PGA Tour Changes: Constructive Changes for the Future

[GolfSpy_APH]

Not going to lie this is a rip off a thread I found on another forum, but felt the discussion was good to bring over here. 

Given everything that is going on and the likelihood of changes coming in the future to the PGA Tour let us take the chance to field our opinions and what we would do to change the PGA Tour in the future. Whether it be for fan experience, the tour players themselves, formats, schedules or fields what would you change or modify to improve the future of the tour. 

I personally would like to see the Team aspect explored more. With this I'd go more in depth on a later post, but am looking forward to see how or what everyone else would change.

Note: LIV golf discussion is best in its own thread. This topic is for the PGA future and references LIV is fine, but it should not fall into a compare to what is going on right now. 

[FrogginBullfish]

I'm not much for the team stuff to be honest. I wouldn't mind it for like offseason exhibitions and stuff like that for a bit of fun but as far as actual competitive golf, not a big fan of it. It would be cool to have some crossover exhibition team events between the PGA and the LPGA though.

A big thing for me would be to shorten the PGA Tour season. The wraparound schedule I've never liked. We don't need 50 tournaments a year. 

Another thing would be to give out a liveable base salary to anyone with a PGA Tour card and for their caddies. Something that helps cover the costs of travel expenses, coaching and management fees, and general cost of living, etc. Extend that to the feeder tours as well.

I'm also not a big fan of the current format of the Tour Championship. It's definitely done its job of simplifying the process of handing out the FedEx Cup but all we get now are thinkpieces on how x player actually won the tournament but only lost cause y player started 6 shots ahead. The old method was entirely too complicated so I wouldn't want that to come back. My suggestion back when they were considering changing it was to have a 16-player match play bracket for the FedEx Cup. Top 30 still make it to East Lake but the Top 8 players in the rankings going in get automatic byes into the bracket. Remaining 22 players play 36 holes of stroke play to fill out the remainder of the bracket. Match play can be a bit boring when there's not many players on the course but I think it would be a better option than past and current formats. 

[DiscipleofPenick]

I will second the mixed event with the LPGA. I think that's something they've needed for a long time.

I would like to see some kind of improvement to the Tour Championship. I hardly don't pay attention to it, and the courses they play are kind of boring. East Lake especially is an uninteresting layout, even given the history. I've mentioned a US Open rota before, but maybe it would be better served here? Get some courses we don't normally see some coverage.

[RickyBobby_PR]

Other than maybe having the same broadcast crew regardless of the network that’s airing would be an improvement. Getting rid of Nance, Faldo, Dottie Pepper and one or two of the on course commentators to have Feherty, Duval and not sure who else on the course would make the listening experience better.

As for the tour it’s tournament golf. I like the variety of the courses they play. It’s all about earning your way and really anyone has a chance of winning every week. 
 

I don’t like guaranteed money for anyone on the tour. When you are a self employed individual you aren’t guaranteed to earn money. Many people struggle to make money and profit from their business adventures and set employment,l while chasing their dreams, just because you are pro golfer doesn’t mean you should be guaranteed to come out in the positive. You earn your money. 

one thing I’m not sure I care for but get is the requirement for them to have to play an event they have played in recent years so that they can play a reduced schedule. These guys are non employees and if they have full exemptions they should be allowed to play the minimum required events to maintain their card if they choose.

Also it really doesn’t bother me what they change or don’t. My interest in pro sports has dwindled yearly and I rarely watch any of it on tv anymore. I can count the number of rounds I watched this year on 2 hands same for innings of baseball. For basketball and football I can coin the number of games watched for both on one hand.

[TR1PTIK]

I think the first thing to do would be determine if the PGA Tour is a US based tour or a worldwide tour and then eliminate or add events that fit the description.

Next would be better care and treatment for caddies. I'm not opposed to the base salary idea proposed by @FrogginBullfish, but there would need to be some performance requirements to go along with it for the players.

