Wednesday’s big announcement by the PGA Tour is set to be a step in the right direction, according to a Canadian who had advanced knowledge of the developments.
Mackenzie Hughes – who is in his second year as a member of the PGA Tour’s Players Advisory Council – told Sportsnet that while there are still plenty of moving pieces about how the PGA Tour will look moving forward, there’s one sure thing in his mind.
“The only thing I know about the deal so far is that it’s going to be a win for the PGA Tour,” Hughes said from California, where he’ll tee it up at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am starting Thursday, an 80-man Signature Event on the schedule this year.
“There are still some things that aren’t quite clear to the players. But I think the Tour was in a bit of a place of uncertainty with sponsors leaving and the threat of LIV still around. I don’t think the question whether the Tour was going to go on, but what kind of strength was it going forward with.”
After the bombshell news last June – during the week of the RBC Canadian Open – that the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) would be working together on a go-forward framework for men’s professional golf – the PGA Tour found another partner in the Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a conglomerate of American business owners already involved in sports, like the owner of the Fenway Sports Group, the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, and the owner of the New York Mets, amongst others.
The PGA Tour. in partnership with SSG, announced Wednesday the launch of PGA Tour Enterprises, a new commercial venture under the PGA Tour’s control. As part of PGA Tour Enterprises, SSG closed on a major investment of up to $3 billion.
In a first-of-its kind program in sports, nearly 200 PGA TOUR members will have the opportunity to become equity holders in this new company. SSG is investing an initial $1.5 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises (the total value of that entity is now $12 billion) and will “provide strategic focus on maximizing revenue generation for the benefit of the players and on finding opportunities to enhance the game of golf across the world,” according to the announcement.
The transaction will allow for a co-investment from PIF in the future, subject to all necessary regulatory approvals. In the U.S., the American Department of Justice and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations within the U.S. Senate continue to investigate the PIF. If the PIF does end up striking a deal with the SSG and the PGA Tour, regulatory approvals would take at least a year, according to the Sports Business Journal. That means men’s professional golf may not have a unified schedule until 2026.
LIV Golf, the upstart league funded by the PIF, starts its third season Friday in Mexico.
The announcement comes on the heels of reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm leaving for LIV (along with fellow Ryder Cup team member Tyrell Hatton) and Honda not renewing its PGA Tour tournament sponsorship for this year, Wells Fargo not renewing for next year, and Farmers Insurance not renewing past 2026.
RBC is the only entity that sponsors more than one PGA Tour event (the RBC Heritage and Canadian Open) and the bank only signed one-year renewal deals for 2024.
Hughes said, for now, the injection of cash comes at a key time for the PGA Tour as it looks to improve its fan-facing product.
“The PGA Tour now gets a big financial lift and puts us in a pretty strong position going forward. From a cash perspective that’s the big thing for our business,” Hughes said.
Hughes’ mention of a desire to have an improved fan experience was a common one amongst other Tour pros. Max Homa, a multi-time PGA Tour winner, took to X (formerly Twitter) to explain why this new group has a desire for the fan to want to engage in the PGA Tour more.
“This investment group isn’t just donating money. They want to make money,” Homa wrote.
“There are a lot of different ways to (elevate the fan experience) but at least start that conversation and figure out ways the product becomes easier to consume and maybe catered to a younger audience,” added Hughes.
“The future of the game is really with young people.”
One of the big frustrations people have with the product right now, Hughes said, is the lack of innovation in the broadcast. The hardcore fan will watch regardless, but week after week the product is pretty similar – 72 holes of stroke-play.
“Drone stuff and shot tracker (is) not really wowing people. It’s fun and the drone shots are cool but there is so much more out there we could be doing. I’d love for them to explore how to make the best possible product it could be and hopefully showing more golf,” Hughes said with a laugh, as the most basic thing is often the thing bypassed on the coverage.
Hughes made headlines earlier in January when he spent more than half-an-hour with media in Hawaii talking about all things PGA Tour. He got plenty off his chest then, even going so far as to call the state of men’s pro golf “a bit of a circus.”
The Canadian, now a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, said he’s got more comfortable as time has gone on with speaking his mind. Sometimes, he admits, it’s hard as an athlete to put yourself out there.
“If people ask for my opinion on certain things, I’m going to give it and I’m going to be truthful about it,” Hughes said. “Athletes are prodded and prodded to say more and be more honest. And then the first time you do it people are like, ‘maybe you could shut up. He’s a golfer… I don’t want to hear it.’ Sometimes it's a hard balance.”
One person whose voice has held a lot of weight over the last three decades is Tiger Woods.
Woods is on the board of directors of the PGA Tour and spoke on a conference call Wednesday morning to the broader PGA Tour membership about the new agreement with SSG. Hughes said Woods has “definitely stepped up.”
“He’s obviously a strong voice to have on there and he cares about the Tour and its longevity. It’s incredible that he still has the desire to put in the hours and want to help the Tour,” Hughes said. “Nothing but a positive to be with us and be on that board and sharing his insights. The longer we have him around doing that, the better. He wants what’s best for the Tour and he’s going to fight for the Tour as long as he has to.”
With Wednesday’s announcement, it sounds like PGA Tour members have plenty worth fighting for.
1:42
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.