Ohio Golf Journal March 2020

of those lofty numbers. Several tournaments fail to exceed €1.5 million ($1.65 million USD). At first blush, the idea of the Premier Golf League with bigger purses seems like a great deal for the world’s best professional golfers. Not so fast my friends! Both theEuropeanandPGATourCommissioners, Keith Pelley and Jay Monahan are vehemently opposed to any competitive golf tour and have sent emails to their members expressing their concerns. Essentially telling the players, “It’s our way or the highway!” In a preemptive move, the PGA Tour raised the total purse for the 2020 PLAYERS Championship to $15 million, an increase of $2.5 million. Last year the first-place check for the FedEx Cup Champion was increased from $10 million to $15 million. Maybe it’s time for the PGA Tour and the European Tour to finally get together and create a World Tour that would cater to the top players, and entice them to travel internationally, while paying them top dollar for their services. If you pay them, they will come. The four major championships, as well as, the four World Golf Championships would remain separate and would retain their unique status as premier events.