PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, Rory McIlroy Defend New-Look 2024 Schedule

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan met with the media Tuesday morning, a few hours after a players-only meeting about the changes to the 2024 schedule was held at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Fairly quickly, Monahan was asked if the PGA Tour is copying LIV Golf’s model of limited fields featuring no cuts with its designated-event model starting next year.

In response to the idea that PGA Tour designated events look similar to LIV events, Jay Monahan was quick:

“Do you think we really look the same?” pic.twitter.com/twg3KjeYN4

— Sean Zak (@Sean_Zak) March 7, 2023

Monahan said in response:

“We must show our top performers as often as possible. At the heart is our effort to present the best possible PGA Tour to our fans and provide maximum benefits to every PGA Tour member across the board.”

Monahan said players will still have the opportunity to play in these exclusive events—something he said is missing from LIV’s model.

All the details haven’t been released, but in a memo last week, Monahan said that players who accumulated the most points in regular tournaments leading up to a designated event would gain entry into that field.

Rory McIlroy also spoke about the players-only meeting on Tuesday morning, saying that it wasn’t as contentious as he expected, given the amount of skepticism from rank-and-file golfers when the plan was announced last week. Golfweek, however, reported that there were plenty of no-shows for the meeting that was called in somewhat short order. In addition, not all of the PGA Tour players are here for The Players Championship this week.

McIlroy said:

“I think when more information and data was presented to them, the people that had reservations about it came around.”

The Northern Irishman also added that the proposal that came out of the meeting with him, Tiger Woods, and other top golf stars last summer called for a plan that saw around 80% of the top 50 keeping its status from year to year. McIlroy said the PGA Tour wanted a 40% churn, which is what they believe the new plan will have.

Monahan said that the 2024 schedule will likely be released around the middle of the summer. That could coincide with the FedEx Cup playoffs in August.

Cover Image Via Twitter