Optimal Design of the PGA Tour; Relegation and Promotion in Golf

This paper investigates how best to reconfigure PGA TOUR end-of-season “tour card” allocation rules in order to enhance tour competitiveness. It provides an empirically based mathematical/simulation framework to investigate alternatives to current allocation rules in which players were represented by their age, a career skill level transition curve and the expected number of tournaments they compete in. For each rule, 20 replicates of 1000 seasons were simulated. At the end of each simulated season, players were reassigned to tours on the basis of the end of season money lists. The relative quality of the rules was compared on basis of the number of players correctly assigned to PGA TOUR and NW based on their skill levels. PGA TOUR competitiveness was maximized when the top 150 players on the PGA TOUR money list retain full PGA TOUR status, the top 30 players on the NW money list are promoted to the PGA TOUR, and Q-School does not promote players directly into the PGA TOUR; a considerable change from current practice. The approach described in this paper is suitable for investigating other end of season playoff structures under consideration by the PGATOUR and also other professional sports tour structures.