Welcome to Issue #34
"Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you”
Arnold Palmer
What’s on my mind this week
Lowry bags a new caddy, hitting into the trees has its benefits in this heat, Nelly Korda chasing the major hat-trick at Hazeltine, Rory skipping the Travelers to scout Birkdale instead, players in shorts at the Italian open and the sky hasn’t fallen, Bennett Scheffler already has a better swing than I do, Edoardo Molinari shooting a 63 to break the course record at his home course in his home open, lovely.
In the news
Why it matters: The PGA Tour confirmed on the 23rd of June that from 2028 it will operate a two-tier structure, with a 23-24 event Championship Series at $20 million-plus purses and a 20-plus event Challenger Series feeding it through formal promotion and relegation.
Our Take: The structural read is that the PGA Tour has finally chosen to behave like a league rather than a membership organisation. Smaller fields, no sponsor exemptions, mandatory cuts, match play at the Tour Championship and a rotating venue model are all decisions optimised for broadcast value rather than playing-opportunity volume. The Future Competition Committee was deliberately constructed to produce this outcome. Tiger Woods brought player legitimacy. John Henry, Joe Gorder and Theo Epstein brought the perspective of operators who think in leagues, media rights and franchise value rather than playing opportunities. The commercial bet is straightforward. Concentrate the stars into fewer events, give every tournament narrative consequence, and sell the resulting product to media partners at a premium. Whether the bet pays depends on whether the next media rights cycle delivers the uplift the new structure has been designed around.