[rich76]

On the defensive for much of the past year, commissioner Jay Monahan finally offered a plan to combat the Tour’s existential threat.

Rolling out a schedule that he insisted was years in the making and not a direct response to LIV poaching a few of his top players, Monahan announced last week significant purse increases to six existing tournaments, the addition of a three-event international series that will likely begin in 2024, and a revamped playoff format that will be available to just 70 players and not the usual 125.

Combined, the Tour initiatives are a welcome first step for a circuit that has largely been sticking to the status quo, even as LIV snagged eight of the top 50 players in the world (and counting). But these moves still aren’t likely to dissuade players who are thinking of making the leap.

Let’s break this down:

• It’s obvious that the clearest solution to the Tour’s current predicament is to create a star-studded, streamlined circuit that has only 25 to 30 tournaments for the top 75 to 100 players. That serves two purposes: It eliminates the bottom-feeders who make no difference to the Tour’s bottom line, and it raises the stakes at each tournament because of the relative scarcity of the schedule. But getting to that point is tricky, if not impossible in its current setup. The Tour is a member-run organization whose stated mission is to provide playing opportunities. The new-look schedule (which will start next year but be fully implemented in '24) represents a slight departure from that mission, making clearer the line between the A Tour and the B Tour. But does it go far enough? There still is a similar number of exempt pros and a similar number of opportunities. All the new schedule does is call out to fans, These are the only events that matter:

After the purse increases, this is what a Top Player's schedule could look like (plus a few of his personal faves):
Kapalua
Riviera
Bay Hill
Players
Match Play
Masters
PGA
Memorial
US Open
Open
St. Jude
BMW
Tour Champ
Global Series No. 1
Global Series No. 2
Global Series No. 3

• It likely wasn’t a coincidence that purses for tournaments like Riviera, Bay Hill and Memorial will be bumped to $20 million – that’s the prize money on offer for the LIV events, before the team component is factored in. Of course, there’s nothing stopping the Saudi-backed tour from announcing a purse increase to $30 million or more – backed by the Public Investment Fund, LIV won’t be outbid. As Monahan himself acknowledged, the LIV circuit is an “irrational threat” that isn’t concerned with a return on investment.

• Plans for the fall have yet to be finalized, but what’s proposed is a bit of a head-scratcher. The Tour’s pitch to top players is a three-tournament international series (England, Middle East, Asia) that will feature gigantic purses and some sort of team component. Except it’s during a time of year, after the fall slate, when the top players don’t want to resume globetrotting – they want time off, to spend time with their family, work on their games or make equipment changes. For everyone else, the fall returns to its pre-wraparound roots with a series of events that will be used to finalize status or determine priority. That’ll appeal to golf’s diehards but no one else.

• LIV's pursuit of the next-generation stars means that the Tour needs to respond in a meaningful way. Right now, through the PGA Tour University program, the top five graduating seniors earn Korn Ferry Tour status, with Nos. 6-15 heading to Canada. Given the reshaped landscape, that's unlikely to be enticing enough for these guys to either stay in school or stick with the program; they're being forced into a feeder system with no guarantee they'll ever emerge at the end. The top college players (top 3? top 5?) need to receive Tour cards, full stop. Yes, many of these kids could use a year or two of Korn Ferry Tour seasoning, but these are unprecedented times and there needs to be a more direct route to the best tour on the planet.

Me: Brooks Koepka is a hypocritical sellout.