Dan Rapaport tweets on PGA Tour’s elevated event strategy- “Not an international brand yet”
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The PGA Tour has presented a strong counter, elevated events against LIV’s menace of trying to capture the market with creativity. It has elevated four of its events obviously with wider purses and some of the most brilliant talents being associated with it.
The four events elevated are – The Phoenix Open, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship, and Travelers Championship with updated prize money of $20m (£17.8m). It has also made its space in line with the four majors, The Players, the three FedEx Cup Playoff events, the three invitationals (Genesis, Bay Hill, Memorial), the WGC Match Play, and the Tournament of Champions.
The elevated status concept was conceptualized only in August soon after the LIV Golf series took massive strides with a goal to converge the best players 17 times. The LIV also had an agenda to include Majors and the FedEx cup playoffs, while the PGA has made it much like an annual affair. The four elevated might be forced to step back in exchange for some other events sharing the same spaces.
Also read:- LIV golf an ally to OIL money, what about the PGA Tour?
Elevated status at PGA undermines ‘strategic alliance’ with DP Tour
The PGA Tour strategically aligned with the DP World Tour to expand its fan base and reach. This naturally made way for European events to enjoy a special status in the series. To an unpleasant surprise, no European event was elevated for the next annual appearance and even potent events like the ‘Scottish Open’ went unattended.
The changes however were advertised as a new attempt at the golf series by PGA for bridging best golfers together. “Our top players are firmly behind the tour,” said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan in August. The commitment of the players for the 17 events elevated as of now was highlighted, not leaving behind room for players to choose three as per their liking. Although Dan Rapaport noted PGA’s narrower approach, unlike LIV in his tweet.
He noted, “I will say I’m surprised none of the PGA Tour elevated events are outside the U.S.—you’d think the tour would wanna be more international, but now the only marquee event outside the U.S. is The Open. LIV can now brand itself as the *world* tour, which has appeal to non-Americans.”
On the contrary, Monahan also added, “Helping us deliver an unmatched product to our fans, who will be all but guaranteed to see the best players competing against each other in 20 events or more throughout the season,” sending a message that the convergence of talents tops the agenda as of now.
Also read:- PGA Tour’s Jon Rahm rises above the rest, congratulates LIV Golf winner Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra
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Prasenjeet Singh
(251 Articles Published)