Lucas Glover has ripped into the PGA Tour’s Signature Event model, labelling it as “selfish” and nothing more than a “money grab”.
This week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational is the fourth of the Tour’s Signature Events, a series of limited-field events with an inflated $20million purse. Five of the events do not feature a cut, with the Tour’s star players guaranteed a lucrative payday.
Much of the reasoning for the introduction of the Signature-Event model can be explained by the rise of LIV Golf, with the inflated purses and guaranteed money seen as a way to stem the flow of big-name players leaving to join the Saudi-backed circuit.
However, Glover, who enjoyed a stellar winning run at the back end of last season to play himself into this year’s Signature Events, is far from convinced and delivered a scathing verdict of the decision to introduce such limited-field tournaments when speaking at Bay Hill on Friday.
“It’s selfish and it’s a money grab,” the American told Golfweek. “Nothing has happened in the last two years in golf, in my opinion, that will help the game,” he said. “I’ve yet to figure out what’s so bad out here that we had to do all the things we’ve done.”
On Friday, Rory McIlroy defended the Signature Events, with the Northern Irishman saying he was in favour of a more cutthroat and competitive Tour setup. Glover, meanwhile, argued that the changes were too drastic and would negatively harm the rank-and-file members.
“I just don’t see what was so bad out here that we had to do all this. Let’s raise some purses to make sure we keep some guys around but now we’ve eliminated a lot of playing opportunities for some really good players.”
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After this week’s event, the Tour moves on to TPC Sawgrass for the Players Championship, previously seen as the game’s ‘fifth Major’ due to its large purse and deep field.
Unlike the Signature Events, the Tour’s showpiece event will still feature a regular field size and full cut, something which only perplexes Glover further.
“Why are the Signature events (max) 80 players and only 50 make the cut but our biggest Signature event next week is 144 players with a full cut,” the 44-year-old said. “It’s very mind-blowing that our biggest Signature event has the most players and the biggest cut.”
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