My jaw dropped when I learned of the PGA Tour’s new Player Impact Bonus program. To sum it up, the tour will divide $40M annually amongst ten players that “generate the most off-course buzz from fans and sponsors.” Wow. A league sanctioned entity awarding compensation unrelated to on-course performance.
Under the program, players will be ranked by Google search ratings, media mentions, exposure ratings from Nielson Q Scores, and a non-performance MVP index algorithm. This was a response to the threat the Tour felt from the fledgling Premier Golf League, that was trying to gather a select set of stars to compete in events with smaller fields and larger purses. Well, that effort flopped and this bonus is a flopper waiting to happen.
There is so much wrong here, it’s hard to unpack. First, the PGA Tour is the world’s top golf tour where the greatest names come to compete. Is this not enough? The simple ability to test oneself against the world’s best is why many foreign players have relocated permanently to the United States. Second, the tour has NEVER paid any money for non-performance; why start now? The European PGA Tour is arguably the second-best circuit but has been roundly criticized for allowing six and seven figure appearance fees to lure players to its events. Third, advocating self-promotion is a distraction the players do not need. I’d rather have them focused on making birdies and winning rather than how many Tweets they can send out real time. I’m getting flashbacks of Joe Horn’s NFL cellphone celebration – ack! Please leave the self- promotion off the course and don’t pay anybody to do it.
The Tour recently hired Dan Glod to run its global sponsorship development. I wonder if this is his brainchild? A new identity for the Tour is definitely forming. Did you notice it at last week’s Zurich Classic in the fourth round? As the players were introduced, they were playing walk-up music on the first tee. Really? Save it for the WWE.
Play well.
All About Golf 
What a terrible idea! It’s not just golf, though. From sports to politics to movies and books, all the power is going to social media, which just gives the successful more platforms to play off their success in one area to make more money. All powered by greed. It’s really out of control.
Mark, great to hear from you!
What frustrates me the most is that the PGA Tour was the last frontier of pure meritocracy in sports. You didn’t perform, you didn’t get paid. Each player was an individual contractor. Just loved it. Now that’s gone. Now I don’t begrudge these guys getting as much as they can off their name and brand, but they already do. Tiger-Nike, Speith-UnderArmour, Fowler-Puma are all multi-million dollar endorsement deals but the Tour didn’t sanction. If the bonus had been paid in 2020, Tiger would have collected the top spot even though he did nothing on the course. I’m sorry to see this evolve.
Thanks for weighing in!
Brian
Could not agree more. 40 million could be put to so much better use, way too many to mention. The next step could be who has the best celebration dance, when they make a big putt.
Vet, there is nothing like pay for non-performance to light a fire under somebody’s butt. LOL!
Thanks for weighing in!
Brian
Brian,
This is crazy. I agree that this new plan by the PGA Tour will have nothing to do with golf. I do not see how it will generate more hype and revenue for the Tour; I looks like a big waste of money and detracts from the important aspect of being a professional – being the best at your craft. I wonder if you have to hold your card to be part of this program? Or can any golfer cash in?
Cheers Jim
Jim, if you post every day for another two years, you might crack the top ten! 😃
Brian
Brian,
Maybe. All I can do is keep trying….🤣
Cheers Jim