Professional golfers have never had it so good, and it’s all thanks to LIV Golf - at least according to a statement released by the Greg Norman-fronted series in response to the unprecedented changes the PGA Tour announced yesterday.
“LIV Golf is clearly the best thing that’s ever happened to help the careers of professional golfers,” read the whole statement, as the new upstart had what looks like a slight dig at the increased prize funds and other benefits detailed by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan in a letter to all members and press conference ahead of the Tour Championship.
Greg Norman had his own take on Instagram too. The LIV CEO posted a meme of himself and Monahan, with the caption showing the PGA Tour boss asking: “Hey, can I copy your homework?” and Norman replying: “Sure, just make it look different so it doesn’t look too obvious”. The post drew laughing emoji responses from LIV players Lee Westwood and Charles Howell III.
The PGA Tour held a press conference ahead of the FedEx Cup finale at East Lake in Atlanta, outlining increased purses for more of its events, as well as commitments from the top players to play against each other more. There will now be 12 ‘elevated events’, an increase of four, all carrying a minimum prizepool of $20million, an increase of at about $46million in total. The ‘top players’, as defined by the top-20 in the Player Impact Program, have agreed to compete against each other in at least 20 events a year, made up of these elevated events, the four Majors, the Players Championship and the FedEx Cup.
There were also benefits for the non-elite players, with the Earnings Assurance Program guaranteeing those participating in at least 15 events earnings of no less than $500,000, while a $5,000 travel stipend will be paid to non-members for every missed cut.
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