I'm also not a fan of the current schedule or "playoff" format. I think fewer events with a little more space in-between would be welcomed by most and once you get to the playoff series you can do weekly. On that note, I understand why they changed the FedEx Cup format but I think it's even worse than before. Just give the season points winner a bonus prior to the playoff events and start everyone who made it at EVEN and then run a Stableford format or cumulative score over all the playoff events; the winner gets the BIG bonus.

Finally, make the product better for the fans!!! Particularly, PGA Tour Live (ESPN+). While it has certainly improved this year with ESPN+ I still hate the idea that I'm paying to watch golf, but can't watch Saturday & Sunday broadcast coverage. It's not a huge deal if I'm at home, but anywhere else? I don't care if I have to pay a little bit more so the actual broadcast group gets their cut and they could even tier the subscription for those that don't want it. I also get annoyed with the way ESPN+ handles multistream and PIP. I can multistream on my Apple TV but not my computer or phone and I can get PIP on the TV and phone but not the computer again. Why???

[LICC]

4 hours ago, FrogginBullfish said:

I'm also not a big fan of the current format of the Tour Championship. It's definitely done its job of simplifying the process of handing out the FedEx Cup but all we get now are thinkpieces on how x player actually won the tournament but only lost cause y player started 6 shots ahead.

Agree with this. I would like to see the qualifying to the final 30 stay as it is using the season long points system, but have the FedEx Cup use a combined three round score for the Tour Championship winner. Still have a Northern Trust and a BMW winner, and the Tour Champion uses the combined scores of all three rounds.

[LICC]

1 hour ago, DiscipleofPenick said:

I would like to see some kind of improvement to the Tour Championship. I hardly don't pay attention to it, and the courses they play are kind of boring. East Lake especially is an uninteresting layout, even given the history. I've mentioned a US Open rota before, but maybe it would be better served here? Get some courses we don't normally see some coverage.

This would be great, but I think Atlanta is an important site for the sponsor. Maybe have Hanse renovate East Lake to improve it like he has done with just about every other major course. 

[ejgaudette]

Personally I know less events is likely better for the viewer, but if you also want to increase guaranteed money for folks while decreasing annual revenue that's tough to pull off if they don't have the ability to take some loses for a time until maybe the fewer events get more buzz and get greater revenue out of each event. More variety of events couple help though, team events, LPGA cross overs or mixed team events. I actually like the idea of a fall team series to break things up. Wrap up by Thanksgiving at the latest and then break for 3 months.

[Middler]

I’m a near senior so I’m not sure what will appeal to next gen audiences - the rise of extreme sports gives me the humility to know I don’t understand other generations (even though I enjoy some of it too). I’ve never liked watching team events, or match play, but they may have great appeal to younger audiences.

As much as I like the gentleman’s sport traditions of golf, I know that doesn’t seem to be the future for golf - and even I recognize the product presentation may have gotten stale. I don’t like about half the commentators, and while their “insights” are useful sometimes, clearly flawed and pompous too often. I hope not but maybe the “baba booey/get in the hole” crowd will have their way. I don’t like the way fans have evolved in most pro sports, football, basketball, etc. but clearly I’m an exception.

The money already seemed outrageous to me, now having a competing tour that’s even richer is puzzling to me. Tiger changed everything.

So I’ll wait and see if there are changes and if I’m still interested, but I’m not the future of golf…

[RickyBobby_PR]

Many like shorter seasons but that also means economic loss to the areas that host events. I don’t have the numbers but local charities will suffer. Local restaurants, hotels, shops as well

[DiscipleofPenick]

1 hour ago, LICC said:

This would be great, but I think Atlanta is an important site for the sponsor. Maybe have Hanse renovate East Lake to improve it like he has done with just about every other major course. 

That may be true, and I wish it wasn't reality. They should pick the best courses and not just what the sponsor wants. Also I'm salty over Cleveland losing the WGC Firestone event that went to Memphis because of FedEx.

Also, can get we get more exhibitions? Like Shell's Wide World of Golf, or Tiger's battles under the lights.

