The PGA Tour fights back! Prizemoney increases to $490million for the 2022-23 season – a $63m increase on last year – with a further $145m up for grabs in bonuses in bid to dent the lure of the lucrative Saudi-backed LIV Golf
- The tour has planned 44 events for its 22-23 calendar, one less than last season
- Three FedEx Cup playoff events are also on, with tougher entry requirements
- Just over $428m will be paid out in the tournament season, over $60m at majors
- LIV recently announced a 14 tournament tour, with $405m in prize money
As the PGA Tour faces its biggest competitive challenge ever, the world’s most popular golfing series has upped the ante on the cash prizes it will hand out.
PGA Tour officials announced a schedule of 44 tournaments – including the four golf majors – for its upcoming 2022-23 golf season.
The total prize money handed out for the non-majors is set to be a record $428.6million, with an additional $61.5m given out at the Masters, the PGA Championship, the US Open, and the Open Championship.
In total, excluding two Challenge series events, the purses for next season will fetch $490.1m in a season running from September 2022 to August 2023. It’s an increase of $63.5m on 2022.
The 44 events on the PGA Tour calendar all build up to the FedEx Cup playoffs
In addition to the 44 tournaments, there will be three FedEx Cup events, with the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis and the BMW Championship in Olympia Fields, IL carrying additional $20m purses each.
Outside the nearly $500m in prize money being given out, the tour is set to distribute $145m in bonus pool cash.
That includes the $75m prize given to the winner of the FedEx Cup.
The FedEx Cup has also gotten more competitive, with the Tour announcing new changes to the playoff format.
Only the top 70 players in the cup standings will make the St. Jude Championship, with the top 50 reaching the BMW Championship, before the final 30 make the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Golfers will try to add their names to the list of FedEx Cup champions, like Patrick Cantlay
In a statement, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said those changes were made with the patrons in mind.
‘We’ve heard from our fans and the overwhelming sentiment was that they wanted more consequences for both the FedEx Cup regular season and the playoffs, and to further strengthen events that traditionally feature top players competing head-to-head,’ Monahan said.
‘We feel strongly we’ve accomplished all of these objectives and more, creating a cadence of compelling drama for every tournament throughout the season.’
These moves can be seen as a way to keep the best players in the PGA’s paddock, as more and more past major champions defect to LIV Golf.
The Saudi-backed tour recently announced plans to expand its series to 14 tournaments for next season, expanding rosters to 48 golfers with $405m in prize money up for grabs.
Major champions playing for LIV include Americans Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, and Patrick Reed, with Bubba Watson set to join later this year.
Among the list of those not in LIV’s field is Tiger Woods, who rejected a contract rumored to be valued in the high nine digits according to LIV CEO Greg Norman.
Tiger Woods rejected a ‘high nine digit’ offer to play in the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is facing intense competition from LIV Golf