How pro golf's Saudi threat compares to a 1968 player mutiny

Many similar circumstances led to a Jack Nicklaus-led player revolt

When Jack Nicklaus penned a letter directed to PGA of America in a 1968 issue of Sports Illustrated, making clear his frustrations with the governing body’s tournament division, the Golden Bear had the sports world’s full attention. Within months, the rival American Professional Golfers (APG) tour had courted a majority of PGA players, held a qualifying school, swayed sponsors and formed a 1969 schedule.

On Thursday, we learned of the true motivation behind a key figure in the sport’s latest player revolt. In an excerpt from Alan Shipnuck’s biography on Phil Mickelson — “Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar” — the six-time major champion layed out his mission to use the Saudi Arabia-funded Super Golf League as leverage against the PGA Tour.

While researching and reporting a story on the 1969 Alameda County Open, scheduled by the PGA as a litigation tactic to block the rival APG, I found similarities between the APG and this latest revolt, which has a reported 20 player commitments.

PLAYER FRUSTRATIONS

1968: Nicklaus’ letter spelled it out plainly. Touring players wanted to seize control from club pros over tournament matters. Frustrations boiled when the PGA vetoed a Frank Sinatra-sponsored $200,000 event because it conflicted with another Palm Springs tournament. Nicklaus wrote, “As you can see, the PGA controls the golf tour. Now we want the right to cast the decisive vote in matters that affect our livelihood. We have gone as far as we can in these deliberations. We have formed the APG. This is not designed to destroy the PGA. Instead, we want to provide a better vehicle for the operation of professional golf tournaments. The next action rests with the PGA.”

Today: While rogue players have yet to release a unified statement (Shipnuck reports that may come at The Players Championship), Mickelson voiced his frustration with what he says are antiquated media rights deals and asserted to Shipnuck the PGA Tour is “sitting on an $800 million cash stockpile.” During the Phoenix Open, Charley Hoffman posted on social media, “It’s still mind blowing that a group of amateurs rule the professional game of golf.” This came after Hoffman incurred a two-stroke penalty when his golf ball, which he had placed on a hill, rolled back into the water. Hoffman thought the rule had been changed. The elected chairman on the PGA’s Player Advisory Council added that there is “no accountability at any level” on the PGA Tour and “no protection for the players at all,” then used his penalty as an example of why players might defect. Hoffman later stated he is committed to the PGA Tour and his defection reference was only to spur change.

SPONSORS

1968: Long before the FedEx Cup and Aon Risk Reward Challenge, many PGA events were financed through local chambers of commerce. And before every player was tied to a marketing agency, it was their wives who often brokered deals and created the financial leverage needed to form a rival tour, according to three-time PGA Tour winner Dick Lotz. After Nicklaus dropped his SI gauntlet, sponsors and tournament hosts monitored PGA lawsuits and litigation before hitching their wagon to either circuit. The International Golf Sponsors Association proposed a 16-person board to avoid the split. Paul C. Warren, an IGSA board director, said the proposal was accepted by the APG but rejected by the PGA. In October, a Delaware court overturned a PGA restraining order that attempted to block the APG from entering in agreements with former PGA sponsors. Momentum swayed in the APG’s favor and a 1969 schedule was assembled, opening with the Jan. 9-12 Los Angeles Open at Rancho Park Golf Club. “This is where the dancing girls are,” boasted APG attorney Sam Gates, referring to his collection of superstars in contrast with PGA’s club pros.

Today: The Saudi tour, according to ESPN, “will purportedly be funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, which has an estimated worth of $500 billion.” It’s hard to imagine American sponsors backing a tour funded by a regime responsible for killing Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, among other human rights violations. In Mickelson’s words, from his November interview with Shipnuck: “They're scary motherf---ers to get involved with. ... They killed Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”

TOUR OVERVIEWS

1968: The APG poached PGA executives and players, swayed sponsors and worked with the same tournament hosts. The objective was not reinventing tournament golf, but rather putting tour decision-making and a greater portion of revenue in the hands of the marquee players who brought fans to the courses. With the PGA unwilling to hand over control, players took matters into their own hands.

Today: The Saudi circuit, with Greg Norman effectively serving as commissioner, would reportedly have far fewer tournaments (all no-cut, three round events) than the PGA Tour, and divy up much larger purses among its smaller fields — thus yielding bigger and guaranteed paydays to members. The new format is appealing to players tired of travelling to 25-plus global events a year to keep their PGA Tour playing status — often leaving tournaments with no money after missed cuts. It’s no suprise a majority of the Saudi-linked players are 30 years and older.

NON-COMPETE CLAUSE

1968: Commissioner Max Elbin said any player competing on the rival tour would have his PGA membership revoked. This posed a quandry for players who relied on PGA shops for equipment and merchandise sales, a booming revenue stream in the TV age. The PGA scheduled the Alameda County Open for the same week of the APG opener, in hopes of that its non-compete clause would hold up in court. The legal battle never came to fruition — at least not in the public eye — as both sides reached an agreement a month before the dueling events.

Today: The PGA Tour has been hesititant to invoke its non-compete clause, instead granting waivers to players participating in one-off events with other tours. That player is often required to participate in specific PGA Tour events down the road to appease PGA Tour sponsors and tournament hosts. A Golf Digest article recently explored the legitimacy of the PGA Tour’s non-compete clause.

PGA LOYALTY

1968: While the APG swayed almost the entirety of the PGA’s active roster, several of the game’s legends spoke out against their younger defectors. A 2018 Golf.com article by Jim Gorant details an October 1968 letter by Sam Snead, released by the PGA.

“The fact that I have been able to win more money at my age than ever before would seem to indicate the PGA tour is a pretty good way to make a living as it is being run right now,” wrote Snead, who, at 56, had won $43,000 in prize money that year. “Golf has been pretty good to this old country boy.” Over the coming weeks, Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones would also side with the PGA.

Today: In contrast to 1968, it’s the young stars questioning the legitimacy of their mostly elder defectors. As early as May of 2021, Rory McIlroy was throwing shade on what he sees as a money grab. “I’m just speaking about my own beliefs; I’m playing this game to try to cement my place in history and my legacy and to win major championships and to win the biggest tournaments in the world. I honestly don’t think there’s a better structure in place and I don’t think there will be.” Brooks Koepka has stated his PGA Tour allegiance, and after Mickelson’s latest comments were released Thursday, more top-10 players followed. “Seems like a bit of a pretty, you know, egotistical statement,” said Justin Thomas. “I am officially declaring, let’s say, my affiliation to the PGA Tour,” said reigning U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm. “I’m all for the PGA Tour,” said reigning Open champion Collin Morikawa.

THE COMPROMISE

1968: Less than a month ahead of the dueling season-opening events, the APG and PGA reached an agreement at the December executive meetings. Here is how a Golf.com article framed the 11th-hour agreement between the APG and PGA: “The PGA would form a separate Tournament Players Division (this would become the PGA Tour in 1975), a freestanding corporation run by a 10-member tournament policy board of four players, three PGA executives and three consulting businessmen. A commissioner would run the tour and answer only to the board. All the APG contracts, and their tournament schedule, would be transferred to the PGA, and all pending litigation would be dismissed.”

Today: Whether in direct response to rival tours or not, the PGA Tour recently has made significant plays to appease its top revenue generators. Last year it established a Player Impact Program, which spread $40 million among its most popular players, based on various metrics. This week, the PGA Tour announced the framework of a fall series that would be limited to the top 50 players and feature big purse, no-cut events.