In Awarding $1.5 Billion of Grants to Players, the PGA Tour Has Gone Mad With Money

The money in professional golf has gotten beyond silly.

Remember, we are talking about a niche sport that does not garner many eyeballs when you compare it to the four major sports in this country, especially NFL football.

Of course, nobody can take on the behemoth that is the NFL, so why golfers think they should be paid like professional football players is unimaginable.

PGA Tour players believe they should be compensated at similar levels as a prized linebacker or wide receiver, and clearly the new CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises agrees.

A memo this week from Jay Monahan to his membership outlined a grant program that will initially distribute $930 million to 193 current and former players.

Then, starting in 2025 and going through 2030, $100 million more in grants will be distributed annually to top performers using a three-year formula.

This grant program comes on top of increases in purses across the board and the advent of eight signature events with purses of $20 million.

And that doesn't include the $25 million purse for the Players, $20 million for the first two playoff events and an increased purse for the playoff finale at East Lake.

Add in a retirement program that's one of the best in professional sports, and the players are swimming in money.

Oddly enough, when the new Strategic Sports Group investment deal was announced last week during the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, most players recognized that the initial $1.5 billion investment would put the PGA Tour on a stronger financial footing.

That’s true, but that entire $1.5 billion is now spoken for with these player grants. Maybe the other $1.5 million earmarked for investment by SSG will go toward building the business.

You know, to not only make golf better but grow the game.

But how will the newly created PGA Tour Enterprises build a business that generates enough revenue to give SSG a return on its investment?

Expanding the Tour's media presence has been suggested by some players to create more fan engagement, but what type of expansion would generate a sufficient return on a $3 billion investment?

Nothing that has been suggested by the players or the PGA Tour grows the game or creates any measurable fan engagement.

At the same time, powers that reside in Ponte Vedra will have to explain to more than 193 players how and why they will or will not get part of the pot of gold financed by SSG.

The majority of the money is focused on "Group 1," which consists of $750 million in equity grants for only 36 players and is based on a combination of career performance, performance of the last five years and Player Impact Program scores.

It’s unclear what kind of weight will be given to each of the three measures, which makes a massive difference in who will receive a grant and what the size of the grant will be.

Just think of the potential legal action that could crop up from being No. 37 or questioning whether career performance is worth more than the last five years.

Or more precisely, what is the value of 18 majors and 73 PGA Tour wins versus winning 10 times on the PGA Tour in the last five seasons and four career majors?

It’s a road littered with potholes, and all the money in the world is not going to fix it. But everyone is trying to use money to do just that.