Eddie Pepperell has long been one of the most outspoken players on the DP World Tour circuit, and indeed in world golf, never shy to voice his opinion and often drawing the ire of LIV Golf and its players of whom he’s been particularly critical.
But he’s nothing if not consistent, and this week he’s taken aim at the DP World Tour and the strategic alliance with the PGA Tour that will see the top 10-ranked players on the European circuit, who aren’t already exempt, earning PGA Tour cards for the following season.
“I personally think it’s a disaster for the DP World Tour,” Pepperell said on The Chipping Forecast podcast that he regularly appears on alongside Iain Carter and Andrew Cotter. “I can’t think of any good business that tries to not retain its clients, if you like, just give the best ones away. That makes no sense to me.
“But from the player’s perspective, who all have frankly ambitions to play the biggest stage, which now clearly is the PGA tour, it’s good for them now. It’s one of those things, how long can both those things be in existence?
“Because to me, you know, it doesn’t seem sustainable that the tour can continue to operate successfully while giving away its best players, but even equally, you know, the players feel like it’s a good thing. So, I’m afraid I don’t like it at all.”
The 10 players who earn their PGA Tour cards via this route will effectively be given a free pass, and will play the vast majority of their golf the other side of the Atlantic. They’ll still have to play certain DP World Tour events, but should things not work out on the PGA Tour, they’re guaranteed high-category DPWT status in 2025, regardless.
“It’s extremely formal now and to the point where next year or the year after that these players are all going to be falling back into a very high category on the DP World Tour anyway. So there really is no incentive next year for these guys to play any tournaments on the DP World Tour, other than their minimum events, which I just can’t get my head around as a strategy commercially from the DP World Tour.
“But, you know, it is what it is and I guess it’s in return frankly, for all the investment that the PGA Tour are making and to be clear, that is going to be well into the hundreds and hundreds of millions across a five year period. So the PGA Tour clearly want to see some return, part of the return is getting some very good European players.”
Pepperell, a two-time DP World Tour winner, has never taken up full membership on the PGA Tour, though, having reached number 35 in the world at the start of 2019 – and a career high of 32 later that year – did spend a large proportion of the year playing in the United States with several regular PGA Tour events mixed in with major championships and WGCs, but has no real desire to make a full-time return to the US circuit.
“I wouldn’t want to take it up,” he said when quizzed about the possibility of him being one of the top-10 ranked DP World Tour players next year, “and I would have to think carefully about it, Andrew.
“The issue is if you don’t take it up, then you effectively, you know, and this isn’t a reason to take it up in and of itself, but if you do take it and you play 15 events, you’re going to get half a million dollars and you’re coming back the year after with absolute security to play on the DP World Tour.
“So that’s a reason to obviously take these cards. That being said, I don’t really like playing in America. I didn’t enjoy my time over there in 2019, and I did well when I played there and I still didn’t enjoy it very much, so I would want to play in Europe full time.
“But equally, when you think about the schedule in February, March and April, the schedule probably stacks up better on the PGA tour than it does on the DP World Tour, so there’s that to consider.”
With the changes to the PGA Tour structure and the introduction of the ‘elevated’ and ‘signature’ events, any new members will face an uphill battle if they’re to retain full-membership for the following season, never mind forcing their way into the top-tier tournaments, and according to Pepperell, this is something that he and the other DP World Tour players are very aware of.
“I think all these guys are going to go and take their cards and, and play full time,” he said, “but having said that they’re not going to get many, if any of the elevated events. So it’s going to be an extremely difficult card, playing for reduced points as well, to actually get into the top 70 the following season on the PGA tour.”
The eight ‘signature’ events for 2024, in addition to the four major championships, have almost become a separate circuit in itself, and when combined with the FedEx Playoff Series, could see as many as 15 events in which certain PGA Tour players are left sitting on the sidelines, and Pepperell sees this as an issue because in creating an obvious top tier within the existing top tier, it effectively downgrades everything below.
“The only concern I have from the DP World Tour’s perspective is that it almost puts our events at the third tier below the lower PGA Tour events, and then obviously you’ve got the elevated ones and it does leave me wondering where the future lies for professional golf.”
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