The PGA Tour is one of the most lucrative leagues in the world, there’s no reason any golfer should leave it
The world of men's professional golf is potentially about to go through one of the biggest shake-ups we’ve seen for many decades with a lot of the upcoming change down to money. Indeed, some of the sport’s biggest names are considering moves to the Saudi Golf League and have expressed concerns about how much they’re able to earn on the PGA Tour as a reason for exploring this option that would earn them lifetime bans from the PGA and European Tours, as well as all the majors if they were to take it up. Sergio Garcia even went as far as to say that he is condensing swapping allegiances to this new enterprise because he has to provide for his family.
It’s a bold statement to make when you consider for instance that the upcoming Masters tournament has a collective purse of £11.5 million with the winner taking home £2,070,000. Sure, the latest golf betting may price Garcia at 66/1 to win the event which may sound like the Spaniard won’t be able to enjoy a piece of the lucrative pie but then again, the 42-year-old won the event in 2017 so he has in essence had a big chunk of it already.
In addition to that, the latest golf tips this week for the Masters don't actually write off the Spaniard’s chances either given that he knows how to win at Augusta National. The point, however, is that Garcia’s remarks about having to make decisions based on the financial security of his nearest and dearest are audacious at best, and disingenuous at worst.
This PGA Tour is, after all, one of the most lucrative sports leagues in the world that pays its players eye-watering sums for relative mediocrity. Of course, it’s all relevant as these are the best golfers in the world and thoroughly deserve what they get even if they're not winning. Indeed, the road to the summit of the men’s game is paved with sacrifice but the reality is that you don’t have to come first to be a multimillionaire. Now, that’s generosity for you and should encourage a degree of loyalty from the players but the new Super Golf League is pushing that to the extreme as players are tempted to sign on for extraordinary sums of money. Bryson DeChambeau was the latest to deny he was thinking about signing on with the rebel league and rubbished reports that the Saudis were prepared to offer him £100 million to join.
To give the big-hitting Californian the benefit of the doubt, perhaps that isn’t true, but you can be certain that the figure suggested isn’t far off either. Ian Poulter was another high-profile name to be offered a vast sum after reports emerged that he had been sent a cheque for £22 million to commit his future to the league.
No one can argue that those aren’t life-changing sums of money but with regards to these two players, for example, haven't their lives already changed for good? Poulter has career earnings in excess of £20 million on the PGA Tour whilst DeChambeau, 18 years the Englishman’s junior, has already racked up over £19 million in prize money.
When all is said and done, players are entitled to make their own choices but they shouldn't cite financial concerns as their reason for leaving the PGA Tour.
