Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are the top two players on the PGA Tour. In response to LIV Golf, Jordan Spieth talked about what they talked about.
This week, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan made a move that has been called controversial. He said that some of the tour’s biggest events outside of the majors would be changed. As part of the changes to the tournaments, which are called “elevated events,” the number of players will be cut from 144 to 70-78, and there will no longer be a 36-hole cut. The prize money will be set at £16 million.
As they tried to keep the controversial Saudi-backed circuit from becoming a threat, Spieth said that Woods and McIlroy’s meeting last year was important for figuring out how the PGA Tour would deal with the LIV threat.
“Guys like Tiger and even Rory, who had been there for a while, had a lot of influence. They told everyone, ‘Hey, this is a meritocracy, and we need to keep it that way,'” Spieth said.
“I think we’ve found a pretty good balance between keeping the history and making modern changes that, in my opinion, reward the guys who beat the best in the world week after week in a fair way.”
As changes have been made to the PGA, the three-time major winner admitted that LIV had a hand in making those changes. “I’d be lying if I said we could have done this without LIV,” Spieth said after his first round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, where he shot a four-under-par 68.
“But at the same time, we haven’t talked about them when we’ve talked about what’s best for the Tour. The Tour has been listening closely. It has been a player-friendly situation that has been run by players. It’s been fun to be a part of, to be honest.
I hope we can start it off right and not have to make too many changes, because right now the most important thing is to get it as close to right as possible the first time.”
Bay Hill has been a tough test so far, with firm greens and thick rough, but the American is tied for third in the clubhouse with defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Adam Schenk, and England’s Aaron Rai.
Spieth is only one stroke behind Chris Kirk, who won the Honda Classic on Sunday, Cameron Young, who was second at the Open Championship last year, and Kurt Kitayama. World number one John Rahm, who just won the Genesis Open, is in the lead by two shots.
Spieth is confident in the future of the PGA Tour after a good day of golf in Florida. This is because of the changes that have been made. “I’m really behind you,” he said. “You still have to play well if you want to be in the best position. Everyone who has a full Tour card can play in every event.
“I think that’s important to keep in mind. Then, it should make a product model for the next 20 years or more that is even better than it has been. I want to be a part of the big events of the next 20 years.
