PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan, has announced even more changes to its structure in order to compete with the rival LIV Golf league.
The PGA already announced a host of changes earlier this year under duress from LIV Golf and has now decided to embellish things further.
Chief among the new changes are four new additional Elevated Events, a commitment from top players to compete in at least 20 PGA Tour events per year, an expansion to the Player Impact Program and guaranteed league-minimum earnings for full TOUR members.
The additional Elevated Events will be announced in the coming weeks bringing the total to 12 events, with each offering purses at least $20 million.
New events will join the Sentry Tournament of Champions, The Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational, Memorial Tournament, World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and the three FedExCup Playoffs events (FedEx St. Jude Championship, BMW Championship and TOUR Championship).
Top players have made a commitment to play all 12 events, in addition to the four majors and THE PLAYERS Championship, and add three PGA TOUR events of their choosing to their schedules.
Minimum participation in 20 PGA events is a requirement to be eligible for any benefits.
Under the new structure, the PGA Tour is introducing an Earnings Assurance Program which will guarantee the fully-exempt TOUR members at least $500,000 per year.
The Player Impact Program (PIP) will also see its money doubled to $100 million for the 20 players who resonate the most with fans and media. The PIP criteria from next year will include internet searches, general awareness, golf fan awareness, broadcast exposure, and media mentions.
The Tour will also pay a $5,000 travel stipend to non-exempt members (126-150 category and below) for every missed cut.
PGA hopes that by taking a holistic approach and listening to the needs of its participants that it can stem the flow of defectors to the LIV league which is offering money-laden incentives to anyone that jumps ship.
