South African Open announcement proves PGA TOUR alliance does nothing for global golf

It was announced today the Investec South African Open was returning to Stellenbosch Golf Club in March 2027, with a record prize fund of $2million. Yes, $2million.

The first prize at this week's BMW Championship in $3,600,000, and the prize for second place is $2,160,000. Both first and second prizes are worth more than the purse for the entire South African Open.

The dates were also confirmed for the 116th edition of golf's second-oldest championship. 4-7 March 2027 happens to be the same week as the PGA TOUR's Cadillac Championship at Doral, a Signature event which will demand the attendance of the world's best golfers which aren't playing on LIV Golf.

The press release celebrated the 'powerful partnership between the Sunshine Tour, DP World Tour and PGA TOUR'. What planet are they on?

The date is an absolute shocker, and being played in the weeks preceding The Masters and opposite the Cadillac Championship guarantees that no top players will be in attendance, unless LIV Golf folds and the stars from that league play the event looking for points on the Race to Dubai. If this so-called powerful partnership was really looking to succeed then the tournament could have moved in one of two directions, either forward to the week after the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January, or back to November.

Not only will the field of the 116th South African Open be without distinguished players, it will have less media attention due to it being played in the same week as a Signature PGA TOUR event. That is where the other problem lies, what on earth planet are the people on who consider the Cadillac Championship at Doral to be a Signature event in this sport, and the South African Open is not?

It is clear that nobody on the PGA TOUR or DP World Tour staff saw the incredible success of the LIV Golf event in South Africa earlier this year, or remember the remarkable event that the 2003 Presidents Cup was. Surely they could and should look to harness the potential of these tournaments, and allow them to fulfil their true potential.

The modest prize fund increase from $1.5million to $2million makes the Investec South African Open the 38th largest prize fund on the DP World Tour calendar, less than 27 LPGA events and less than all 41 PGA TOUR event. So the world's second-oldest championship, first played in 1893, is the world's 105th richest event.

Shocking scheduling, unambitious financial commitment, and the lack of a true vision for how the National Opens of the world can be transformation for the sport, are clear indicators that this partnership between the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR is nothing but a life-support machine for global golf.

SHANK, by Matt Hooper

Matt Hooper is an associate member of the Sports Journalists Association