Paying players nothing for major wins could ‘grow the game’

HOYLAKE, England — The organizations that run golf’s major championships share a common mission — foundational for some, adopted more recently by others — to grow the sport while preserving its values. This shared mandate distinguishes those bodies from the professional tours, which use similar platitudes as window dressing on their actual objectives of rewarding members and executives.

Against that goal, the PGA Tour has exceeded expectations, and perhaps good taste. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has played 19 events this season, won twice, and averaged north of $1 million per start, with the fertile fields of the FedEx Cup playoffs still to be plowed. Granted, Scheffler has produced consistently high finishes during this campaign, but the Tour’s benevolent new economics are less trickle-down than tsunami. Patrick Cantlay hasn’t won this season but his prize money through July 20 exceeds Brooks Koepka’s haul in 2019, when his three wins included a major. The average on-course earnings on the PGA Tour currently stand at $1.8 million, with seven events and bonuses still to count. Why? Because of events like the Arnold Palmer Invitational. In 2021, the API’s purse was $9.3 million. A year later, it was $12 million. This year? $20 million.

In an effort to keep pace with the PIF, the PGA Tour is delivering financial windfalls not seen since Bernie Madoff was the toast of Wall Street.

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The same upward trend is apparent in major championships. Two years ago, the average prize fund at a major was $11.875 million. In 2022, it was $15.375 million. Now it is $18 million. The purse for the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool is $16.5 million, a bounteous sum to be sure, but last among the big four and reflective of the R&A’s status as the most threadbare body in men’s golf. This is probably why the organization’s chief executive, Martin Slumbers, bemoaned the money arms race Wednesday at Royal Liverpool.

“Significant increases in prize money in the men’s professional game has resulted in the long-term reassessment of the business model for professional golf. As custodians of the game, we have to balance the prize fund at The Open with ensuring the appropriate investment in grass-roots and new golf initiatives, ensuring pathways are in place from elite amateur golf to the professional game, and most importantly, promoting women and…