Rory McIlroy calls for a reduction in the number of PGA Tour tournaments

 

The number of global golf tournaments has reached historic highs today. Players are forced to constantly move from one city to another, and fans get lost among endless competitions.

Even legends of the sport, including four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, have begun to raise alarming questions: will such abundance lead to viewer fatigue and a loss of interest in golf itself? Should the familiar schedule be reconsidered to maintain audience attention?

Oversaturation of the tournament calendar

According to the official PGA Tour schedule for the 2025 FedExCup season, fans can expect 39 tournaments, 8 of which have signature event status, meaning special prestigious competitions with a limited number of participants and increased prize funds.

The remaining 18 are classified as full-field events—these are traditional tournaments with the maximum possible number of players in the starting lists. For comparison, the European DP World Tour has announced at least 42 tournaments for the year, and the emergence of LIV Golf, supported by major investments from Saudi Arabia, has further expanded the global calendar.

Such quantitative growth of events increases competition among organizers, but at the same time complicates life for fans. It becomes harder for them to follow the main storylines of the season and to single out truly important events. Players face mental and physical exhaustion, which affects their performance and their willingness to give their all in every tournament.

McIlroy on audience “fatigue” and the need for change

Rory McIlroy openly calls for considering a reduction in the number of tournaments. In a recent interview, he said: “I see when golf fans start to get tired of the stream of events that overwhelms them.” In his opinion, 47 or 50 tournaments a year is an excessive burden for both viewers and professionals.

McIlroy believes that a shortage of big events would increase interest and make them more significant: “We need to cut the calendar a bit and make tournaments a rarer and more anticipated occurrence, like in American football.”

He emphasizes that an excess of competitions “blurs” the perception of each individual tournament and reduces overall interest in golf as a spectacle.

The golf star’s conclusion is also confirmed by surveys conducted among fans. Even avid fans of the sport note that with such a crowded calendar, they simply cannot physically attend all the matches, even if they seem very interesting. In addition, accumulated fatigue affects the enjoyment of attending matches.

It is also noted that tired golfers often show less interesting play. Fans admit that they do not always closely follow what is happening on the course. Getting distracted by a smartphone while sitting in the stands has become a sad norm. Usually, golf fans still try to choose activities that they can quickly break away from so as not to miss an interesting shot.

The main choices are short TikTok videos, social networks, and short sessions in mobile games. If the match is not engaging, fans can also entertain themselves with online casino games. The popularity statistics of Aviator Apps and other gambling entertainment clearly demonstrate the growth of iGaming. And nothing prevents you from taking out your phone and launching these games right during a boring golf match.

However, such situations should not become the norm—and reducing the number of tournaments is considered a way out of the situation.

The experience of a limited calendar and its effectiveness

McIlroy cites the example of the National Football League (NFL) in the United States, where the regular season consists of only 17 games for each team. This approach makes every match special, a unique event watched by the whole country. Focusing interest on a small number of games allows for a high level of viewer engagement throughout the season.

Can such a model work in golf? According to many analysts, creating artificial scarcity can indeed increase the value of events. However, golf has its own specifics: here, hundreds of professionals rely on spots in tournaments and prize money, which makes it difficult to directly copy the experience of American football.

How the global golf landscape is changing

The emergence of LIV Golf, supported by Saudi investments, has become one of the most high-profile events of recent years. This league offered an alternative competition format with large prize funds and a short calendar, which caused conflict with the traditional PGA Tour. According to Golf Digest, in 2024 alone, LIV added another 14 tournaments to the global schedule. As a result, fans received even more options to watch, but it became harder to understand the significance of each individual event.

Experts note that the “variety” of the calendar results in a decrease in the uniqueness of traditional tournaments. When several major events from different leagues take place every week, the sense of occasion that used to be associated, for example, with the majors, is lost.

Preserve traditions or make a show

Rory McIlroy advocates for preserving the “purity” of golf, its historical rules and format. “Golf remains golf. It has been this way for centuries. I don’t think it needs to be changed just for the sake of growing the audience,” the athlete emphasizes. At the same time, he admits: it is still necessary to improve the entertainment aspect so as not to fall behind other sports.

Attempts to turn golf into a mass show cause debate within the community. For example, “changing the entertainment product” refers to experiments with shortening the format, introducing team competitions, or increasing commercial time in broadcasts. Skeptics fear that such steps could drive away longtime fans who have remained loyal to tradition.

How to make tournaments more dynamic?

One of the subjects of criticism in recent weeks has been the excessively slow pace of golf tournaments. Among the possible solutions:

– reducing the number of participants in each tournament

– revising the schedule of starting time intervals

– tightening time limits for players on each shot

However, as McIlroy notes, finding a compromise is difficult. Reducing the number of players will decrease opportunities for young athletes. Shifting the schedule makes organization easier but may worsen conditions for golfers and spectators. “There is no single right answer that will satisfy everyone,” the champion admits.

What formats do viewers choose?

TGL is an innovative indoor golf league created by Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods. The league uses modern technology and short, dynamic matches, making it attractive to a new audience. According to ESPN, McIlroy’s first match against Woods attracted 864,000 viewers, which is noticeably higher than the average audience of previous matches, but slightly lower than the debut TGL broadcast (910,000 viewers). After four matches, the average viewership reached 874,000.

These figures show stable interest in new formats, but so far they do not surpass the traditional ratings of major tournaments. The question remains open: are fans ready to change their habits for new experiences?

Where to look for balance in controversial positions and what are the future options

Many PGA Tour stars support the idea of reducing the calendar, while others see the large number of tournaments as an opportunity for the development of young players and the growth of the tour’s commercial revenues. Some organizers are cautious in their assessments: “We listen to the opinions of leaders, but we must take into account the interests of the entire community,” PGA representatives say according to Reuters.

The historic conflict between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf remains unresolved and reflects a fundamental conflict between tradition and commercialization. What does the future of golf look like: event saturation or a focus on quality and uniqueness? None of the sport’s leaders has yet given a clear answer to this question.