PGA Tour opponent Premier Golf League revived?

▲ A PGA Tour Championship. [AFP/Getty Image=Yonhapnews]

SEOUL, May 5 (Yonhap) -- The PGA Tour was turned upside down as the embers of the Premier Golf League (PGL), which had been thought to have been turned off, came to life.

The PGL, which was outlined in January last year, attracted extraordinary attention by encouraging top golfers to participate, saying it offers more prize money than the PGA Tour and guarantees more prize money while holding fewer tournaments.

Most of the more than 40 PGA Tour competitions annually are held for four days with around 140 players, and there are cuts, so they should turn empty-handed, but the PGL, which hosts only 18 competitions, has 48 players playing three days without cuts.

Moreover, the prize money per competition amounts to as much as $10 million. In the PGA Tour, there are only a few competitions with more than $10 million in prize money except for major competitions.

The 48 players who participate in the PGL will earn more money by playing fewer competitions.

However, the PGL seemed to be stranded by the announcement of the absence of many top players, including Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19).

However, the Telegraph reported on the 5th (KST) that investors who pay for PGL recently contacted world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, Brooks Kepka, Phil Mickelson (USA), and Justin Rose (England).

The PGL encouraged the players to participate, saying the PGL will be launched in September 2022. PGL reportedly offered to "guarantee" their annual income of $30 million.

The unnamed player agent told ESPN that the PGL is still alive. "They put suggestions in a lot of agents and players," he said. "Now we're just listening."

The PGL's money supply was reported to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia, which founded the European Professional Golf Tour Saudi International in 2019, has succeeded in attracting world No. 1 Dustin Johnson (USA) and Mickelson by paying more invitation fees than prize money.

These Saudi Arabian investors are said to have set up a "headquarters" in Jupiter, Florida, where many top PGA Tour players reside and started recruiting players.

Quail Halo Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, the venue of the PGA Tour Wells Fargo Championship, two days before the opening of the tournament, was disturbed by the news all day.

Jay Monahan, commissioner of the PGA Tour, who flew to Quail Halo Golf Club in a hurry and met with the players, stressed once again a strong response, saying, "If you participate in the PGA Tour, you will be expelled permanently."

Commissioner Monahan once again explained his plan to introduce the so-called "player impact program," which measures the popularity of players and pays $40 million to the top 10 players.

He seems to have started a "parallel crackdown" to prevent popular players from escaping to the PGL.

Players who attended the official press conference of the tournament were also asked questions related to the PGL.

In public, the players reacted negatively to the PGL.

Webb Simpson said, "I love the PGA Tour. It's given me an incredible opportunity these last 12 years of my life. It's hard for me to believe that it's really going to happen and the guys will really jump ship and go." 

Harris English said, "I hope it doesn't happen," "This is the best tour in the world. The best players are making tons of money. Why don't we just focus on continuing to improve this tour?".

Golf Digest analyzed that even if the PGL is launched, players will not be able to join the existing global golf "ecosystem" centered on PGA and European Tours such as the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, and World Ranking Points.

Meanwhile, agents from Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson, who were reportedly offered large sums by the PGL, declined to respond to Golf Digest's request to confirm the facts.

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