News
PGA Tour Champions to scrap its player pension in 2027
The senior tour has paid into its players' pension fund every year since 1985 except 2020. Its contribution was cut from $10 million to $8 million a year ago and stops next season.
PGA Tour Champions will stop paying into its players’ pension fund in 2027. “It went from $10 million to $8 million and now it’s zero,” Billy Andrade, a three-time winner on the tour, told Golfweek. Miller Brady, the tour’s president, gave players the news at a meeting and said the tour had to stand on its own financially, Golfweek reported on 14 October. Brady also said it was now making money for the organisation and that its financial performance was as good as it had ever been.
When the contribution was cut to $8 million last October, Andrade said it was “the same pension that 25 years ago was $10 million”, according to Sports Illustrated.
The fund started in 1985 with $250,000 and was approved one year at a time. It was suspended once, in 2020, when the money went into two $3 million Charles Schwab Series events instead, according to EssentiallySports. A player needs at least 12 starts in a season to qualify, and each top-48 finish earns him a retirement credit.
This year’s $8 million is about 12% of the $69 million in prize money across the tour’s 29 events. Most regular events pay between $1.8 million and $2.2 million. The Portugal Invitational, new this year, had a $3 million purse, and the Sony Championship Open in Hawaii will offer the same next year.
David Toms, who won 13 times on the PGA TOUR and sat on its policy board, compared the pension with the main tour’s purses, Golf Monthly reported: “playing for $20 million almost every week and they can’t afford $10 million for our pension?” Scott McCarron called the decision “absolutely terrible”. Paul Goydos, a former member of the senior tour’s board, said it was disappointing but understandable for a tour being run as a business, according to Yahoo Sports.
Sources
- Golf Monthly: ‘It’s actually criminal’ – seniors fuming with PGA Tour Champions pension cut
- Yahoo Sports: PGA Tour Champions players livid after losing pension fund amid league’s growth
- EssentiallySports via Yahoo Sports: PGA Tour Champions stars fume as tour axes $10M pension fund
- SoCal Golfer: PGA Tour Champions players blast pension elimination
- Sports Illustrated: Many PGA Tour Champions players upset with decrease of player pension pool (October 2025)
Spotted an error? Tell us and we will fix it. Our editorial standards.
