PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and John Henry, Chairman of the Fenway Sports Group, shake hands after signing an agreement on Jan. 31, 2024. | Photo by Chris Condon/PGA Tour via Getty Images
The PGA Tour unveiled its plan to distribute equity shares of its new for-profit company to current players.
The PGA Tour sent an email to its members Wednesday, detailing how it will divide $930 million of equity among the players.
The memo came one week after the PGA Tour signed an agreement with the Strategic Sports Group (SSG), which plans on investing up to $3 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises, a newly created for-profit entity.
The $930 million will be awarded to four groups of players, and the tour begin this program in March—likely coinciding with The Players Championship.
Here is a breakdown:
Group 1:
$750 million total.
Equity will be distributed to 36 players.
Based on “career performance, last five-year performance, and Player Impact Program results.
Group 2:
$75 million total.
Equity will be distributed to 64 players.
Based on performance over the last three years.
Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images
Jay Monahan and Tiger Woods at the 2018 Genesis Invitational.
Group 3:
$30 million total.
Equity will be distributed to 57 players.
Includes players who “have earned certain fully-exempt PGA Tour status.”
Group 4:
$75 million total.
Equity will be distributed to 36 players.
Distribution focused on legacy players, such as Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, and Tom Watson, “who were instrumental to building the modern PGA Tour, based on career performance.”
The memo also outlined how the equity shares will be distributed in future seasons, including how an additional $600 million will be awarded in the coming years.
“The recurring player equity grants are incremental to the initial grants, are in the aggregate amount of $600 million, and are planned to be awarded in the amounts of $100 million each year starting with the 2025 PGA Tour season and continuing through the 2030 PGA Tour Season (at a minimum),” the memo reads.
“All PGA Tour members are eligible to receive recurring grants—regardless of whether or not they received an initial grant. These recurring grants will reward future top performers based on last 3-year performance, last year’s performance, and Player Impact Program (PIP) results. Like the initial grants, the recurring grants will require minimum participation and/or service requirements commensurate with the value of the grant.”
The PGA Tour also plans to hold Q&A sessions in the coming weeks so its members understand this new program better.
This announcement came during one of the most popular tournaments of the year, the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale.
Tiger Woods will host the Genesis Invitational next week, another signature event. The tour’s top players will be there, and with it, plenty more discussions about this will be had.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