[TR1PTIK]

25 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Many like shorter seasons but that also means economic loss to the areas that host events. I don’t have the numbers but local charities will suffer. Local restaurants, hotels, shops as well

Perhaps the answer to this (though not perfect) would be to rotate certain events every other season. Maybe that would make it possible for the tour to visit other locations as well? You can keep the mainstays like The Players, Memorial, Phoenix Open, etc., but why not make the Sanderson Farms an every other year event?

[Middler]

2 hours ago, DiscipleofPenick said:

That may be true, and I wish it wasn't reality. They should pick the best courses and not just what the sponsor wants. Also I'm salty over Cleveland losing the WGC Firestone event that went to Memphis because of FedEx.

Also, can get we get more exhibitions? Like Shell's Wide World of Golf, or Tiger's battles under the lights.

You know better. Follow the money, always, as you know…

[RickyBobby_PR]

2 hours ago, DiscipleofPenick said:

That may be true, and I wish it wasn't reality. They should pick the best courses and not just what the sponsor wants. Also I'm salty over Cleveland losing the WGC Firestone event that went to Memphis because of FedEx.

Also, can get we get more exhibitions? Like Shell's Wide World of Golf, or Tiger's battles under the lights.

The sponsors sometimes have ties to certain courses or areas and the sponsor is the one paying the fees that help pay for the tournament.

Also it’s not just about the course itself but rather whether the course and the facilities along with the surrounding area can support everything needed from parking, accommodations and so on.

[GrumpyGolf]

After reading through this thread and all of the suggestions, I can't help but feel that PGA's brand of golf has just stagnated and the only way to change that is to blow it up and start from scratch.  The purses are huge, this is a plus. The number of dates crosses almost the entire calendar year, which of course, ties back to getting the product on TV more. The TV coverage is abysmal and viewership is not determined by the product but by the players in contention. The players fall into one of three categories - journeyman, rising/falling star, and star - and that determines how the player as to approach their schedule. The players are, at best, out of touch with the everyday fan, at worst, they just don't care. Sponsorship is lagging in some geographical areas but booming in others.  The PGA powers that be, promote and showcase their work with their stars, but don't want you to see behind the curtain to much. The four tours, PGA, LPGA, Senior's and KORN, are not promoted equally, and it shows (I am not saying that the PGA has to spend the same amount of promotional money on each tour, but there is a way to do it more equitably).  There are more things I could point out and that have been pointed out, but I feel like I am already ranting into a vacuum at this point.

Now what to do?

First, condense the calendar.  To many events dilutes the product in several ways.  First, the big name players will continue to skip the Mid-America Lawn Mower Loan Agency Open, no matter what (or maybe not, more in later thoughts). That in turn will drive down the viewership, or worse when some potential new fan watches they just turn it off.  Second, even though this gives a journeyman a better chance at a Cinderella story and a chance to lock up their tour card for the next season, so what? If they can't contend when the big guns are playing, why give them a pass?  Harsh? Maybe. True? Yes. 

Second, listen to the hard core fans when it comes to broadcasters. If the people watching are turning off the sound in droves and posting on social media consistently about the announcers, listen to them.  Just because a guy or woman won a few majors, it doesn't make them announcer worthy. And listening to someone talk about how they would play a shot vs what the player may do is not what I want to hear.  Today's game is not the same as it was in the twentieth century.  If a player makes a bad decision, roast them.  If a player makes a bad shot, talk about what went wrong and move on.

Thirdly, if the PGA wants to keep all the sponsors, move the second tier events to an every other year rotating schedule. The Greater Lawn Mower Open in even number years and the Savings and Loan Invitational in odd number years.  You could actually increase the number of sponsors this way.  Lets say you had a 36 week calendar and 16 of those events were considered first tier events for every year. Then you have 20 event dates that you could rotate among 40 sponsors, now you just went from 50 sponsored events to 56. This would also allow for more locations and more cities. 

