A handful of notable changes could well be on their way to the PGA Tour in the next couple of season, and PGA Tour pro Michael Kim believes many of them were necessary - especially if they involve pace of play.
On Tuesday, it emerged via an email sent out to members that the PGA Tour Policy Board would be voting on a handful of alterations to the tour next month - including a reduction in field size at the majority of tournaments and fewer pros keeping their cards at the end of every campaign.
Other potential modifications to the US-based circuit may involve fewer players earning promotion via the Korn Ferry Tour and Monday qualifying events being scrapped if the event features fewer than 120 players.
Part of the reason the PGA Tour is looking at slimming down its fields and qualifying routes is in relation to pace of play, with the PGA announcement on the proposals stating: "Fields that are too large make it difficult to finish the competition on schedule and cause delays in the overall pace of play, increasing the average round times on Tour."
And Kim - who regularly shares his opinions on social media - agreed that rounds being suspended overnight is almost exclusively down to too much foot traffic as opposed to golfers taking an excessive amount of time over their shots.
Thoughts on the proposed field/card changes:-To be honest, I don’t love the changes but that’s probably because I feel threatened by the number of cards going down from 125 to 100. It’s my job to improve and continue to get better and make sure I’m not in the situation I am this… pic.twitter.com/CDJZXEa0mfOctober 29, 2024
On X, Kim said: "If I’m looking at it objectively, it was needed. I’m a real believer that our slow play problem is a traffic/too many people problem more so than an actual slow play problem. Getting the field sizes down is a crucial part of that."
However, as far as the potential for smaller fields and the number of players who are able to retain playing rights decreasing goes, the 31-year-old stated there were pros and cons to each side's argument.
Kim acknowledged that while he was not a fan of those changes, the situation might not be as bad as first thought and it could give those Korn Ferry Tour grads a fairer shot at lasting at the top table.
He said: "To be honest, I don’t love the changes but that’s probably because I feel threatened by the number of cards going down from 125 to 100. It’s my job to improve and continue to get better and make sure I’m not in the situation I am this year.
"There were times when I was playing from the past champ status a few years back where even I felt that I shouldn’t be able to play these events. There absolutely was some bloat. Plus, I bet the 101-110 guys will get to play quite a few events so it’s not just a total rip of the bandaid.
"I think the most important part of this is that the KFT graduates get a real fair chance at keeping their cards. When you promise a tour card but you’re only getting in opposite-field events and barely full field events, a bad start to the year and you are so behind the 8 ball it’s unfair. It does suck for those in KFT that it’s going from 30-20 but you have to make sacrifices somewhere."
The 2018 John Deere Classic champion went on to say that if the PGA Tour ends up voting these changes through and realizes it overstepped the mark in terms of cutting jobs, it can always add cards back as "taking away cards is always harder than adding in."
The PGA Tour's Policy Board will vote on the subjects, which would come into place in time for the 2026 season, on 18 November.
