£250m Premier Golf League plans to start in January 2023

Detailed plans for a £250 million Premier Golf League have been revealed, with the group backing the ambitious project “confident” it can get the game’s top players on board.

The Premier Golf League plans to start in January 2023.

Being proposed by the British-based World Golf Group, which is not connected to a rival Saudi Arabia-backed Super Golf League, the Premier Golf League is aiming to start in January 2023.

It would include 18 tournaments, each worth $20 million with £4 million going to the winner, around the world and aims to feature the top 48 players in the men’s game.

Andy Gardiner, the CEO of Premier Golf League, told the BBC on Monday that his team is “ready to go” and a detailed media pack for the project has now been shared.

It confirms that 12 of the 18 events are planned for the US, with each tournament involving 12 teams of four players, as well as a 13th one that will be picked by fans.

The events will be played over three days with no cut during an eight-month season, with consideration being given to allowing players to prepare for majors and team events like the Ryder Cup.

Once it is up and running, the Premier Golf League plans to plough 50 per cent of the spoils from it back into the “golf community” and also plans to support the women’s game.

"We've used the last eight months to bring in externals to check through every single piece of the model to make sure the events of the last 12 months with Covid haven't changed our thinking,” Gardiner told the BBC.

"The January 2023 date right now is entirely feasible. We will see how the conversations go with the community that we want to embrace."

PGA Tour players have warned they could face being banned by supporting breakaway circuits, with the European Tour likely to take similar action.

However, Gardiner, who came up with the blueprint for the Premier Golf League after seeing mileage in a world tour after the concept had first been raised by Greg Norman in the mid-1990s, believes such punishments would be unlawful.

"Think about the individual's right to work," he added in his BBC interview. "Thomas Jefferson, the declaration of independence talked about life, love and the pursuit of happiness and that includes the ability to work as you want to.

"Individuals shouldn't live in fear of exclusion of not being able to work. Competition law exists to ensure there is a level playing field and everybody in these circumstances can compete for the services of the best players in the world.

"Different bodies create their own sets of rules to protect what they have and then it's a question of whether the rules that they have in place are fair and that's when you look at the relevant law.

"Imagine the reaction of the sponsors and the broadcasters if the world's best players were all of a sudden banned. Common law in the US says that is a punishment, that's not a protection.

"You've got to allow people to live their own lives. That's why I'm confident."

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