Glover said the Tour has "eliminated a lot of playing opportunities for some really good players." Getty Images
PGA Tour player Lucas Glover "still doesn’t like" the Tour's signature events after having played in the first four, according to Adam Schupak of GOLFWEEK. Glover called the idea of the limited field, mostly no-cut events "selfish" and a "money grab.” Glover: “Nothing that has happened in the last two years in golf, in my opinion, that will help the game. I’ve yet to figure out what’s so bad out here that we had to do all the things we’ve done.” Glover said the Tour has "eliminated a lot of playing opportunities for some really good players." He wondered why the signature events are "80 players and only 50 make the cut but our biggest signature event next week is 144 players with a full cut," referring to the Players Championship. Glover: "It’s very mind-blowing that our biggest signature event has the most players and the biggest cut." Glover said he thinks the Tour will "end up with 12-16 events around the world with the top players for the most money and wherever that money comes from -- who knows whether it’s private equity or PIF -- clearly, that’s where it is headed" (GOLFWEEK, 3/9).
RELATED: PGA Tour seeing mixed reception to signature events
VIBE CHECK: GOLFWEEK's Eamon Lynch wrote building tournaments "around Goliaths while trying to exclude most of the Davids isn’t indefensible," but it "does have consequences, because every little reduction in competitiveness dilutes what makes things compelling for fans." One metric that matters for fans "can’t actually be quantified: the vibe." Lynch: "You know it when you feel it, you know when you’re not feeling it. And not many are feeling it this week, in part because of the size of the field." There is "simply less activity around the grounds, less action to follow, less spectacle to absorb." So far in 2024, the Tour is "sacrificing potential Cinderella stories" and the "vibrant bustle of tournament week for paying spectators" (GOLFWEEK, 3/8).
HEAVY IS THE CROWN: In Orlando, Mike Bianchi wrote, "I hope Rory McIlroy never changes because we need more athletes who are willing to give us their unfiltered opinions, no matter whom they might offend." McIlroy is "not afraid to give us his unvarnished viewpoint without the requisite sugar-coating -- even if his stance is not popular among his peers." He "wants fewer golfers and fewer tournaments" and "presumably wants the PGA Tour to be more of a World Tour composed of 17 or 18 no-cut tournaments with only elite golfers competing." Fellow Tour player Erik van Rooyen said, “Let him go to LIV. I love Rory. He’s one of the best players ever, but what he’s saying sounds like LIV. I think tournaments with no cuts suck" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3/9).
