Essential Golf: A passion for the Game

Professional Golf League: What Is It?

What is the Professional Golf League?

The idea of a Professional Golf League has raised its head once again, but what actually the breakaway PGL all about and when will it start?

Much like the Premier League’s creation to maximize revenue for the biggest football clubs in England, a group of investors are behind the idea of creating the Professional Golf League, which would be separate to the PGA Tour and European Tour.

Who is involved?

Little is known about the people pushing for the PGL, although rumors suggest they involve Saudi Arabian financing and the presence of investment bank the Raine Group.

“If you want the world to watch, you have to showcase your best product, week-in week-out. Golf doesn’t do that currently,” the Professional Golf League said in a press release. “If you had the chance to start again you wouldn’t create professional golf as it exists today. The league is that chance.

“We believe we’ll succeed because the league is what fans, sponsors and broadcasters want – and the best players deserve. It will revitalise the sport for this and future generations.”

What are the plans for the PGL?

According to the outline plans, the PGL would be golf’s equivalent to the Formula 1 World Championship with an 18-tournament world tour taking stars of the game across the globe and into home on all corners of the planet.

The top 48 players in the world would, it says, play in individual and team events, 54-hole tournaments and shotgun starts to ensure all players are on the course at the same time. With a planned $10 million on offer for each event, the faces behind the PGL really are looking to make it big prize money events throughout the calendar year.

How soon could we see the PGL in action?

According to the information released by the PGL, it could start as soon as January 2022. This news comes in contrast to the work being done by the PGA TOUR and European Tour which are working together now to attract the big names to events on both sides of the Atlantic.

What players could we see in the PGL

Should some of the biggest names be enticed away from either tour to play in the PGL, it would undoubtedly throw the cat amongst the pigeons when it comes to the long-term picture for golf.

Currently golfers earn the right to hold membership of the PGA TOUR and European Tour by success on the course or by playing in a required number of events throughout each year. The existence of a new league would affect that.

Who will this affect the European Tour and PGA TOUR?

Both tours have adopted the same policy over the PGL, with the PGA Tour saying they “don’t comment on the business of other tours, real or hypothetical,” and European Tour echoing that: “We are not really in the business of commenting on other tours whether they are real or whether they are fictional.”

Players have heard the rumours—Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson among them—for a number of years without anything coming to fruition.

And the fact that the prospect of a rival tour having been discussed in golfing circles in the past, as well as the present, shows just how difficult it will be for the men behind PGL to get their idea off the ground and into homes worldwide.