After enduring a world pandemic that forced Golf Canada to pause the RBC Canadian Open for two years found success and regain their momentum with the revitalized and sold-out tournament hosted by the St. George’s Golf Club earlier this summer. Despite LIV Golf holding their first event at the same time, Canadian golf fans and players celebrated the event and everyone is looking forward to the 2023 RBC Canadian Open at Oakdale Golf and Country Club.
The Canadian Open is the third oldest continually running national golf championship in the world, behind only the British and U.S. Opens. Oakdale will become the 37th golf course in the 117-year history of the event (and only the seventh since 1977) to host Canada’s National Men’s Open Golf Championship.
With the pandemic difficulties behind them Golf Canada and the RBC Canadian Open could now face a host of new problems and obstacles that are out of their control. Greg Norman and his LIV golf series funded by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has caused considerable disruption and one of the biggest problems for the PGA Tour.
Due to the various levels of bureaucracy associated with the player organization, change occurs slowly on the PGA Tour. This is one of the reasons the golf industry was surprised at the expeditiousness of adjustments to the 2023 schedule announced by commissioner Jay Monahan and proof that LIV has caused considerable disruption. Monahan also admitted the Tour has to still work through some of the details.
Clearly the Tour needed to do something-beyond simply suspending the defectors. The Tour needed to push-back against LIV and make players think twice about leaving. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan recently announced a series of changes that will see 12 elevated events starting in 2023—eight of them with purses in the $20 to $25 million range and require that the top players compete in at least 20 events.
The 20 events will include 17 that are the same in an effort to bring all of the top players together more often.
Those 17 will consist of 12 elevated events, eight of which have been announced: the Sentry Tournament of Champions ($15 million), Genesis Invitational ($20 million), Arnold Palmer Invitational ($20 million), WGC-Dell Match Play ($20 million), Memorial Tournament $20 million), FedEx St. Jude Championship ($20 million), BMW Championship ($20 million), Tour Championship/FedEx Cup ($75 million bonus pool).
Five of the tournaments come from the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, British Open and Players Championship. And then there are three regular events from which players can choose to enter, bringing their total to 20.
When the Tour goes to a calendar-year schedule starting in 2024, the top players will be competing in at least 20 of the 35 main events that run from January through August. That means 15 events are left to scramble for relevance. Depending on how you look at it did the PGA Tour product get better or worse? There is a chance that a couple dozen weeks on the calendar nobody in the top 20 is playing.
So how is the RBC Canadian Open going to fit in? We have many, many questions. Is the third oldest continually running national golf championship in the world going to be left out or somehow fit in? The RBC Canadian Open is sandwiched between two elevated events – the Memorial and the US Open. Will players play three weeks in a row?
To help with the development of Canadian tour players the RBC Canadian Open /Golf Canada provide a number of Canadian exemptions. Will this be able to continue? RBC also sponsors two PGA events and one would think this carries some weight in the boardroom?
RBC has been a great sponsor for golf in Canada and their sponsorship goes through to 2023. Let’s hope the RBC sponsorship continues for many years and these disruptions are not the cause that makes them leave the sport. Of note Golf Canada’s deal with the PGA Tour ends in 2018. If the PGA Tour decides to or forced to make major changes what happens to the contract?
We’ll see how all this plays out over the next year. I have seen it before and I hope the PGA Tour takes their time and think things through long term. I remember when the World Hockey League was created and they started to compete against the NHL. They lured Bobby Hull over for big bucks at that time. However, the WHL did not last long and maybe the PGA Tour should not be so quick to react and change a very successful model. LIV does not have a TV contract and I do not think any network will touch this Saudi event in fear of alienating sponsors and viewers. Let Norman take a triple bogey and withdraw.
Unfortunately, money talks and the PGA Tour has to do right by its best players plus survive in a new and very competitive market place. They are faced with a commissioner who wants revenge on the Tour and is funded by a heartless country with an endless supply of money and no business plan for a ROI.
I wonder if there is a better and simpler way to make this all work out for all parties in the end.
