PGA Tour's designated event revamp | PIP changes | LIV and pros react | Bay Hill photos

By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.

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March 2, 2023

Good Thursday morning, golf fans, as day one of the Arnold Palmer Invitational gets underway.

1. No cut: Changes to Tour’s elevated events announced

“The PGA Tour board on Tuesday night ratified a radical new approach for the 2024 schedule that will see reduced fields in the new designated events and the removal of the 36-hole cut.

• Fields in designated events will be reduced to between 70 and 78 players with no halfway cut. The changes will not apply to all of the elevated events— the majors, the Players Championship and the FedEx Cup playoff tournaments will be unaffected.”

• “Designated events were launched this year in an effort to guarantee the presence of the game’s top stars and to ensure they are paid more, with minimum purses of $20 million in each event. Due to the haste with which the designated events came about — a direct response to the threat posed by LIV Golf — no changes were made to field sizes for 2023. That won’t apply when the Tour returns to a calendar-year schedule in 2024.”

2. Rory likes it

Simon Evans for AFP…”The PGA Tour unveiled its new-look structure for the 2024 season featuring eight "designated events" with elite fields, no cut and increased prize money hailed by Rory McIlroy as producing a "compelling product."

• “The move follows discussions between the tour and top players such as McIlroy and Tiger Woods in the wake of the emergence of the rival, Saudi-backed, LIV Golf tour.”

• "These smaller, designated event fields will not only deliver substantial, can't-miss tournaments to our fans at important intervals throughout the season, but they will also enhance the quality of full-field events," PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a memo to tour members.

• "Together, this approach provides a schedule that is cohesive, compelling, consequential and with clarity for fans, players and sponsors alike," he added.

3. Monahan’s message

From the PGA Tour release…“These smaller, Designated event fields will not only deliver substantial, can’t-miss tournaments to our fans at important intervals throughout the season, but they will also enhance the quality of Full-Field events,” Monahan said in the memo. “Together, this approach provides a schedule that is cohesive, compelling, consequential and with clarity for fans, players and sponsors alike.”

4. Meanwhile…

5. Also: PIP changes

Golf Digest’s Joel Beall…“Tucked away in PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan’s memo to tour membership Wednesday that announced sweeping changes to the elevated event series was a note about the tour’s PIP initiative. The PIP bonus pool was instituted in 2021 to reward players who boosted engagement and publicity for the tour. Ostensibly, a response to some of the lucrative deals rumored to be coming from the then-Premier Golf League…”

• “But on Wednesday, a tour memo announced that, starting in 2024, the program’s bonus pool will be reduced to $50 million, paid to the top 10 players. Moreover, there is no language in the memo that highlights entry into elevated events based off the PIP ranking.”

• “According to the memo, the other $50 million is being reallocated to the FedEx Cup bonus program and the Comcast Business Tour Top 10 standings.”

6. Xander’s new wand

Our Andrew Tursky for PGATour.com…”When Xander Schauffele took to Bay Hill’s practice putting green on Tuesday ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, it looked as though he was considering a switch back into the familiar Odyssey O-Works #7CH Red putter that he started using in 2020.”

• “But wait! A closer look revealed it’s not exactly the same putter; it’s actually a hybrid design between his old red Odyssey putter and his most recent Odyssey Toulon XS Proto silver putter that he’s used throughout 2023.”

• “From top to bottom: Xander’s old Odyssey #7CH Red, Xander’s 2023 XS Proto silver, and Xander’s new Odyssey Toulon Design Las Vegas red putter.”

• “[Odyssey] actually made both of them for me,” Schauffele said of the putters in his pre-tournament press conference at Bay Hill on Tuesday. “The red one is actually incognito…it’s like the new one, it’s milled. They just painted it…you got to take a closer look. It’s nice. It’s like a big brother of my other red one.”

• “Although Schauffele had originally liked the red Odyssey putter that he used from 2020-2022, he ended up switching into the XS Proto putter in 2023 for a slightly firmer feel off the face and increased precision. His original red putter had a soft Odyssey White Hot insert, whereas his XS Proto came with Toulon’s popular diamond-milled face.”

7. Photos from Bay Hill

• Check out all of our galleries from Bay Hill.