PGA Tour's 'Player Equity Program' Counters LIV Bonuses

Thursday, April 25, 2024

In February, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan introduced the rough outline of the Player Equity Program, a vesting plan for the circuit's new for-profit arm that will carve up a hefty portion of the initial $1.5 billion investment from Strategic Sports Group. The initial player equity grants will be approximately $930 million distributed to 193 players via four categories, starting with the game's stars.

Posted by tonyroma at 01:32 PM | 5 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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The first group includes 36 players receiving $750 million in equity based on the last five years of play. "Career Points" will be awarded based on how many years a player has been a Tour member, how many times they earned a spot in the Tour Championship and how many times they have won, with extra points awarded for high-profile victories like the majors, The Players Championship and the FedExCup.

Group 2's share of the initial equity will be much smaller ($75 million) and will be granted to 64 players. The group is considered "steady performers and up-and-comers" and will be based on FedExCup points earned over the last three years.

Equity to Group 3 will be $30 million going to 57 players based on career earnings and how many times a player finished inside the top 125 in FedExCup points.

The final group will include "past legends," like Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson, with $75 million going to 36 players based on the "Career Points" formula. Those grants will only be awarded to "past legends" that are living.

The Telegraph reported Wednesday that Woods will receive up to $100 million in equity as part of the newly created for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises, with McIlroy getting about half that amount. Other notable payouts include $30 million each for Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.

To receive the money, players would have to continue to remain loyal to the PGA Tour, with the funds vesting over the next eight years, according to The Telegraph. And going forward, the PGA Tour plans to award $100 million per year to the players.

While at first blush, these numbers don't quite match up with what LIV is reportedly paying the top stars they pilfered from the PGA Tour, but over time, it now seems that PGA players can realize even more money over their careers than LIV offers. And the PGA Tour is not limited to 54 players at a time, and all their players remain eligible for world ranking points and unfettered earned entries into golf's historical top events including all 4 Majors.

I also think that the lack of access to these payments for LIV players who may want to return to the PGA Tour creates the punishment wanted by those who turned down LIV's lucre to remain on the globe's leading golf tour.

#1 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-04-24 05:06 PM | Reply

Bah. Golf can go the way of boxing. Irrelevant.

#2 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2024-04-24 08:57 PM | Reply

Aren't the PGA and LIV owned by the same entity now?

#3 | Posted by qcp at 2024-04-25 01:58 PM | Reply

Aren't the PGA and LIV owned by the same entity now?

There was a plan to merge the two but their formats are so different it's logistically pretty complicated.

#4 | Posted by REDIAL at 2024-04-25 02:11 PM | Reply

Aren't the PGA and LIV owned by the same entity now?

No. The PIF is in negotiations to become a billion dollar investor in the PGA Tour, but even then they won't own it nor control it. This new announced PGA Tour players' deal was made possible by the $1.5 billion investment from the Strategic Sports Group, a non-Saudi entity.

#5 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-04-25 02:34 PM | Reply