Rory McIlroy, a star of the PGA Tour, is set to receive an impressive bonus in the form of equity worth around $40million. This reward comes as a result of his loyalty and resistance to the advances of LIV Golf.
An email from Commissioner Jay Monahan will be sent out to PGA Tour members on Wednesday, confirming the results of the organization’s first equity award scheme. McIlroy is expected to be among the major beneficiaries.
This scheme is part of a $1.2billion investment from Strategic Sports Group (SSG), which partnered with the tour in January. This partnership resulted in the creation of a new for-profit entity PGA Tour Enterprises which has become a new vehicle for the tour’s commercial efforts.
The move aims to encourage players to remain PGA Tour members in the face of competition from LIV Golf. LIV Golf managed to secure several big names including Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson when it launched in 2022, with Jon Rahm being one of the players to sign up for the Saudi Arabia-funded breakaway league since then.
Tiger Woods is likely to be the biggest winner from the equity scheme, which is primarily determined by a metric called career points. This reflects a player’s success on tour over the years, reports the Mirror.
With 82 PGA Tour wins, Woods could receive equity worth up to £80m.
McIlroy, with his three FedEx Cup titles, is set to receive a package of around $40m, as reported by The Telegraph. Other players like Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are expected to get equity worth approximately $25m each.
However, the PGA Tour plans to keep the exact details of these equity awards under wraps.
The players won’t be able to cash out immediately as the shares will vest over an eight-year period, during which they must remain members. The first 50 percent will vest after four years, followed by 25 percent every two years thereafter.
This means that players can’t leave the tour and join LIV Golf before their shares have vested if they want to receive their equity.
McIlroy, Woods, and others are likely to be among the 36 players in Group 1 reserved for the leading active players on tour who will receive equity from a £600m pot. Group 2 will consist of 64 players including rising talents and solid but unspectacular performers, sharing £60m.
Group 3 will include the lowest-ranking 57 players who qualify for the scheme, sharing £24m. A fourth category has been created for retired players considered living legends, such as Jack Nicklaus.
This group of 36 will share $60m and players must be alive to qualify, with the shares unable to be paid to their estates.
The share awards are a far cry from the value the players could have achieved if they signed up for LIV, which has attempted to lure McIlroy with an offer in excess of half a billion pounds. However, SSG a consortium that includes Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group believes the value of the tour will continue to grow, despite concerning TV viewing figures, meaning the value of players’ equity could increase significantly over time.
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