Tiger Woods has been a part of the PGA Tour Policy Board for just a few days and his influence can already be felt.
Golfweek learned that The Tour reversed the field, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Memorial hosted Jack Nicklaus as well as the Genesis Invitational and Tiger Woods’ Genesis Invitational will continue to be a cut. The remainder of the limited field designated events will continue to have no cut, as originally announced in March.
Tuesday, the PGA Tour will release its official schedule for 2024.
Tiger has his fingerprints on this decision. Rory McIlroy defended no-cut, limited-field events when the Tour announced the plan in March. He also tried to explain the differences between them and LIV’s non-cut events.
McIlroy stated that there is precedent for events with no cut [on the PGA Tour]. “But I don’t think that the cuts you need to make in order to qualify are fair. So, you must get into the playoffs or the top 50. “I think it’s fair that eight events are held a year, which guarantee the players four full days of play.”
Patrick Cantlay is a strong supporter of no-cut tournaments. He currently serves as a player director for the Tour’s policy board.
He said: “With a small field, it doesn’t make sense to cut the players.” “I believe there is real power knowing that the top players will be there for all four days, no matter what.”
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy watch from the 11th hole during a practice session prior to the Masters Tournament 2023 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta Georgia on April 3, 2023. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images).
Woods, however, took a very different position. When asked in April about his feelings on the Tour’s major events, with the exception the Players Championship, becoming limited fields (70 to 80 players) and not having a cut, Woods said: “I am certainly pushing for my event, which has a cutting.” I believe that the player-hosted tournaments may include cuts. Jack and I continue to discuss these issues with Jay, the Tour, the Board and other guys. “That’s still in flux,” said he. “I think there should be a penalty if you don’t play well. And to have this — every event shouldn’t always be guaranteed 72 holes. I believe that there should be some sort of cut. We are still trying to find out. You know, which designated events there will be, and how many, that is still in progress. “But that conversation is still ongoing.”
Monahan stated in May that Tiger and he were “in the middle of figuring out” the issue. His comments made him sound like he was already decided and had determined it would be better for sponsors, TV and tournaments to have all the big names guaranteed for four days even if it meant they shot a million.
McIlroy had become a waffling McIlroy by June. Had Tiger talked some sense into him?
McIlroy’s words at the Memorial are as follows: “Could we create a bracket that would allow tournaments to be cut if they feel a cut was important for them? If so, I am fine with it. A 78-man team could be cut down to 50 players at the weekend.
Nicklaus was also asked if he would like to see a cut in his tournament. He expressed his indifference and noted that there are pros and cons for both sides.
He said, “I’m going leave it to people who are certainly smarter than me. That would be Jay and these guys.”
Andy Pazder said that a decision was not made during the Memorial.
“We’re having a conversation about it.” Pazder stated that he was aware of certain hosts who have expressed a desire to see a reduction in the price of their event, or at least some of them. We’ve said that these events would not be cut, but if people want to change that, we can have a discussion about it.
Some players have been making this a hot topic for several months, claiming that designated events will be created under the new model. The reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm is a deep-thinker in the game and he also responded thoughtfully at the Memorial.
“I’ve been back and forth about this issue. He said that he was initially against a cut, but as time went on he became more in favor of one. “I believe it’s part of the sport and an important part of it, even if it is to remove maybe 20 players. On the other hand, there are only 20 players you need to beat in order to be cut. I believe it’s part of the game. You have to earn your way in and then earn the win. This is a part of golf that I really enjoy. I’ve experienced it recently at the PGA.
“It was a different Friday when I was trying to make it through. You never know how playing well on Fridays to make the cut will affect the weekend. It’s part of the history, so I believe it. It’s part of history. Tiger’s 140 or so consecutive cuts wouldn’t be as significant if that was gone, because it would never happen again. “I pushed to have no cuts and as time went on, I now think that we should make a cut.”
The cut is still there – at the very least, at three Tour events that are a must-see. You can bet on it, that the Tour’s new board member has been heard by the commissioner.
