‘Somebody’s Gotta Pay Jay’s Salary’: Fans Enraged as Bizzare PGA Tour Move Gets Exposed by 34-Year-Old Pro

Recently, the PGA Tour has been subjected to many afflictions, first when its players filed a petition against the management asking for a better leader, and again when Jay Monahn’s increased compensation in 2022 was revealed, despite it being a tensive time for the Tour as LIV Golf has already been recruiting the players from the Tour.

Now, adding fuel to the fire, a former PGA Tour pro shared a document sent to him which stated the loss of more than $200,000 from the former pro’s retirement balance as he failed to play at the Tour’s season.

Former PGA Tour pro reveals the bizarre forfeit letter

John Peterson is a former golf pro who debuted in 2011 but, joined the PGA Tour in 2014. He played pro golf till 2017 and retired from it after not attaining any success and failing to secure a membership card for the PGA Tour in 2018, though he came out of retirement in 2019, as he announced on 104.5 FM ESPN Baton Rouge.

Nonetheless, the 34-year-old golfer is now a small business owner and a golfer. Peterson, recently received a letter from the PGA Tour, notifying him about a forfeiture he will be subjected to. According to the shared letter, the Deferred Compensation Player Retirement Plan is granted to players who have participated on the PGA Tour for 5 consecutive seasons. Peterson does not fulfill the criteria, as he has only served three seasons on the Tour.

As per the rules, the remaining balance of the plan, which is $284,148, will be forfeited and he will have zero balance in the PGA Tour Cuts Plan. Although the Tour stated his FedExCup Bonus Plan balance will remain the same. They also informed him that if he ever returned to the Tour, his three years on the Tour would count toward the 5-year Compensation Plan, but the forfeited money would not be restored.

The ex-pro shared the letter on his X and joked about losing nearly $300k and quoted, “Just give it away”. The attached letter subsequently became the talk of the town, and the golf community took their time in reacting to it.

Read More: LIV Golf an Alternative? PGA Tour Aspirants Gets Harsh Reality Check That Might Jeopardize Their Future

Golf world reacts to PGA Tour compensation letter

This man found the PGA Tour policy to be bad, as he claimed it affects the players who require it more than those who are already successful.

Another sarcastically repeated the Tour’s slogan and implied that it does not stand by the meaning of it.

This one fellow pointed out the irony of the situation and highlighted the position of the sender which specified “Player Benefits”, however, the letter failed to convey the same intentions.

One man iterated the question of golfers leaving for LIV golf, he attributed it to such plans and called out the PGA Tour for its insensitive action towards its players.

Another emphasized that this was another example of the Tour not backing its players.

This one user pointed out how the players who can’t play in the league more are the same players who need financial support more than others.

Another one took a jibe at Jay Monahan as his salary saw an increase while Peterson got his balance cut.

Lastly, another user called out the benefit plan of the PGA Tour and called it worse than the 401k. As they questioned why players would want a board that only thinks about the top 30 or 40 players.

With many daggers thrown at the PGA Tour, the Tour has been trying to help the players through its Player Advisory Council and take in all the feedback. The coming season for the Tour may bring certain beneficial changes for the players and league, as they are working for it.

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