Fourth, bring back the Silly Season - not the Four Quarterback Challenge.  Bring back the head to head contests. Have 4some challenges that are comprised of a PGA player, an LPGA player, a Sr Player, and a KORN Qualifier.  Make it a best ball shotgun start. Have challenge shots during the match.  Have Skins matches, these were fun to watch when I was younger and in this day and age of online gambling, probably more relatable to everyday viewers.  Have a local pro challenge where a local pro gets to challenge a tournament entrant to a Monday before match on the tournament course. While it may not be a national ratings bonanza, it would give the locals something to get them excited. 

Fifth, make each week that is not a Major count, just not as much as a Major. If you win a Major or the Players Championship, you are automatically entered into a two week end of year playoff.  The rest of the events get a points based reward 10 points for 1st, 8 for 2nd, 6 for 3rd, 4 for 4th, and 2 for 5th (you would also get these points in Majors).  The playoff is comprised the Majors winners plus the next however many is needed to get to 36 players based on points earned. The first weekend is a round-robin style event where once you have two head to head wins you advance to the final week. This would cut the field in half. The final week is a stroke play with six threesomes over 54 holes. Would this cure all the ails of the current format, no.  Would it eliminate players from skipping events, maybe depending on where they were in the points system. 

Finally, promote the game, not the players as much. I know that players are the ones that drive the ratings and the needle, but the game is what the everyday muni player enjoys.  Promote it.  Nurture it.  Allow it to change organically over time.  Don't force it to be what is was 100 years ago. If advances in technology make the everyday player enjoy the game allow it to be. If the new crop of players and fans are a little more loud, so be it. Happy Gilmore is a fun comedy to watch, but we all know the reality of that occurring is slim at best. But can the lines be blurred sometimes? Yes.

I know this is a long post and most won't get through it to this line or even agree with most of it, but just my two cents US for what it is worth.

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by GrumpyGolf
added missed thoughts

[GolfSpy_APH]

Okay so as I said I like the team aspect of it and think that it can be built upon. 

For starters I wouldn't change events such as The Players, Masters, US Open, PGA or The Open. They all stay as the 4 majors and well The Players and would still run as they always have. 

For teams I would like to see 24 teams of 8 players for a total of 192 players. Of course we do not have 192 golfers per event, but teams are required to have 4 players play each event. Which would make a field size of 96 golfers. 

The schedule would consist of 24 scheduled events and each team member is required to play a minimum of 10 events. This adds a bit of strategy in terms of who do you start at what course, who is stronger at a certain point in the season and so on. Need a late push do you save a start or two extra at the end of the schedule for your "star players"? With it not quite being half for required starts some golfers could have a couple extra starts if the team decides. 

As for the format I would like to see it much F1 with a Team Title and Individual Title. Obviously point breakdown and all that could be determined later on. 

I would also include 2 "Team Majors" where top 12 teams make it and all 8 players play and team points rather then individual points or scores only matter. 

Things I have many ideas on, but nothing really concrete is how are teams decided? Construction of teams (say 6 PGA carded and 2 KF Tour players?) and so on. 

I could see sponsors jumping on this purchasing or sponsoring a team. Merch could be sold and of course there could be trades or other things to spice things up. Maybe 2 players each season get dropped to a pool for redraft the following season? Or 1 PGA and 1 KFC player. Either way I think it could liven up how the current format is. Smaller fields, 54 holes could be played vs 72. 

Of course this is just me and what I think would be a interesting new format for golf and the PGA as well as it keeps some of the main events as is and doesn't change them as they shouldn't be. 

What are your thoughts?

[Shankster]

If we add too many team events I think it would take away from the Ryder Cup.  I mean the Presidents Cup is almost unbearable to watch as it is.  I don’t think the Louisiana Team event is all that popular….?

 

Im saying they need to add more WGC events… a few teams, more match play. And for Pete’s sake some different golf courses. 
 

Make the Players a Major… because it is.

