PGA vs SGL by Nicolas Moore

                               

           

       PGA Tour vs. Super Golf League

     By Nicolas Moore

The new Super Golf League (SGL) has become a heated topic in the world of golf lately, threatening the PGA tour and its future. Since the inception of professional golf, the only way to earn lucrative money is to play exceptionally and surpass the other players. This has made golf a very competitive sport for professionals, making it exceedingly difficult for new talent to make a solid living. 

Due to Golf’s history of independence, the SGL has started to attract the attention of PGA tour players. The SGL is a new proposed golf league where the most popular golfers would sign contracts to play specific events all over the world. The SGL takes after sports like baseball, football, and basketball, where players receive guaranteed money through contracts when they are chosen by a team. This means whether they compete poorly or exceptionally, become injured, or anything unforeseen occurs, players will always get paid. 

The SGL would change the shape of the golfing world and the dynamics of how it would function. This has caused a lot of golf organizations to step up and push back against the SGL by supporting the PGA tour. The United States Golf Association’s (USGA) Director of Public Relations, Janeen Driscoll, reiterated the USGA’s statement regarding the PGA tour and their support of the tour.

“The USGA is very proud of its long-standing partnership with the PGA TOUR,” Driscoll said in an email. “We greatly appreciate everything the TOUR does to create a global platform for the game’s elite players, which introduces millions of fans to the game worldwide.” 

Accordingly, the European tour, the PGA of America, The Masters committee, and the R&A are all in support of the PGA tour’s efforts against the SGL. All of their statements mention the importance of the PGA tour and how they are constantly working to grow the game of golf, which keeps their organizations alive. The PGA tour is taking the threat of this new tour very seriously by speaking out against it to its players. According to GolfChannel.com,  an unnamed player attended a meeting with PGA tour commissioner Jay Monahan. The unnamed player mentioned that in the meeting, it was stated anyone who joins this new tour will be suspended from the PGA tour, potentially for life. Based on this, the PGA tour wants their players to have nothing to do with the SGL. 

SGL officials have spoken and offered money to many golfers, but have yet to receive much interest. If any PGA tour professionals agreed to joining this tour, golf would cease to be about breaking records and would solely become monetarily driven. 

Players have to evaluate their options —  golfers can have a solid income, or the ability to chase the records and nostalgia of being a successful golfer on the PGA tour. The internal conflict of players debating between the two tours has caused controversy and difficulty between the organizations and the players therein. As the SGL continues to develop, the PGA tour will be tested, and players’ intentions will be determined in the situational constructs as time moves forward.