While almost everything in professional golf appears to be up in the air right now, there is surely no question at all that changes will need to be made to the PGA Tour and LIV Golf if the game is going to come back together properly in the coming years.
Whether the PGA Tour would like to admit it or not, the emergence of LIV Golf has forced them to make changes. It is no coincidence that the PGA Tour have attempted to ensure that their best players are at many of the same tournaments throughout the season.
The signature events have definitely been successful in making certain tournaments feel even more important. And the large majority of the fields for those events come from those who finished in the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings the previous year.
There are other ways to qualify for the likes of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am or The Memorial, but with the field sizes set at around 70 to 80 players, it is not easy for others to earn a seat at the table.
PGA Tour criticised over FedEx Cup play-off decision
Of course, it is the top 70 in the standings who initially qualify for the FedEx Cup play-offs at the end of the season. And with that, Smylie Kaufman has told The Smylie Show that he has never quite been able to get his head around the idea that there is no consolation prize for those who do not then make the BMW Championship.
“I still feel like that all needs to get sorted out, the top 50. It seems like to me, if you make the play-offs, you should be in the signature events,” he said.
“It’s kind of weird. I’ve never really understood, like, ‘okay, you made the play-offs, next week’s actually the more important one because that’s the one that gets you in the signature events’. To me, in a perfect world, when you have 100 guys that are going to be playing, or however many guys are playing signature events, if you make the play-offs in the top 70, you should be in the signature events.
“So that should be the reward for making the play-offs, and now you play in a really fun format in the play-offs to hopefully crown the post-season champion if you will.”
The big problem since the signature events began
Theoretically, someone like Tom Kim is not guaranteed to be in the signature events next year. The South Korean was the player to finish 51st in the standings in 2024 after a dramatic finish to his week at the St Jude Championship.
However, the good news for Kim is that there are still a number of options available to him, including receiving sponsor exemptions. And if you are a sponsor of an event, you are probably going to want someone like the 22-year-old in the field.
But for those players who finished between 51st and 70th who are not household names – perhaps because they are still working their way up the ladder – it is going to be even harder to qualify for the signature events.
Something definitely has to give. For the viewer, the signature events are well worth tuning in for given the quality of the field. But on the flip side, there are plenty of other events which then become much more forgettable. Scottie Scheffler is rarely playing now unless it is a signature event or a major.
There is a balance to be struck – and clearly, the PGA Tour has not found the right balance just yet.
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