PGA Tour announces larger purses and enhanced fall series for game’s top players

After months of playing defense against LIV Golf’s advances into professional golf, the PGA Tour punched back on Wednesday when commissioner Jay Monahan unveiled an enhanced schedule starting next year.

The highlight of the announcement, which was sent to players in a memo prior to the commissioner’s press conference at the Travelers Championship, will be significant purse increases to eight events, including the Sentry Tournament of Champions ($15 million), Genesis Invitational ($20 million), Arnold Palmer Invitational ($20 million), Players Championship ($25 million), Dell Technologies WGC-Match Play, Memorial ($20 million), FedEx St. Jude Championship ($20 million) and BMW Championship ($20 million).

All total, that’s a $54 million increase in purses among those events.

“These increases will be funded by sponsor support and supplemented in the short term by the operating reserve,” Monahan said in the memo. “Please note these amendments to the Resource Allocation Plan do not affect previously announced prize money increases at other events.”

The announcement was a direct response to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf schedule, which began earlier this month in London and features eight events with $20 million individual purses with another $5 million for teams in each tournament.

In the memo to players, Monahan also outlined a new three-event series in the fall for the top players with similarly sized purses. The fall events would be held internationally (Europe, Asia and the Middle East) and will feature some sort of team aspect.

Those events are expected to be added to the Tour schedule in 2024 and the format is still be considered.