10 WGC Events

5 Majors

2 Team events. One with LPGA and one with KFT

Oh and get rid of the silly nascar cup play offs

[Ohms]

12 minutes ago, Shankster said:

If we add too many team events I think it would take away from the Ryder Cup.  I mean the Presidents Cup is almost unbearable to watch as it is.  

I've always thought that the Ryder Cup loser should have to play the President's cup.

Americans would play harder in the Ryder to avoid a yearly commitment and we'd get the ...ahem.. ever so interesting Europe v World Team matches we've all been ...ahem... waiting for.

 

Fixing the PGA:
Speed it up! I want to see a shot clock on the marker's placard with increasing penalties for infraction (doesn't need to be strokes, can be money)

Edited June 9, 2022 by Ohms

[GrumpyGolf]

1 hour ago, Ohms said:

I've always thought that the Ryder Cup loser should have to play the President's cup.

Americans would play harder in the Ryder to avoid a yearly commitment and we'd get the ...ahem.. ever so interesting Europe v World Team matches we've all been ...ahem... waiting for.

 

Fixing the PGA:
Speed it up! I want to see a shot clock on the marker's placard with increasing penalties for infraction (doesn't need to be strokes, can be money)

The Ryder Cup and The President's Cup, to me, are outdated and overhyped.  I do enjoy watching the Ryder Cup, but cannot remember when I watched the President's Cup last.  Players would rather have wrist surgery than actually play in these events, they talk a good game in front of the cameras, but every now and again the inside the head voice leaks out. The PGA needs to broaden its appeal and to do that they need to seriously look at what these two products are peddling.  It has gotten laughable at the chasm between those who are participating in these matches and those who are in the galleries.

I say make the Ryder Cup teams be comprised of PGA and LPGA players. Have male and female co-captains or alternate.  Let the rankings decide like they do now the first five men and five women. Let the captains have both a male and a female pick, and add to that a Fan's Pick for both male and female (this would have alleviated some past missing players, like John Daly never making the cup team, love him or hate him the casual fans would have had him on multiple teams) (and yes I know this 14 team members instead of 12 but things change and you haven't diluted the team as much as you have enhanced it). 

Have rules around having blind draws for matchups.  Players have no idea who they face until right be fore teeing off on the first tee. I know this would affect some players worse than others due to pre-match routines, but it would make for better TV.

Make concession putts be limited (you can only receive 4 in a match lets say, then you would have to chose weather to accept the concession or putt out anyway).  Could you imagine having to stand over a 3 foot downhiller that had already been conceded but you didn't accept because you only had one concession left with 6 holes to play?

Bring the gamesmanship back into the matches.

Having teams with both sexes would change the dynamics of how alternate shots would be played (guys playing a three wood off the tee vs driver because a good drive would negated if it introduced a hazard into the partners next shot or vice versa). Think if Bryson had teamed with Danielle Kang in an alternate ball, on holes she had to tee off on, he would be hitting second shots from places he only walked past before, by almost 100 yards.

Now, I am all in on the America side, but maybe it could be more along the lines of North America vs Europe vs Pacific Rim (non North American countries) vs Everyone Else and make it more of a quadrennial thing like a World Cup. Would fans take over areas in droves like they do in soccer? No. But imagine if golf had just half the world audience that soccer does.

I know, I know.  Go ahead and roast me now for daring to change such a beloved match.

btw ... I hate watching a player stand over a ball weighing his options when I am on the course, I definitely do not want to watch a pro stand over a shot talking to his caddy for more than 10 seconds.  Unless your/their ball is in high grass, a weird lie, or some place where you need an official to discuss it with, be ready for your shot when you get to the ball. See the shot, know the shot, and go.

