How much is PGA Tour loyalty actually worth? Pros find out this week

The official word arrived on the last day of January, but it was not exactly news. The PGA Tour had finalized a deal with the Strategic Sports Group for an immediate investment of $1.5 billion into a new, for-profit entity named PGA Tour Enterprises. The names involved were not new — the likes of Steve Cohen, John Henry, Fenway Sports Group, etc., had been reportedly interested for months — but one major addendum was: an equity program.

Now, about three months after the announcement, PGA Tour players are about to find out what their loyalty has been worth. On Wednesday, Tour members will receive an email notifying them of the current value of award grants this program has earmarked for them, be it tens of millions of dollars, or none at all. The 193 eligible recipients will receive a letter from Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, who is the CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises, explaining the number of equity units they receive and the fair market value of said equity. The Tour intends to keep the list of award recipients confidential.

“It’s really about making sure that our players know the PGA Tour is the best place to compete and showing them how much the Tour appreciates them being loyal,” Jason Gore, the Tour’s chief player officer, said in one of six informational videos the Tour produced for the membership. The videos, which were shared internally with Tour pros and their representatives, were accompanied by infographics, all of which were reviewed by GOLF.com.

In the age of LIV Golf offering mega-millions in contracts to elite golfers, these figures matter, particularly for PGA Tour loyalists who passed on lucrative guaranteed contracts that would be worth more than PGA Tour Enterprises equity could ever offer them.

How much players decide to talk about their equity will be up to them, but as you will read below, the total value of each grant differs by player. On the day that specific criteria were announced, it was a hot topic among players.

Which equity group am I in? Wait, which equity group is he in? 

So, how does it work?

The Tour has announced these equity grants under one specific word: opportunity. Xander Schauffele will not receive a life-size, $50 million check. Players will not see their bank account immediately increase. (In fact, as we’ll explain below, it will take quite some time before that happens.) They will strictly receive a capital interest award for a specific piece of PGA Tour Enterprises. Based on a myriad of factors, players will be ranked via a specific number of “membership units,” akin to a stake in a company, the value of which will vest over a specific amount of time. High-performing players will receive a greater stake in PGA Tour Enterprises, which will be home to the Tour’s commercial operations. That’s where SSG’s money is going, which they hope will increase in value over time.