The Arnold Palmer Invitational is the fourth Signature Event of the PGA Tour season, with a limited field of 69 playing at Bay Hill; (Tony Finau withdrew before the tournament got underway).
Because of the new changes made to the PGA Tour, thanks in part to the rise of LIV Golf, the thought of less PGA Tour cards has also arisen, with the likes of Rory McIlroy in favour of a "more cutthroat" PGA Tour.
Along with the four-time Major winner, both US Open winner, Wyndham Clark, and PGA Tour star, Will Zalatoris, have also voiced their agreement of a smaller PGA Tour, as both men explained their views on Saturday.
"I mean, I think it would be amazing if our Tour was a hundred guys," explained Clark, who finished third in the FedEx Cup standings last year. "I kind of said this a few times, a hundred guys and we have 20 guys that get relegated every time, every year, doesn't matter who you are.
"It would be exciting. Because you come down to the end of the year, people are looking who is going to win the FedEx Cup, and then you're looking at who is not going to be here next year. So, yeah, I'm probably with Rory on that. I don't know what that number is, but I think it's just nice to elevate the product and make it to where the best players are playing on TV more often and against each other."
As mentioned, the Signature Events feature limited fields and, with Clark suggesting the top 100 keep their PGA Tour cards, the thought of expanding the fields in these $20 million tournaments to 100 could be a possibility. Well, the recent AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am winner then went on to add: "This is a little outside of my pay grade, but I think that would be nice. I think a hundred-man field and then we would still have maybe a little bit bigger of a cut.
"It would be simple, because you know these hundred guys have a card and, no matter what, they're playing in the events and there's no, you know, this guy gets in or whatever sponsor invites. I think it would just be really easy. Then, if you lose your card, you go down to the next one, and vice versa. So, I don't know. I think that seems like an easy simple plan, but like I said, above my pay grade."
Fellow countryman, Zalatoris, went as far as to say that a Champions League style format could be better; a system where the best players on the PGA Tour and the best players on LIV Golf come together to play, but obviously this could be awkward with LIV players currently banned from the PGA Tour.
Speaking to Garrett Johnston on the Beyond The Clubhouse Podcast, Zalatoris stated: "I know that when the SSG deal was announced, through a couple friends on LIV, that they even said the deal is good for the game. More money is being put into golf and it will hopefully benefit you guys and us. The real feeling is that there isn't any animosity when it comes to the guys who went and it's more of a factor of coming back to here would be a little bit different.
"I think the Champions League idea would be the best way going forward, where we get some variation of the best guys from over there and the best guys from here. It's what people want to see and making it an international game would be a massive help. The Tour has tried to do that and now you are adding in different markets that have been untapped, then there's a lot of potential going forward.
NEW: Will Zalatoris says Champions League is best model for the future and some LIV players told him they were happy when SSG deal went through-that it was good for the game.Full chat: https://t.co/2EvEPAVElqWatch: https://t.co/lE7h9HIveN pic.twitter.com/OMrEC0gT9cMarch 9, 2024
Obviously, some disagreed with the statements given out. DP World Tour player, Richard Mansell, took to X to voice his disagreement with Clark, as Mansell wrote: "Good job they didn’t do this when you were finishing outside 100 on the PGA tour not very long ago. Closed shop idea is a terrible one. Remember where you came from. There’s a lot of good players waiting to break through."
Other users pointed out that, four years ago, Clark finished outside the top-100 of the FedEx Cup standings, whilst one user wrote: "For me, two of the best storylines from last season were Van Rooyen & Villegas’ wins. And I think everyone would agree that Dunlap’s win earlier this year was a brilliant moment for the sport. You just won’t get those storylines with this 100-man tour that’s being proposed here."
