The Premier Golf League took some more shots recently as two powerful players said it will not be in their plans.
The most notable voice to come out against joining the PGL was world number one Rory McIlroy. McIlroy was certainly one of the PGL’s likely targets. They’ll need a few big names to get some buzz started if they ever want to make this tour a reality. But the ever frank McIlroy has opted out, “The more I’ve thought about it, the more I don’t like it. For me, I’m out. My position is I’m against it until there may come a day that I can’t be against it. If everyone else goes, I might not have a choice, but at this point I don’t like what they’re proposing.” 
Not very encouraging for those PGL backers who remain anonymous but all signs point to big Saudi money behind it.
Charley Hoffman may not have the name recognition of McIlroy but his statement is just as telling. You see Hoffman was recently elected as the chairman of the PGA Tour’s Players Advisory Council so he certainly knows the pulse of his fellow players.
“I think it’s intriguing that another group of people are willing to dump a bunch of money and try to guarantee us money, get some of the best players in the world to come over and play. I just don’t think there’s any sustainability or really any traction, personally,” he said. “I haven’t dug deep enough into any of that to see if it is. I don’t know if I would like to be owned by some Saudi money over there, but if something was a life-changing amount of money they offered me, you’d have to look at it as an independent contractor. Because there’s no guarantees that I’ll have a PGA Tour card in three or four years.”
I’d love to take a look at the PGL’s business plan and their hit list of “must get” players. They are talking about eighteen events featuring 48 golfers on twelve four man teams with a two million dollar winners check each week. But they know this doesn’t see one ball struck unless they convince big names to come along. I am sure Rory was on the list along with Phil Mickelson (who has been seen being chumming with the PGL) and maybe Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and all the rest of the top players in the world.
The PGA Tour is a great place to earn a living. They had 112 players earn over a million dollars. The 48th ranked money maker last season was Billy Horschel with well over two million in earnings.
We all know who’d they love to bag…the real “needle mover” in golf, Tiger Woods. Tiger would be the ultimate win for the PGL and that presents some real issues for the tours, fans, and everyone involved in the game. Money is a big motivator but Tiger has no worries there. The PGA Tour has come out and said it’s either us or them and any PGA Tour Member that tries the PGL is done as a member. But would they ban Tiger? Phil? Brooks? Interesting.
I can’t see any of those big name players other than Phil Mickelson making the jump. Phil is busing re-branding himself in a effort to stay relevant and this would certainly keep his name in the news. I could also imagine Phil having a piece of the action in the PGL and giving him some ownership stake would certainly motivate him to recruit fellow players.
For my money this is a no-go at least right now. The PGA Tour is the NFL of golf. We have seen plenty of so called threats to the NFL and nothing sticks. And remember the WGC’s were born out of Greg Norman’s idea for a world golf tour, the PGA Tour beat him to the punch.
And to be honest, there is enough golf out there at least from a fan’s viewpoint. The PGA Tour now plays year round. The European Tour does also and is a very good product. The LPGA has never been so strong and thanks to the Golf Channel we get the minor leagues of the Korn Ferry Tour and plenty other events from around the world.
Where does the PGL expect to fit in? That’s a tough one. But it would be much easier if Tiger stood on the first tee as they opened their season. I can’t see it.
The PGL if not dead yet, is on life support.
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