The golf world is currently in stitches, at least according to the Irish star golfer Rory Mcllroy. Rory McIlroy’s recent proposal to slash the PGA Tour’s schedule has sent shockwaves through the golf world. The four-time major champion believes that the current schedule, featuring 47 events including four majors and 12 invitational tournaments, is simply too packed. “47 or 50 tournaments per year is definitely too many,” McIlroy stated last month at AT&T.

Recently, James Colgan, Golf.com writer,  sat down for a discussion with Dan Rapaport on Dan on Golf. When asked about the PGA Tour’s media rights deal with major media outlets that would go on until 2030, Colgan said, “it looks as different as PGA Tour wants it to look. What is golf selling… are they selling a tour that looks like it is currently constructed with, uh, basically 40 weeks out of the year, where there are tournaments, and you know, basically half of the best players in the world are playing at any given time, maybe a little bit more than that; or, um, are they selling something that’s fewer events with more big players together?” A reduced schedule with more high-profile events could be a more sustainable model. However, major media outlets like NBC and CBS have invested heavily in selected events, and reducing tournaments could impact their return on investment.

How does it look for the PGA Tour?

The PGA Tour is stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to making changes to its current schedule. With a media rights deal in place, altering the schedule would come with a hefty price tag. While Colgan echoed McIlroy’s suggestion of cutting down events by saying, “…that makes a ton of sense from an entertainment standpoint,” he also pointed out that in reality that wouldn’t work because NBC and CBS have already invested a lot in certain events throughout the year.

Dan Rapaport summed it up perfectly on Dan On Golf, continuing, “Well, it’s not like they can chop 10 events off.” James Colgan agreed, continuing, “well at least not until the next rights deal. If that happens, PGA will have to hand a handsome money back. Which I think, uh, if we have learned anything in five years in golf it’s that nobody’s signing up for that sh*t.”