The former commissioner writes the first cheque
The PGA Tour has spent the better part of two years redrawing what its competitive schedule will look like in 2028. On Monday it opened a second construction site alongside it. The Tour said it will rebuild PGA Tour Charities, the organisation that channels its philanthropic money, and put the relaunch on the same 2028 timeline as the two-tiered playing model.
Tim Finchem gave the announcement its number. The former commissioner, who ran the Tour from 1994 until the end of 2016 and oversaw the period in which its charitable giving passed the billion-dollar mark, is donating $13 million alongside his wife Holly. Laura Neal, the Tour’s executive vice president of strategic philanthropy, called it a “legacy-defining, transformative gift” and framed the wider project as a way of “generating even more focus, coordination, resources and visibility around that work from the Tour level.”
The stated aim, according to the release, is “a dedicated platform for direct community investment that gives players, partners, events and fans a clear and meaningful way to engage and connect to the Tour’s impact.” That is corporate language for a problem the Tour has had for years: the money has always been there, spread across individual tournaments, and almost nobody outside those markets could name where it went.
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Koepka’s money resurfaces
Buried in the same release was an update on Brooks Koepka’s $5 million charitable contribution, the payment he made as part of his return to the Tour this season after leaving LIV Golf. Half of it has already been allocated. The remaining $2.5 million will be split among 99 eligible Tour members, which works out at a little over $25,000 each.
Players take the wheel
A group of players led by player advisory council chairman Lucas Glover will guide how the new programme is built. Glover said charity was one of the reasons he stood for the PAC chairmanship in the first place.
“Charity has been such an important part of the PGA Tour, and I’ve seen that firsthand in the tournament markets, big and small, that I’ve played throughout my career,” he said. “Building on what our tournaments have accomplished through the years is key, with fresh eyes on how we bring even more focus and resources from the Tour level.”
Two years is a long runway for a plan with no published dollar target beyond the Finchem gift.
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