[GaDawg]

1. Show more golfers and don't focus on just the top ranked ones.

2. Show more actual live golf, save the interviews for The Golf Channel.

3. Reduce the amount of TV commercials.

 

[LICC]

On 6/9/2022 at 6:31 PM, GrumpyGolf said:

The Ryder Cup and The President's Cup, to me, are outdated and overhyped.  I do enjoy watching the Ryder Cup, but cannot remember when I watched the President's Cup last.  Players would rather have wrist surgery than actually play in these events, they talk a good game in front of the cameras, but every now and again the inside the head voice leaks out. The PGA needs to broaden its appeal and to do that they need to seriously look at what these two products are peddling.  It has gotten laughable at the chasm between those who are participating in these matches and those who are in the galleries.

I say make the Ryder Cup teams be comprised of PGA and LPGA players. Have male and female co-captains or alternate.  Let the rankings decide like they do now the first five men and five women. Let the captains have both a male and a female pick, and add to that a Fan's Pick for both male and female (this would have alleviated some past missing players, like John Daly never making the cup team, love him or hate him the casual fans would have had him on multiple teams) (and yes I know this 14 team members instead of 12 but things change and you haven't diluted the team as much as you have enhanced it). 

Have rules around having blind draws for matchups.  Players have no idea who they face until right be fore teeing off on the first tee. I know this would affect some players worse than others due to pre-match routines, but it would make for better TV.

Make concession putts be limited (you can only receive 4 in a match lets say, then you would have to chose weather to accept the concession or putt out anyway).  Could you imagine having to stand over a 3 foot downhiller that had already been conceded but you didn't accept because you only had one concession left with 6 holes to play?

Bring the gamesmanship back into the matches.

Having teams with both sexes would change the dynamics of how alternate shots would be played (guys playing a three wood off the tee vs driver because a good drive would negated if it introduced a hazard into the partners next shot or vice versa). Think if Bryson had teamed with Danielle Kang in an alternate ball, on holes she had to tee off on, he would be hitting second shots from places he only walked past before, by almost 100 yards.

Now, I am all in on the America side, but maybe it could be more along the lines of North America vs Europe vs Pacific Rim (non North American countries) vs Everyone Else and make it more of a quadrennial thing like a World Cup. Would fans take over areas in droves like they do in soccer? No. But imagine if golf had just half the world audience that soccer does.

I know, I know.  Go ahead and roast me now for daring to change such a beloved match.

btw ... I hate watching a player stand over a ball weighing his options when I am on the course, I definitely do not want to watch a pro stand over a shot talking to his caddy for more than 10 seconds.  Unless your/their ball is in high grass, a weird lie, or some place where you need an official to discuss it with, be ready for your shot when you get to the ball. See the shot, know the shot, and go.

The Ryder Cup doesn’t need any changes. The players love it, they take it seriously as a competition, the formats are terrific. It is one of the best golf events we have. 
 

The Presidents Cup suffers from being a lesser version of the Ryder Cup. There is not much that can be done about that. 

[fixyurdivot]

On 6/9/2022 at 12:53 AM, GolfSpy_APH said:

Not going to lie this is a rip off a thread I found on another forum, but felt the discussion was good to bring over here. 

Given everything that is going on and the likelihood of changes coming in the future to the PGA Tour let us take the chance to field our opinions and what we would do to change the PGA Tour in the future. Whether it be for fan experience, the tour players themselves, formats, schedules or fields what would you change or modify to improve the future of the tour. 

I personally would like to see the Team aspect explored more. With this I'd go more in depth on a later post, but am looking forward to see how or what everyone else would change.

Note: LIV golf discussion is best in its own thread. This topic is for the PGA future and references LIV is fine, but it should not fall into a compare to what is going on right now. 

Free live streaming and radio for every major... that is all.

[null]

Just now, fixyurdivot said:

Free live streaming and radio for every major... that is all.

The majors are not owned or ran by the PGA Tour

[fixyurdivot]

Just now, jlukes said:

The majors are not owned or ran by the PGA Tour

No matter.  Use their BIG stick and make it happen.  Free live streaming and radio for our fans or we refuse to send our players.  It's time for some serious change .

[GaDawg]

4 hours ago, jlukes said:

The majors are not owned or ran by the PGA Tour

That's a good thing.