‘I don’t like that departure’: Two top pros question Tour’s money decisions

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — To hear Patrick Cantlay speak in public is to witness intentionality personified.

Cantlay is intentional with every word. If he’s not sure of an answer, he’ll take a long pause to mull the options — or he’ll tell you that he’s not sure. He values precision and he’d rather be slow than wrong. His approach to press conferences mirrors his approach to golf.

Cantlay is intentional in the way he portrays himself, too. What that means is Cantlay intentionally adds as little artifice to his public presentation as possible. His main goal in self-representation seems to be “honesty,” which means he doesn’t smile unless he’s happy and he doesn’t ham it up, like, ever, and he won’t obsess over his social media notifications because he doesn’t even have the passwords.

All this is to say that when Patrick Cantlay says something, there’s a good chance he means it. So when he spoke on Tuesday at the Genesis Invitational about the PGA Tour’s $50 million Player Impact Program (PIP), which critics have likened to a popularity contest, his answer was clear.

“I think I’m old-school in the respect that I would like the money to be doled out relative to play and I don’t think the PIP does that. It may be the first departure that the Tour has had from rewarding good play to rewarding social media or popularity presence, so I don’t like that departure.”

Asked a follow-up question, Cantlay went rhetorical.

“The best way I can think of on the spot to answer that would be with a question,” he said. “And it’s, ‘Do you think the Tour should be incentivizing it?’ Because that’s my gripe. People are going to promote themselves on social media anyway and we’ve definitely seen that. The question is whether the Tour should also be incentivizing that.”

One particular clause — “we’ve definitely seen that” — was spoken with a particular level of Cantlayan disdain. His are custom takes, hand-crafted, consistent and durable.

The man who preceded Cantlay at the mic shared his distaste for some of the Tour’s monetary decisions. Collin Morikawa reportedly finished No. 11 in this year’s PIP, and only 10 players get paid. Morikawa often tends to the party line but was particularly forthright in his Tuesday remarks, speaking thoughtfully but spontaneously, thinking things through in real time.

“Do [the PIP Top 10] deserve more? Yes, right? They’ve changed our game and our game is constantly changing and evolving and opening it to more people, that’s the biggest thing. But I mean, what’s the pool this year, $50 million? that’s crazy to me. $50 million to the top-10 players that can impact this game,” Morikawa said. He added skepticism of the Tour’s Play 15 campaign, which pays out $50,000 to each player who makes 15 starts.

“I don’t think that’s the best use of $60 million, but I don’t have an answer for that. I probably should start thinking about this because I am in a position now to where I can help out and voice my opinion and hopefully be heard.”

It’s hardly shocking that these two, who prefer their clubs to do the talking, aren’t jumping up and down about the PIP. Cantlay is No. 3 in the world and Morikawa in No. 2. Both have the chance to take over the title of World No. 1 from Jon Rahm this week. In a world in which the Tour rewarded merit alone, they’d be even wealthier.

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Still, in the context of the current PGA Tour climate, where rumors swirl daily about a breakaway league, the mini-objections of two top pros pale in comparison to the fact that they’re committed to sticking around the Tour to give them. Cantlay had already declared his intentions to stay in interviews before this week. Morikawa doubled down on his own PGA Tour commitment. Both want the PGA Tour to improve on its margins. Neither wants the Tour gone.

That’s a win for the Tour considering the existential threat on its doorstep. Chatter continued on Tuesday as to the future of the proposed Saudi league, with Kramer Hickok alleging that 17 pros had already signed on and further rumors involving various top pros making the rounds.

“As it goes to the Saudi stuff, I’m all for the PGA Tour,” Morikawa said. “I’ve been a pro for two-and-a-half years. My entire life I’ve thought about the PGA Tour, I’ve thought about playing against Tiger, beating his records, whatever.”

He added that he remains skeptical of the future of the breakaway league until he sees concrete evidence of its success. In the meantime, he said, he’s eager to continue playing the established top tour in men’s professional golf.

“Right now you look at the best players that I see and they’re all sticking with the PGA Tour and that’s where I’m staying and that’s where I belong. I’m very happy to be here,” Morikawa added. In that way he’s old-school, too. He’ll see it when he believes it.

Netflix cameras followed Morikawa into his press conference and throughout the property at Riviera on Tuesday. They did not follow Cantlay. It was a reminder that there are different points at which players can choose to start and stop their self-promotion; Morikawa is eager to raise his profile, while Cantlay has not yet agreed to appear on the show. Both hope their clubs will do most of the talking. But when their voices do the talking, we’ll continue to be all ears.