At this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, Rory McIlroy expressed his “unpopular” viewpoint regarding the future of the PGA Tour without hesitation, and one significant winner concurs.
Rory McIlroy has called for the PGA Tour to be more “cut-throat” in how it distributes Tour cards to its members, and Wyndham Clark has endorsed his ideas.
At the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week, McIlroy spoke out on the matter. He acknowledged that his suggestion might not be widely accepted, but he was still more than willing to share his thoughts. “No, I mean, I’m all for making the PGA Tour at Bay Hill more competitive and cutthroat,” he stated on Friday.
“I think it’s a bad idea to say this, but I support fewer players, fewer Tour cards, and the best of the best.” A mere twenty-four hours later, after his third round in Florida, McIlroy solidified his position.
He stated, “I’m all for more cut throat and more competitive and trying to give pathways to the younger generation.” He went on to say he would like to see more new faces join the PGA Tour and that exemptions for players who are nearing the end of their careers should be reduced.
Therefore, I would prefer to have more of a Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour, or something similar because I feel like there are a lot of categories on the Tour where people are still sort of benefiting from things they did five or ten years ago. The world’s most competitive professional golf tour, in my opinion, ought to require competitors to demonstrate their worth on the field year after year.”
Undoubtedly, McIlroy’s suggestions will not sit well with many PGA Tour players, but Clark, another major winner, is supporting him. With eighteen holes remaining, the U.S. Open champion, who is one shot behind leaders Shane Lowry and Scottie Scheffler, has put himself right in the hunt to win his second PGA Tour event of the season at Bay Hill.
After shooting a one-under-par 71 on Saturday, he stayed in the hunt. Following the round, Clark was asked about his opinion of McIlroy’s position and even went so far as to suggest that the Tour restrict its membership to just 100 players. He declared, “I think it would be amazing if our Tour was a hundred guys.”
Clark continued, “I kind of said this a few times, a hundred guys and we have 20 guys that get relegated every time, every year, doesn’t matter who you are.” He was suggesting a relegation system akin to their rivals at LIV Golf. It would be thrilling.
“As the year draws to a close, people start to consider who will win the FedExCup and who might not be around the following year. So, yeah, I think Rory is right about that. I’m not aware of the exact figure, but I believe it’s a nice way to improve the product and have the top players competing more frequently on TV.”
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