sounds like an exciting new era for the PGA Tour. However, there are questions over where it leaves its partner in its Strategic Alliance, the DP World Tour. After all, the catalyst for the investment was the last June's news that both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour were in talks with PIF over a merger.
Anddddddd where do we stand in all of this?! 🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/cFLwsn51aTJanuary 31, 2024
A number of DP World Tour players have been asking the same question, one of those being Richard Mansell. “Anddddddd where do we stand in all of this?!,” he said on X, and he won’t be the only player tuning in on Tuesday is see what, if any, answers are forthcoming.
PGA Tour said that its Strategic Alliance with the DP World Tour “remains a focus” and that it was continuing “active discussions on how to best work together for the continued benefit of all” earlier this year.
Is He Concerned By Reports That Some Viewing Numbers Have Been Down?
Various sources have reported a downturn in viewing numbers, something that, if accurate, won’t have escaped Monahan’s attention. According to Josh Carpenter, who covers golf for the Sports Business Journal, PGA Tour viewership through six events were mixed, up big for two tournaments, the Sony Open and American Express, and down big for two, the Farmers Insurance Open and Phoenix Open.
Fair to say PGA Tour viewership has been mixed to date this season.Through six events, two have been up big YoY (Sony, AmEx), two down big (Farmers, Phoenix). Pebble impacted by weather/54 holes and Sentry was basically flat.February 13, 2024
When asked about where the game was heading, European Ryder Cup star Hovland said recently that he found it “a little bit sad” that all the talk in the men’s professional game had become so focused on money. Is it possible that golf fans find the endless talk of prize money, bonuses and huge signing on fees a touch vulgar, especially at a time when a lot of households are feeling a financial squeeze? If so, is it turning people away from watching the game?
