McIlroy Says No-Cut PGA Events Are Nothing New as LIV Golfers Respond

Shortly after news broke on Wednesday and top PGA Tour pros talked about proposed changes to the 2024 schedule revolving around designated events, tour commissioner Jay Monahan confirmed the news.

There will be eight events (outside of the majors, The Players Championship, and FedEx Cup playoff events that will have the same format) with no-cuts and featuring the following:

• Top 50 from the previous year’s FedEx Cup standings
• Top 10 of the current year’s standings (if they differ from the previous year’s rankings)
• Top 5 in FedEx Cup points from non-designated events leading up to the next one on the schedule
• Any winners from that season who don’t meet the above criteria
• 4 Sponsor Exemptions among players who are currently a part of the PGA Tour

Naturally, the news of limited-field, no-cut events got the attention of some LIV Golf pros, whose schedule is full of that tournament format (with the exception of LIV events being 54 holes, while the PGA Tour will maintain a 72-hole tournament).

I’ve spent the last year reading how good full fields and cuts are! 👀

— Lee Westwood (@WestwoodLee) March 1, 2023

Richard Bland, who was a part of the DP World Tour, had similar thoughts.

Richard Bland has an interesting take on the impact the new designated events will have on the DP World Tour and the strategic alliance. This is similar to what Lee Westwood has said.

Thoughts? @WestwoodLee pic.twitter.com/rcd8tVv1g6

— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) March 1, 2023

For his part, defending FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy says that no-cut events are nothing new on the PGA Tour.

McIlroy said:

“If you think of like the four WGC’s, you’ve got the three playoffs events, you’ve got the CJ Cup, the Zozo. So there’s precedent there for no-cut events. The only reason no-cut events are a big deal is because LIV has come along. So there is precedent for no-cut events.”

Patrick Cantlay talked about the fan component of having no-cut events as well:

“If you’re a little kid living in a city that one of these tournaments is going on, LA for example, and you can only go on Sunday because that’s when your mom and dad can take you. You know if Tiger Woods enters the tournament on Sunday, you can go watch him.”

The elephant in the room is whether the emergence of the LIV Golf directly led to these massive changes in the way the PGA Tour operates.

Max Homa said that it’s definitely a factor:

“I don’t think we would be here this soon without LIV, but I would hope at some point we would have looked at this and said, Hey, there might be a better way to do it.”

The PGA Tour hasn’t set a date for releasing the 2024 schedule, but since they said the designated events will be more spread out, expect some changes from the typical calendar.

Cover Image Via Independent