The PGA Tour seems to get stuck in one problem after another. This time, the issue is stemming from the format of the signature events. Back in March 2024, right after the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, McIlroy gave his opinion, “I’m all for making it more cut throat, more competitive. Probably won’t be very popular for saying this, but I’m all for less players and less Tour cards, and the best of the best.” Translation? He would like cuts to improve the challenge, make the field more ‘leaner.’ But there was another golfer who didn’t exactly agree with him. In the same event, Erik van Rooyen contested Rory’s “Indifferent” thoughts.

“And Rory, I know he said he wants the Tour to be more cutthroat. Well, this is the most cutthroat sport there is; you miss the cut, you’re gone, bro. You’re not making money. … The NBA has over 300 guys playing. We have 144 guys playing [next week at The Players]; that’s not a lot, and more than half of them aren’t making money,” van Rooyen said bluntly. And as we move into the sixth signature event of the year, the same spark has caught more wind. For the top golfers on the Tour, it’s an exciting and lucrative opportunity. But for the rest of the golfers fighting to find a place in the top-flight events, the 2025 Truist Championship is an obstacle. And they are not pleased with it.

Erik, who has taken the field at Philly this week, is one of them. The 35-year-old did qualify for the tournament after a runner-up finish in the CJ Cup at Byron Nelson, he hasn’t always found a place in Signature events. The only other premier PGA Tour event he has played this season is the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am not qualifying for the other four tournaments. He complained that such events ensure big stars like Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler‘s participation but restrict the opportunities for others to play with them. Lucas Glover also agreed with the statement as he confessed, “I think it’s getting too exclusive, and we’re not giving enough opportunities.” And now another huge critic of Jay Monahan and the PGA Tour has spoken up about the issue.

Brandel Chamblee in another episode of The Favorite Chamblee, along with Bailey Chamblee, discussed this issue. Bailey asked, “So there was some golf news last several days after Erik van Rooyen finished runner up at the CJ Cup, and I know his comments piqued your interest, Brandel. So tell us what his comments were and why.” The golf analyst responded, “They did. You know it’s funny, a few weeks ago, I was practicing at the TPC Scottsdale and I ran into Kevin Chappell who I think is very bright and has got great ideas about what’s going on around the PGA Tour.

“I asked him what it was like out on the PGA Tour and he said, ‘Almost mirroring the political division that exists in the world today where people can’t even talk about different ideas that they may have,’ and the politics he said is almost like that on the PGA Tour. He said that there’s this palpable tension between, it’s sort of relative, but in PGA Tour terms, the haves and the have-nots. The haves would be those who are exempted to the elevated events, and the have-nots are those who are not exempted to the elevated events because there’s a sense that they’ve gathered everyone together and they’ve shut the door and they’re like you can’t come in.”

According to Chappell, most golfers refrain from having an opinion and sharing ideas to avoid getting in trouble. However, influential golfers like McIlroy and Scheffler can speak their minds without getting punished for it, creating a political divide between the PGA Tour golfers.

Adding to the conversation, Chamblee stated, “The NFL has roughly 1700 players. The MLB has 1200 players. The NBA has 560 players. If you were trying to reduce the number of players that can get starts on the PGA Tour, reduce the number of players that can get into these elevated events, eliminate the idea of having cuts, it’s going to turn a lot of people off in the game.

“Now when you look at golf, the difference between the best player on the PGA Tour player, this was using 2016 data, but the best PGA Tour player and the average PGA Tour player was less than 3%. And the difference between the best player on the PGA Tour and the worst PGA Tour player was less than 7.5%. So it’s such a fine line between the best players because they’re so evenly packed. There is so much parity in professional golf to reduce the playing field. First, it’s bad for spectators, in my view.

“And it’s bad for producing players. You need a consistent pipeline to produce the best players and to give the best opportunity to have what stars in stories. So, when you get to these elevated events, there’s a boutique feel to it. There’s a feel like you’re at a very private, ultra-exclusive, sleepy country club where there’s 10 players playing the whole day.”

Golf undoubtedly can’t compete with other sports if it keeps getting more restrictive. Giving more players opportunities to play in tournaments is the only way to grow the game. So, when the cream of the crop continues to compete against each other, the game isn’t exactly growing, and many pro golfers are against the idea. The implementation of Signature events, which were first introduced in 2023 due to the rise of LIV Golf, is not good for the sport.

Interestingly, despite their attempts to better the quality of the tournaments, Jay Monahan & Co. aren’t seeing the obvious error they have in their strategy. They can probably learn from the mistakes their rivals are making.

Jay Monahan’s biggest error in favoring Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy & Co.

Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, and other big names are undoubtedly the attractions of the PGA Tour. They are the reason the majority of the fans tune in for events. So it’s understandable why Jay Monahan & Co. are trying to create an environment where all of them can thrive. However, that might just be their biggest mistake, as demonstrated by their rivals at LIV Golf.

The Saudi-based promotions exclusively host only limited field events. They have a roster of 54 players and a few alternates that take the field across all 13 events in a season. As exciting as Greg Norman and Scott O’Neil may try to make it, fans are not attracted to the prospect of watching the same golfers play the same kind of golf every event.

It’s a concept proven to be a failure. So, for the PGA Tour to push such a format every season is only going to cause them issues in the long run. Not to forget, they will demotivate other golfers to keep pushing to qualify for Signature events. That will only mean that Jay Monahan will make the PGA Tour a far less attractive prospect, driving more of its players to their rivals.