Loyalists Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to Enjoy $750M Class; Jay Monahan’s Money Move Explored

The Jay Monahan-led circuit finally entered a new phase with the deal with SSG. It has indubitably gone ahead to rejuvenate the PGA Tour’s status while offering more leverage in its talks with PIF. But was that all it entailed? No, not even close, as the main part of the circuit, i.e., the players who remained seem to have the chance to enjoy the most out of the $3 billion investment.

A mail was sent to the golfers on the PGA Tour detailing the grant that the athletes would be receiving following the SSG deal. However, to enjoy the same, they need to meet certain criteria in any of the four groups. Interestingly, it appears professionals, including the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, would be able to benefit from the first group, the category that grants a whopping $750 million in equity.

Player Grant, the PGA Tour’s gift to loyal golfers?

As per the mail sent by the Monahan-led circuit, “Group 1 consists of $750 million in aggregate equity and will be granted to 36 players based on career performance, last 5-year performance, and Player Impact Program results.”

Who else, apart from the big names, would top the list in the first category? The former boasts 82 PGA Tour wins, including 15 majors, while the latter has 24 victories on the circuit with 4 majors. The last 5 years have been hard on Mr.T owing to his accident. With just 2 wins in 2019, on the other hand, Wee-Mac had been exceptional during the same period, with a total of 10 titles from 2019 to 2024. In the case of the PIP, McIlroy had the most positive impact on the game in 2023, with Woods following closely behind at No. 2, winning $15 million and $12 million, respectively.

What about the rest of the brackets? “Group 2 consists of $75 million in aggregate quite and will be granted to 64 players based on last 3-year performance.” Meanwhile, the 3rd bracket boasts a $30 million equity accorded to 57 golfers who have earned certain fully exempt PGA Tour status categories. Lastly, the fourth category grants $75 million to 36 athletes who have been instrumental in building the circuit based on career performance. However, the eligible pros would only benefit from one group while requiring minimum participation in 15 or more events on the Tour.

Such a step by the Monahan-led circuit would inevitably boost the morale of the players who have been loyal to the Tour. Curiously, in addition to the same, what else does the deal with SSG provide?

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The $3 billion-worth PGA Tour-SSG agreement

The details of the new partnership came to light as soon as the Policy Board approved the same on January 30th. The investment runs to $3 billion on a $12 billion valuation. Moreover, along with the $900 million being doled out as equity shares, the investment by the Public Investment Fund would also be “subject to regulatory issues.”

Furthermore, a for-profit entity called PGA Tour Enterprises would also be launched to manage the commercial interests of the circuit. Although the deal has left the upcoming merger in doubt, it has undoubtedly pushed the Monahan-led body to a whole new level.

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