The PGA Tour is all set to kickstart the third season of the post-LIV era. Post-LIV because that demarcates a set of changes in the Tour’s functioning and structure. The Sentry is now one of the eight limited-field signature events. These no-cut $20M-purse events hadn’t convinced everyone. Neither has the latest changes the Tour is all set to bring next year. It’s not just fans; a Player Advisory Council member had one or two things to say about these. Things that won’t please Jay Monahan and the PGA Tour top brass.

The sweeping changes include reducing the field size to 120 in some events, trimming down Monday qualifiers, and limiting full-time membership to the top 100 players. All that was billed as a necessity to infuse more competitiveness and tackle slow play. But PAC member Maverick McNealy isn’t convinced.

Sitting for a chat with former pro-turned-broadcaster Smylie Kaufman, McNealy admitted it was hard to defend. “You start on January 1st; everyone needs the same chance to win the FedEx Cup,” suggested the 29-year-old. Currently, that isn’t the case. As host Kaufman noted, if you finish 28th in the Memorial, a signature event, beating only 60% of the field, you will receive the same points as a 6th-place finish in the RBC Canadian Open, which has a field of 156.

While that highlights one aspect, McNealy admitted there is a bigger problem: reduced playing opportunities for the rank and files. The one-time PGA Tour winner explained, “Where I can’t defend 120 if you are only letting 72 players into Signature Events. That’s 400 playing opportunities over the year. You can’t tell me that 72 is a better product than 120.”

Now, McNealy, who earned his maiden victory at the 2024 RSM Classic, is exempt at the Sentry. But his stance is similar to another exempt player from last year, Lucas Glover. “I don’t like the idea at all. It’s selfish and it’s a money grab,” Glover said last year to Golfweek. While McNealy doesn’t go that far, he doesn’t hide his dissatisfaction either. And for good reasons too.

The trickle-down effect of PGA Tour changes evident

McNealy noted the Korn Ferry Tour needs to be stronger if the PGA Tour wants to find success with the current approach. But while the PGA Tour is yet to bring forth the sweeping changes, the aftermath of it is already evident in the KFT. As Ryan French noted in a recent tweet, in KFT events, players with a few guaranteed starts are not able to find a place.

As the PGA Tour has limited the playing opportunities, golfers with conditional status are now committing to KFT tournaments. That eats up some spots for golfers who have a few guaranteed starts in KFT. Now, Ponte Vedra needs to either expand the field of a few tournaments in the Korn Ferry Tour or accept the fallout of the decision.

Whether Maverick McNealy was aware of it is not clear. But his points do add up. The 29-year-old reiterated in the same interview, “I can absolutely not defend cutting the membership to 100 cards if you are still letting only 72 to play the signature events.” It is indeed hard to defend given the early consequences.