Los Angeles (AFP) - Members of the US PGA Tour's Player Advisory Council are considering the creation of a three-event team series for top players starting in 2023, according to multiple reports Wednesday.
Golf Channel and Golf Digest, each citing unnamed sources, said the idea was tossed around during a council meeting Tuesday at Los Angeles ahead of Thursday's start of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera.
A team format was an idea from one of the potential PGA rivals looking to start over the past couple years, the Premier Golf League.
The group drawing the greatest attention lately has been the Saudi-backed Super Golf League led by Greg Norman.
The team idea in development by the council, according to Golf Channel, would begin in 2023 as a three-event series late in the calendar year using a team format similar to US collegiate golf.
The tournaments would be staged in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Under the plan, the US PGA Tour would back away from its current wrap-around schedule and shift back to a calendar-year season.
The top 50 players in the US PGA's season points standings would qualify for the team events with their spots secured for the following year's campaign.
Golf Digest reported the current nine events played from September to November to launch new seasons would become a seeding series for players who reached the US PGA playoffs but failed to crack the top 50, with status for the next campaign based on those events.
The team tournaments would feature big pursues and no cuts with 10 five-man teams led by a captain who would be drawn from among the top-10 players in the tour's Player Impact Program, which ranks and rewards players based on social media popularity.
The council advises the tour policy board, which would ultimately decide on any changes to the current season format.
