PGA TOUR Legend Sounds Off New Changes to Field Size: ‘Terrible’

A PGA TOUR legend as sounded off on the new changes to field size that were proposed recently, calling them “terrible.”

Padraig Harrington is not a fan of the new changes, which will push field sizes down, while also limiting the number of TOUR cards that are awarded each year.

On Golf Channel, Harrington made his thoughts clear (via Golf.com):

“Terrible. Just terrible. It really is. At the end of the day the people who are on the inside are voting to keep the thing tighter and more closed. Sure, why don’t we just have 12 people in the event if I’m entered and everybody else can go home?”

Golf Magazine

Harrington seems to be frustrated with the number of changes, saying that the TOUR is fixing something that was not broken.

He continued:

“The Tour was running just fine. I know there’s a little bit of pressure on time to get fields finished when they go to 156 [players] at certain times of the season, but players will deal with that, they’ll handle that. They know at the start of the year, hey, I might miss out on a few tournaments cause of light. The slow-play issue is like driving in rush hour traffic. There are too many people on the golf courses and the tee times are too tight. So yes this is a way of solving one of the big issues in golf, the pace of play, but you want to give everyone the opportunity.”

The TOUR is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Ratings are down even though the game has never been more popular. It is attempting anything to regain TV viewership, even as tournaments continue to lose their sponsors.