Only a few days ago, Jay Monahan & Co. was criticized for its choice of exemption from the Seniors Tour. While this conversation doesn’t happen every day, fans were particularly triggered by the scenes at the 2025 Chubb Classic. The PGA Tour Champions event had an unusually absurd scorecard that raised concerns about the individual’s eligibility for exemption. Mike Balliet stepped onto the Tiburon Golf Club on Valentine’s Day hoping his love affair with golf would help him make par in the three-day event. What he didn’t know was that he would need a lot more than love to win.

Unfortunately, he lacked the skills that are required to flirt with the professional course in Florida. Within three days of the tee, it turned from a beautiful story into a heartbreaking tragedy. He ended the 54-hole quest with a 65-over par 258. It included 18 bogeys, 6 double bogeys, 2 triple bogeys, and 2 quadruple bogeys and so, fans gathered on social media to throw shade at the exempted player’s ’embarrassing’ display. However, this anger turned out to be a positive push for Nelly Korda and the LPGA.

Here’s the thing: Drop Zone Golf Podcast‘s James Colgan, Dylan Dethier, and Sean Zak had a lot to discuss about golf. However, when the trio of experts landed on the Champions Tour, they agreed that Jay Monahan & Co. could rather invest in another league. Colgan asked his peers how the world of golf could be enhanced through better management in the current scene. To that, Zak replied that everyone would benefit from “getting rid of the entire Champions Tour.”

The analyst understood that he would get criticized for this statement. However, he explained that after thorough research, he had learned that the LPGA Tour and the Champions Tour have nearly the same amount in their purses for their events. “I have always viewed the total purse prize of a global golf calender as a pie chart and the PGA Tour takes up a massive chunk of that pie chart. And the DP World Tour takes a tinier chunk of that pie chart. Also in that same pie chart, the total sponsorship and the amount of money that goes to purses is the LPGA Tour and the Champions Tour.

“And for some reason, the Champions Tour pays out just about the same amount of purses as a lot of LPGA Tour events. It just tells me there is a corner of that pie chart that is going to people who are already made a ton of money; do not need to make more money playing easier courses, less competition, less days than the best female golfers on the planet who are playing 4 day competitions and who; unless you’re in the top 100 of the world, are struggling financially.”

Clearly, Zak is of the opinion that LPGA stars like Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko, and Jeeno Thitikul deserve more. The influx of investment will certainly help boost the quality and marketability of the LPGA Tour. Zak concluded his opinion with, “Get rid of the Champions Tour. Push all that sponsorship money to the women’s game and the people who really deserve it, the best in the world gonna eat a little bit better.”

To add to his statement, making the LPGA Tour events more lucrative will encourage the stars to have longer professional careers in the game. This has been a major concern recently. Many of the biggest names in women’s golf are not considering playing professionally far beyond their 30s. Lydia Ko recently spoke about the same a few weeks ago when she revealed that she is also closing into that stage as she nears 30.

Having said that, does the purse value for the LPGA Tour match the Champions Tour? Let’s take a deeper dive into the schedule of the leagues.

Top Comment by buck2741

Not no, but hell no. Those Champions tour players helped make professional golf what it is today. Plus...more

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Debate

The LPGA Tour vs. the Champions Tour event sponsorship

Back in November 2024, the LPGA Tour announced that the 2025 season will have the biggest purse in the history of the league. Celebrating the 75th season, the LPGA Tour schedule will be worth $131 million in total. This will include the major $12 million pot for the U.S. Women’s Open and the $11 million purse of the CME Group Tour Championship. Additionally, the LPGA Tour 2025 season is spread across 33 events. This means that each tournament averages nearly $4 million in purse value.

Comparatively, the Champions Tour 2025 season will be played for a total of $69 million. The 2025 U.S. Senior Open Championship will be played for $4 million. The seniors can play a total of 28 events this season; excluding the PNC Championship. That means, on average, each event is played for $2.46 million. That’s a difference of over $1.5 million from what Nelly Korda & Co. is getting. But the LPGA Tour also draws more viewership than the Seniors League.

Sean Zak might have overshot his claims a bit. But that still doesn’t mean that the LPGA Tour won’t benefit from getting the extra $69 million in investment.

Do you think the Champions Tour should be shut down to boost the investment in the LPGA Tour and its stars like Nelly Korda & Charley Hull? Share your views in the comments section.