Athletes’ meeting… “Up to 15 competitions planned” revealed
20 supporters including McIlroy and Spieth
Increased prize money and no cut cuts
It has more competitions than LIV, so it is attractive
“Tour only for some players” backlash
‘Golf Emperor’ Tiger Woods (USA, photo) prepares for the launch of a mini-tour against LIV Golf Invitational (LIV).
American media such as Golf Channel and ESPN reported on the 22nd (Korean time) that Woods held a new mini-tour in the PGA Tour, similar to LIV, at a meeting where Woods convened players ahead of the BMW Championship, the second round of the FedEx Cup playoffs on the PGA Tour. Let’s run it,” he reported.
LIV, sponsored by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, competes without missing a cut for three days with only 48 players participating. The mini-tour that Woods envisioned is no different. There will be up to 15 tournaments in which only the top players on the PGA Tour will participate, and the prize money is high and there are no cuts. It is similar to the LIV method that threatens the PGA. The amount of prize money per tournament is inevitably smaller than that of LIV, but the number of tournaments is larger. Above all, the tournaments led by Woods are attractive to high-ranking players in that they can participate while belonging to the PGA Tour, unlike the LIV, which requires leaving the PGA Tour to participate.
According to these media, Woods revealed his idea once at the JP McManus Pro-Am held at Adair Manor Golf Course in Limerick, Ireland last month, and presented a more detailed plan a month later.
It is said that the 20 or so colleagues who were called by Woods supported most of his plans. The top players on the PGA Tour convened by Woods include Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Scotty Schaeffler, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Colin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau (USA), Jon Lam (Spain), and Victor Known as Hoblan (Norway), Matthew Fitzpatrick (England), Joaquin Nieman (Chile), Shane Lowry (Ireland), and Adam Scott (Australia). Among them were several players who were rumored to have been contacted by LIV for a signing.
To secure the prize money for the mini-tour within the PGA Tour that he is preparing, Woods contacted investors such as Irish wealthy John Patrick McManus, and set up a corporation and issued stocks to finance the operation and the prize money. Unlike the non-profit organization PGA Tour, it cannot receive tax benefits, but it is a sketch for securing a much larger financial power.
However, in the United States, there was also a backlash against the plan to operate a tour only for some of the top players. Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Bryson Dishambo (USA) have already received a large invitation fee to join the LIV, and the relative deprivation is not small. McKinsey Hughes (Canada) was concerned in an interview with the Golf Channel that “(Woods’ plan) honestly only looks like another LIV.”
Reporter Oh Hae-won ohwwho@munhwa.com