Change is coming to the PGA Tour. In the latest move to raise the profile of the Tour and counter the influence of LIV Golf, new Tour CEO Brian Rolapp and the Future Tournaments Committee are looking to reduce the number of tournaments on the schedule, the length of the season and the number of PGA Tour cards issued each year.
The expected move has been publicly supported by the likes of Tiger Woods (though not Rory McIlroy).
But two well-known figures in the game have now offered a different perspective.
In a new report by Golfweek’s Adam Schupak, major league champion Curtis Strange and seven-time PGA Tour winner TV commentator Peter Jacobsen were critical of the new PGA Tour changes.
Here’s what you need to know.
Curtis Strange criticizes the new direction of the PGA Tour, cutting changes
Strange is a popular name among golf fans. The World Golf Hall of Famer captured 17 tour titles in his career and won back-to-back US Opens in 1988 and 1989. He also served as US Ryder Cup captain in 2002.
After that, Strange began a long career as a color commentator and TV commentator, first for ESPN and ABC and later for Fox.
But in his comments to Schupak, Strange made it clear that he does not support the PGA Tour’s recent major changes, or the direction the Tour appears to be headed.
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Strange’s main points of contention are the loss of cuts in many Signature events, the negative impact on the tour’s long-running regular events and the six-month season the Tour is reportedly looking at.
“You can have a high-profile event,” Strange told Schupak, “But cutting it, it’s part of the fabric of the tour. It makes longer events a feeder tour for other Signature Events,” Strange said.
At a conference for Rolapp, the Tour’s CEO who worked for the NFL, Strange added, “Golf is a different animal than football. It’s not a six-month audience.”
Strange then identified the “problem” that has led to so many changes on the PGA Tour that “the players are running the shelter.”
“The problem is you have players running in the shelter. Why do you think (former PGA Tour board member) Jimmy Dunne left?” Smanga asked. He said, ‘shoot, why am I still wasting my time?’
Since LIV Golf arrived in 2022, one of the Tour’s biggest changes has been giving players more power in tour decision-making through the Future Tournament Committee, chaired by Woods.
Peter Jacobsen: Tourism reform experts should ‘join LIV’
Like Strange, Jacobsen was a PGA Tour player before becoming a TV golf commentator.
Unlike Strange, Jacobsen didn’t hold back at all in his criticism of the Tour’s recent changes in his comments on Schupak’s story.
Jacobsen described the plan to “remake the PGA Tour” as a “huge gamble,” and questioned why major changes were needed.
“It’s a huge gamble trying to remake the PGA Tour. I’ve read a lot of players saying, ‘Well, we all know the PGA Tour has to change,’ and I’m asking the question, Why? It was working so well before.”
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He also attacked serious players who want changes, saying that if they want to play fewer events with more stars in the industry, they should “go and join LIV.”
“If players wanted to have tournaments where good players play together often, they have that at LIV. Go join LIV.”
But Jacobsen saved most of his angst with the Tour’s plan to add to the deficit in the Tour schedule. That would include eliminating long-running travel events in favor of a shorter season.
“I get nervous when I hear people say it’s a golf event. If you look at individual communities, those events are very important to that community and the charity money raised is important to those golf fans,” Jacobsen said. “I’ve always thought the PGA Tour should expand its reach rather than contract. I count myself as someone who thinks we should grow the Tour and have more events than contract.”
Rolapp has a Pre-Players Championship press conference scheduled for Wednesday morning at PGA Tour headquarters, where he is expected to make an announcement about the future of the Tour.
You can read both Jacobsen’s and Strange’s full comments on Schupak’s Golfweek the story here.
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