Players Acknowledging Need For Change Validate The Premier Golf League's Ideas

Since the Premier Golf League ideas were first revealed here and the vision was expanded upon either in blog posts here, and now in founder Andy Gardiner’s interviews (here and here),

Randall Mell from the Honda on Brooks Koepka’s remarks, another classic example of Koepka’s shrewd way of playing his hand.

“I am just going to play where the best players play,” Koepka said Wednesday after his Honda Classic pro-am round. “I want to play against the best. I think everyone wants to play against the best. Whatever comes of it, comes of it.”

He’s available, will just go where the best players are, and he doesn’t need the money. Future agent, Brooks Koepka.

He also gratitude expressed toward the PGA Tour and its longevity as a venture.

“A lot of good things have come from it,” he said. “The Tour has been incredible to us, the way things have developed over the years. We have to see where things go. It’s all very new and it’s all very fast.”

But what if the PGL makes him an astronomical offer to be one of its new team owners?

“I know you’re going to write this the wrong way, but it doesn’t matter if somebody gave me $200 million tomorrow,” Koepka said. “It’s not going to change my life. What am I going to get out of it? I already have so much that I could retire right now, but I don’t want to. I just want to play golf. It’s not going to change anything. Maybe the only thing I do is buy a plane. That would be it. I don’t see anything that would change my life.”

True, a plane would be nice.

GolfDigest.com’s Brian Wacker covered Koepka’s remarks as well as those of Gary Woodland, current U.S. Open champion. He says he PGL has been good for the PGA.

“I think competition is good,” said Gary Woodland, who is represented by the same agent as Woods, Mark Steinberg. “I think the tour will be better for it. I think it will force the tour to make some changes.

Force. Not inspire. Or encourage. Or cause. Force.

“It’ll be interesting. There’s still a long way to go and a lot to do in a short period of time, but I think the [PGA] Tour has realized it has to make some changes.”

It would be interesting to know when that realization occurred.

For those who think the current model of constant growth and playing opportunities for retirees has damaged the “product,” there is good news. For accountants.

“I think the top players are getting together and trying to get things done. There’s a lot of things that could be done better out here to take care of the top players but also the bottom guys. I think there’s a lot more money for everybody. Hopefully that pushes the envelope.”

Players, players, players. Money, money, money. Not much about the fans or sponsors, something the PGL has highlighted in their mixed-results social media rollout and last week’s interviews.

A similar view was shared by Billy Horschel, who, as usual, said more than he should.

GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard paints a largely rosy picture of the PGL’s impact and included this from Horschel.

“I have no desire [to play on the PGL]. What [Tour commissioner Jay Monahan] has done is great. He understands that the Tour in its current form isn’t viable in the future,” Horschel said.

I’m sorry, what was that again? Not viable in its current form. Again, when did this realization happen?

“Changes are going to have to be made. What changes? I don’t know. The business model is great, it’s what we do with the players and the product. We may have to make some tweaks to the product to continue to be able to garner the money that we want.”

So to recap Horschel’s quote: the Commissioner understands the current model is not viable, yet the business model is “great”, and the PGL-inspired changes will help keep the money flowing.

Something tells me fans and sponsors who have not agreed that the PGA Tour is “growing and thriving” and never more exciting want to hear ideas that will make the sport more fun. Enriching players for helping the cause is a nice byproduct of those efforts, but if pocket lining is the sole focus of this change, then the PGA Tour’s finest will have missed the point in a major way.