THE VILLAGES, Florida – For golf enthusiasts here’s a burning issue to consider. Do the PGA TOUR’s four tournaments in four weeks, in the State of Florida, put the Cognizant Classic and Valspar Championship in an awkward position?
Does the lack of “marquee” players at the two tournaments dissuade fan attendance?
Do the best players pick the two higher purse tournaments over the other two every year?
Does “March Madness” draw fans away from the Valspar Championship?
The recent “Florida Swing” makes me wonder if the PGA TOUR has turned its back on the two tournament’s sponsors and the fans by not offering them the same purses and field that play at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship.
Asking for a friend but maybe the PGA TOUR should add financial bonuses for players that play three of the four or four of the four “Florida Swing” events.
FACTS
Let’s take a look at the top players by the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) that participated in the first 3 Florida tournaments this year. This should help bring to light just what is happening when the PGA saturates a state by promoting four tournaments in four weeks within 200 miles of each other with unequal prize money for the same amount of work required to win.
The 2024 Cognizant Classic was this year’s Sunshine State’s first PGA Tour event February 29-March 3. The purse was $9,000,000. The winner’s share was $1,620,000. Although the Cognizant Classic isn’t one of the PGA Tour’s “Signature Events”, the purse still got a boost this year up from last year’s $8,400,000 which factors out to a $600,000 increase over 2023.
This year’s Classic had 19 of the top 50 players in the OWGR lead by Rory McIlroy ranked (2), Matt Fitzpatrick (9), Tom Kim (16), Cameron Young (23), Sepp Straka (25), Chris Kirk (26), Matthieu Paton (27), Russell Henley (30) and Rickie Fowler (31).
The 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational was March 7-10. This was a PGA “Signature Event” with a total purse of $20,000,000. The winner’s share was $4,000,000. This Signature Event had a cut after the 2nd round.
The API had 42 of the top 50 players in the OWGR lead by Scottie Scheffler (1), Rory McIlroy (2), Viktor Hovland (4), Xander Schauffele (5), Patrick Cantlay (6), Wyndham Clark (7), Max Homa (8), Matt Fitzpatrick (9), and Brian Harman (10).
The 2024 Players Championship was the PGA Tours third event March 14-17. Before LIV Golf it was sometimes referred to as the 5th Major due to its large player purses, high profile golfers and the Sawgrass Golf course’s long-standing tradition of challenging the very best players in the world.
This year’s total purse was $25,000,000 with a winner’s share of $4,500,000. The first 5 finishers all received more than $1,000,000 each. The Players Championship purse is second only to the $100 million purse at the 2024 FedEx Cup championship with $25,000,000 going to the winner.
This year’s Players had 48 of the top 50 players in the OWGR lead by Scottie Scheffler (1), Rory McIlroy (2), Viktor Hovland (4), Xander Schauffele (5), Patrick Cantlay (6), Wyndham Clark (7), Max Homa (8), Matt Fitzpatrick (9), and Brian Harman (10).
The 2024 Valspar Championship was the final PGA Tour event of the year in Florida March 21-24. It was not a “Signature Event.” The total purse for the Valspar was $8,400,000. The winner’s share was $1,510,000. The 2023 total purse was $8,100,00 and the winners share was $1,458.000. The 2024 purse was $300,000 larger than last year and the winner’s take was $52,000 more and the field had 16 of the top 50 players
ANALYSIS
It’s obvious that running four tournaments back-to-back with different purses gives the players the freedom to pick and choose which tournament(s) they feel they have the best chance to win or finish high on the money list.
Looking at the World Ranked players that played in the Cognizant Classic and Valspar Championship, it seems that they were looking for a chance to win against a weaker field or had a sponsor commitment that required them to play.
The API and Players Championship drew the largest daily attendances because of feasturing the most “Ranked” players competing. The 2nd or 3rd positions at The Players paid more money than finishing in 1st place at the Cognizant or Valspar.
Corporate sponsors seem vested in the two “Signature Events” in the “Florida Swing” even though fan attendance was down and, more importantly, TV rating were down dramatically, especially for the Valspar seeing a 27% decrease in viewship.
I doubt the PGA TOUR will change the Cognizant Classic and Valspar Championship to Fall dates to give them a better chance of being more competitive with players, purses, corporate sponsors and fan attendance?
Anyone in Florida planning on taking the family to a professional golf event and most of the top 20 players were not playing, will they still go?
TRUTH
The PGA TOUR is feeling a financial backlash from its most important asset, The Fans! They are not supporting a “Watered Down” product that has deteriorated into a “Signature Event” only showcase.
In my view the PGA TOUR and professional golf are in free fall! The future of the “Grand Old Game” is shaky if they continue to use “smoke and mirrors” to promote the product!
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