"Tour players play golf, Businessmen run business” - Lucas Glover sounds off on the PGA Tour player directors including Tiger Woods
Lucas Glover criticized the PGA Tour player directors for wielding more power in the negotiation deal with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF). The former US Open winner recently spoke on an episode of SiriusXM radio, discussing the recent changes on the PGA Tour.
Earlier this week, Jimmy Dunne, who played a key role in the controversial merger of the PGA Tour and PIF, resigned from his position on the Tour Policy Board. Following his resignation, Glover expressed his frustration at player directors apparently having more influence on the ongoing negotiation deal. He believed that guiding businessmen on how to do business was pointless.
Speaking of the changes on Tour, the American golfer said (via Golf Digest):
"We [the players] have no business having the majority. Tour players play golf. Businessmen run business. They don't tell us how to hit 7 irons. We shouldn't be telling them how to run a business.
"We are running a business now. And we're all on the same team because this for-profit entity that's about to launch needs to get right. It needs to be right. And players that think they know more than Jimmy Dunne, players that think they know more than Ed Herlihy, players that think they know more than Joe Gorder, players that think they know more than Jay Monahan, when it comes to business, are wrong," he added.
Jimmy Dunne was one of the five independent PGA Tour Policy Board directors. However, the board also comprises six Player Directors, including Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods, and Adam Scott.
It is important to note that the PGA Tour has also officially established a Transaction Subcommittee, including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and five other board members, to converse directly with PIF regarding the negotiation deal.
For the unversed, the PGA Tour announced a merger with PIF last year in June. However, the deal has only been postponed over time. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour has inked a whopping $3 billion contract with the Sports Strategic Group (SSG) to establish PGA Tour Enterprises and now they are in talks with PIF for another deal.
"It's 100 percent backward"- Lucas Glover on PGA Tour Board decisions
In the same interview, Lucas Glover also addressed the significance of the PGA Tour's decisions for players. He emphasized that these decisions hold immense importance in players' lives. He further voiced his dissatisfaction with some of the Tour's decisions, saying:
"I'm at the point in my career now and my future and my family's future hinges on this, these decisions that are about to be made. So that's why I've decided in the last few months to start speaking up. But the board situation and the way they're gonna reach these decisions now is backwards.
"It's 100 percent backwards. We had an opportunity to get this done and it didn't get done. And now we're losing the people that are the most effective and already had it done, to be frank," he added.
Over the past few years, the PGA Tour has undergone numerous changes. Initially, they majorly criticized LIV Golf, which is financially backed by PIF, but later decided to merge with them.
Additionally, the Tour has introduced signature events with increased purses and limited field sizes. Moreover, the Tour has implemented the Players Equity Program to compensate players for their loyalty to the Tour. However, only time will tell how the PGA Tour will progress with its deal with PIF.