Players react to future two-tier model ahead of John Deere Classic: 'If you play good golf, you get rewarded'
Golf Channel's Hailey Hunter spoke to players ahead of John Deere Classic react about the two-tier model coming to the PGA Tour in 2028.
Video Transcript
Of course, we got to hear from a lot of the players on the PGA Tour last week at the Travelers Championship, getting their thoughts on this new two-track model that the PGA Tour just announced, last week.
And top 90 now you have to be in the FedEx Cup standings to play on that elite track one that they're calling the championship series.
And when it comes to that though, you think last week, back to the kind of field that we saw there in a signature event, at the top, or the n- 90, players, being in the top 90, 90% of the field there was currently in that top 90 going into the tournament compared to a tournament out here at the John Deere Classic where 74% of the players this week are not currently in that top 90.
So how do players who likely will be fighting to be in that elite track one feel about hearing about these new changes such as the purse differences?
For example, at least $4 million will be the purses at events such as these, like the John Deere Classic, those lower tier track two events, as compared to their playing competitors on the PGA Tour's track one, playing for at least $20 million.
Here's what a few of the players had to say, including Denny McCarthy, who's always played really well here at TPC Deere Run, and currently sits just one spot inside the top 90.
I think it's a good system.
as always, if you play good golf, you get rewarded.
in a way, this new system kinda gives guys more opportunity.
you know, you're playing, you know, instead of these 70, 80-man signature event fields, you get 120 guys in these fields.
And, so, there, there's And if you're in the track two, there's, there's still ways to play, play your way up into that track one or challenger championship, whatever, whatever, you know, we're gonna call it going forward.
But- Yeah I think it's a good way.
It's, well, like always, I mean, I've always tried to just put my head down and play good golf and, and the rest takes care of itself.
And, you know, this system is, you know, th- the system is a good way for that.
So, yeah, you play good golf and you, and you'll get rewarded.
Yeah, I mean, I don't know too much about it, but, I think it looks like it's, a good model and a good change, kinda making the signature events a little bigger, but, still keeping them small and having a cut.
How much extra pressure does that put on you guys to, you know, try and make that top 90 as well?
It was 100, now we're kinda narrowing it a little bit.
Yeah, I mean, it's still, you just gotta go out and play well.
I don't think it's gonna change my mindset or anything, but just knowing that, gotta, gotta keep playing well and that, it's, it's hard to keep your job out here, so just keep doing the right things.
And just finally, with the purse, the purses, quite a big difference.
Were you kind of experiencing some surprise from players out here with just how big those differences are gonna be?
How did you guys kinda mentally take that in?
yeah, I don't know.
I, I don't, try not to pay too much attention to that, uh- Okay but, it seems, seems not too much different to me, but similar.
Hopefully, it's something that can stay consistent.
this being my fourth year out on tour, I feel like we've had tweaks and changes to the schedule every year I've been on tour, so it'll be nice to, to hopefully, have some consistency for, for a, a long time.
On paper it looks really good.
You know, we'll see in a, a couple years when it goes into action, but, no complaints on, on my end.
You know, I think it'll be nice to have, you know, a set schedule and to, you know, know where you're gonna be at throughout the year.
so yeah, I'm kinda looking forward to it.
You know, where I've been at in the last couple years, it's very much been, well, am I playing next week or am I not?
So- Yeah it'll be, it'll be nice to have a, you know, a clear path to what we're gonna do.
How much extra pressure does that put on you, though, with the top 90 as well now?
Yeah, next year I think it'll be a big pressure.
you know, if you just play good golf that'll take care of it.
Got it.
There have still been a lot of questions, of course, as this is all very new, as the PGA Tour tries to iron out all of the details of this new two-track model, and one of the biggest questions that's been raised as of late is, okay, well, what happens to the RBC Canadian Open?
Which track will that fall on, and how does that affect some of the Canadian players who would like to play in their national open?
Of course, to many fans in the United States, that might just sound like another PGA Tour event to them, but to Canadian golf fans, this is an event that's their national open.
It's been going on all the way back to 1904, one of the oldest professional golf tournaments, to exist.
And so you look at, for example, this year, the PGA Tour has been very strict on players in track one cannot play on track two and vice versa.
Well, let's say the Canadian Open was a track one event where 21 of the Canadians that played this year, only four of them would've been able to compete if it was a track one event, including, Taylor Pendrith, who I just talked to.
He told me that if that were to be a track two event, he would be pretty disappointed to not be able to play.
He said it's his favorite tournament to play in every single year, being able to be out there in Canada representing his home country.
He said he does not think it's likely that the PGA Tour will consider, any sort of, an exception for Canadians to be able to play in that tournament, but he did say it's still early.
He's hoping they'll at least have a conversation about it
