Hahn explained why the PGA Tour’s plan for 2024 is just a way to “send more money to the top players.”
James Hahn, a 41-year-old who has won twice on the PGA Tour, has spoken out about how unhappy he is with the changes that will be made to the Tour in 2024. He didn’t hold back.
Adam Schupak of Golfweek talked to Hahn, and Hahn said that he “hates” the plan.
James Hahn, a 41-year-old who has won twice on the PGA Tour, has spoken out about how unhappy he is with the changes that will be made to the Tour in 2024. He didn’t hold back.
Adam Schupak of Golfweek talked to Hahn, and Hahn said that he “hates” the plan.
“I’m going to say exactly what 99.99 percent of fans said about players leaving for the LIV Tour. I would have a lot more respect for our players if they just said, “We’re doing this for the money.” But how they’re trying to hide what they’re doing by making it about sponsors, fans, and saving events on the other side of the field. “I don’t believe any of that,” Hahn told Golfweek.
“All the big names who are talking about this ‘new product,’ I’d have a lot more respect for them if they just said, ‘Hey, we’re doing this for the money.’ They want more guaranteed money, and this is another way to get more money to the best players in the world.’
Right now, all they’re doing is covering their asses and saying what the PGA Tour has basically taught them to say.”
Hahn says that the PGA Tour’s schedule for 2024 will split the circuit into two different levels.
“We don’t spend money to give our members the best playing experience; all we care about is giving money to the best players on our Tour.” There is a big difference between the players who play in elevated events and those who play in non-elevated events,” he said.
Hahn was on the PGA Tour Player Advisory Council until the end of 2022. He was the only person who didn’t agree with the PGA Tour’s changes for 2022, which included raising the prize for the Player Impact Program (PIP) and making bigger events.
This year, Hahn was replaced as the voice of the “rank and file” players on Tour by Peter Malnati. Hahn thinks that Malnati hasn’t done a good job of speaking for that coalition.
“When I see Peter, I’ll tell him exactly what Lanto Griffin said to me when I was in that position and the executives on the board tried to change my mind. He told her, “You were put there so you could speak for most of the players on the PGA Tour.” I don’t want him on the board if he doesn’t have the guts to stand up and vote against it. We chose the wrong person. “He was put there to talk about our point of view,” Hahn said.
Hahn went on to say that even when he was on the PAC, he felt like the opinions of better players like Jordan Spieth were given more weight than his own.
“I felt like they were listening to Jordan, who is very, very smart and has a very good way with words. He says things in ways I could never do, and he gets his point across. In those meetings, he is a very nice person. I have nothing but the highest respect for Jordan, both on and off the course. But when he talks, you can see how everyone’s eyes light up like he’s the prom queen and everyone wants to ask her to the dance. When Jordan talked to a business leader at a board meeting, the independent director would blush and say, “Oh my gosh, Jordan is talking to me.” “How cool is that?'”
