England No. 1 Tommy Fleetwood has joined World No. 1 Rory McIlroy in declaring he’s not interested in joining any breakaway tour.
The Premier Golf League (PGL) finally showed its hand last week with further details of a proposed 18 tournaments of 54-holes featuring 48 players and boasting $10m prize purse for each event, hopefully commencing in 2022.
And while PGL CEO, Andy Gardiner gave insight into the breakaway tour’s goals and aspirations, far too many questions remain unanswered such as, will the major tours work with PGL and, if not, will players be slapped with a global ban by the likes of the European and PGAs tours should they leave?
As well, if players do join the PGL, what will be their status in contesting the four Majors, the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup and Olympic Games?
Fleetwood confirmed he is yet to be approached by PGL but he’s kept abreast of developments and fellow player reaction, including McIlroy’s.
“I read what Rory had to say last week in Mexico and he made a couple of good points like being able to pick-and-choose where he wants to play, and being his own boss, so you don’t want to lose that, nor do I”, said Fleetwood ahead of this week’s Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida.
“For the moment I can see it both ways because at the end of the day, if you are playing really well, you will only play 18 times a year and that’s a beautiful number of events for an amazing amount of money.
“But it’s hard to look at playing a season and not be playing in the majors and from a career, and a heart standpoint, if there is no collaboration with the Majors and such things as the Ryder Cup, I cannot see PGL working at all.
“Rory’s right too in also saying things may change if everyone goes to PGL, so I guess if the format changes and there is genuine collaboration with those running the tours, the majors and so on then it may become more understandable.
“Though as it stands right now, I will not be going to any breakaway tour.”
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