The PGA Tour has seen a drop in viewership over the past few years. The ratings took a major plunge even during the biggest tournaments. Signature events and majors caught a lot less attention and broadcast partners of the Tour were in shambles, trying to figure out what was wrong. The worst of it was definitely seen in 2024, the numbers were atrocious. A good example of that was seen in the Genesis Invitational, which only had 450,000 viewers. That happened when Tiger Woods was still playing on the field. So is the PGA Tour paying the price when Woods is absent? Or did golf suddenly become a lot less appealing to sports enthusiasts?
There were some who thought that LIV Golf had disturbed the balance in the community. Experts also said that fans were offered too much golf with the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LIV Golf, and the LPGA Tour being played concurrently. Whatever the case, the drop in TV ratings led to a lot of changes. In an attempt to bring the ratings back up, Jay Monahan & Co. worked actively on some of the issues in the PGA Tour. Issues like the slow pace of play, bad broadcasts, and lower purses are being constantly dealt with. The purses have definitely been a lot bigger in recent years. But that has not been enough to make the events more exciting and bring the PGA Tour back to life.
Slow play and bad broadcast are still major issues. Lower-quality field events are often criticized for the slow pace of play. Even when the likes of Scottie Scheffler & Rory McIlroy are playing, bad broadcast practices have ruined the entire experience for the fans. In fact, during the Genesis Invitational 2025, it was McIlroy and Scheffler who grabbed most of the attention of the broadcasters despite the tournament-winning performance of Ludvig Aberg. So was the plan to splurge more cash on the purses a failure then? There is someone who does think so.
Veteran agent Mac Barnhardt gave a statement on Any Given Monday. The video was shared on X by Monday Q Info with the caption “In think weeks Any Given Monday we spoke with longtime agent Mac Barnhardt about where the Tour stands today. He believes that the current purses and money given to top players isn’t sustainable. Agree or disagree it’s rare to see someone involved in Tour speak out.”
In the short video attached to the tweet, Barnhardt stated, “Sponsorship to players have always mirrored purse rise.” He is suggesting that the value of the player is determined by the purse of the events they play in. The veteran further added,d “What happened was Tiger brought in the sports fan and that was the extra viewership. That’s the extra value. But I think when Tiger kind of diminished his playing, I think we lost the sports fan and now we’re back to golf fans. It’s not a drop of golf fans. We lost those sports fans.” The agent believes that the kind of following Tiger Woods had brought in is no more and all that remains are the genuine golf fans.
Coming back to the issue with the PGA Tour, Barnhardt added, “I don’t see how; with the ratings down the way they are and the marketplace, that the Tour can think they can pay $20 million purses.” He thinks that Jay Monahan & Co. shouldn’t be shelling out $20 million purses. Especially because the PGA Tour can’t get as many viewers as they did in the Tiger Woods era.
In think weeks Any Given Monday we spoke with longtime agent Mac Barnhardt about where the Tour stands today.
He believes that the current purses and money given to top players isn’t sustainable.
Agree or disagree it’s rare to see someone involved in Tour speak out. pic.twitter.com/rUZnSORxOL
— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) March 27, 2025
But has that been the case? Because the PGA Tour has been showing signs of recovery in 2024. Let’s see how Mac Barnhardt’s statement might not stand true against the TV ratings.
The PGA Tour is on the course to recovery
Despite a horrid viewership experience in 2024, Jay Monahan & Co. has seen great numbers this year. The PGA Tour has recovered ever since the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have come back to the scene. And the evidence is in the total number of viewers.
While still receiving a lot of negative reactions from analysts, the viewership has risen back to what it used to be in 2022 and 2023. Regarding the purse, the TV ratings may not have played as big of a part in increasing them as other major factors. For instance, McIlroy himself had admitted that the emergence of LIV Golf is the reason behind the increase in a purse. It’s safe to assume that Jay Monahan & Co. don’t want to lose their star players to money. That is what prompted them to push for bigger purse events.
Having said that, do you think the purse prize for PGA Tour events has gone out of hand? Let us know in the comments section.
The post Jay Monahan Warned Against ‘$20 Million Purses’ as PGA Tour’s Worrying Reality Revealed by Golf Insider appeared first on EssentiallySports.
