‘Don’t Think the Players Need the Incentive…’: Amid PGA Tour Adding More Millions Into Elevated Events, LPGA Commissioner Takes a Subtle Jibe at Male Pro Golfers

The LPGA Tour has officially landed in New Jersey for Cognizant Founders Cup. The event will take place at Upper Montclair Country Club. A field of 144 women will compete in this event. This event will be the 10th of the 2023 LPGA Tour season. 

Just a day prior to the tournament, LPGA Commissioner, Mollie Marcoux Samaan took a subtle dig at the PGA tour for the change that was applied this year in the PGA Tour’s format. 

LPGA Commissioner takes a subtle jibe at the PGA Tour and its golfers

The top female golfers will compete against each other in a match with a massive prize pool of $3 million. The winner of the tournament will receive a significant sum of $450,000, which represents the typical payout of 15% of the overall purse.

In the press conference prior to the cup, the LPGA commissioner was questioned about the PIP fund and if there is anything of a similar nature being introduced in the LPGA tour as well. 

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Samaan then told the press that the decision-makers are continuously looking for creative ways to improve the Tour. The utmost attention as of now is given to enabling the LPGA Tour members to work collectively as a team.

Mollie Marcoux then spoke that the main aim is to elevate the golfers. Commenting about the PIP fund that PGA Tour has introduced to attract the most renowned golfers, LPGA Commissioner spoke, “I don’t think the players need the incentive to grow the LPGA Tour. It’s their tour.”

The commissioner pointed out that LPGA golfers think of the tour as their own and they don’t need any monetary incentive to attend the events and help grow the Tour, which contradicts the whole ideology behind the PIP fund concept introduced by the PGA Tour.

PGA Tour’s elevated events explained

For this year, PGA Tour announced that 17 tournaments throughout the season will have hefty prize money. These events with bumper purses are known to be designated and elevated events. The payout increased from $215 million to almost $315 million. 

The major championships are also part of these designated events as their purses have also increased drastically. Not all the PGA Tour players can participate in the elevated events, but only the top players who finished inside the top 20 of the Player Impact Program. 

As spoken by PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour is also planning to adopt various new changes in the PGA Tour format like smaller fields, no-cut events, and more elevated events for the golfers.

What are your thoughts about the elevated events and PIP fund? Do you think LPGA Tour should also implement something similar? 

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