WGTNico:When it comes to the two monthly's, we made changes based on what we see from other tournaments. When more players have the opportunity to win, more players are likely to enter them.
"We neutered the highest-level events to get worse players to participate in them" is a very disappointing answer. First of all, you're not adding more players with the opportunity to win; you're adding players whose foremost concern is recouping a quarter of their credits when they finish t-51. It suggests WGT's literal only goal in putting on a tournament is to draw as many entry fees and ball hits as possible and that stimulating high-level competition is not even a concern.
Not every touring pro gets to play The Masters. That the top-three bar is high and requires striving for -- and, yes, might discourage participation by people who can't hack it at that level -- was the point.
DodgyPutter: All the talk has been about what's best for the top players, as it generally is, but once again the ones funding them are ignored.
There are dozens of events each month that cater to the just-don't-lose-too-many-credits set. The fact that the upper echelons want a whole two that spur fierce competition that might be beyond the middling player's reach does not constitute all talk being about only their concerns, always.
DodgyPutter: So far in this months premium; eleven scores at TC and forty one at TP. The same entry fee for both but 6,000c prize fund at TP and 25,000c prize at TC. So the TP's have paid nearly 4 times as much for less than a quarter of the returns.
Or let's put it another way the TP's have already paid 2,200c in entry fees more than will be paid out in prizes to them while the TC's are 22,800c short, how do you think wgt will balance the books? I'll keep an eye out as the month goes on, but really, who has cause for complaint?
Your entire argument stems from a premise that is facially wrong. Credits are a fiction and don't actually cost WGT anything to dole out. As such, the Tour Pro monthly is not covering a financial shortfall caused by the Tour Champions' prize being too big.
By the way, what tier do you think comprises the majority of the fields with the biggest entry fees the rest of the month when 20% is getting skimmed off the top? You think those might be taking more credits out of circulation, to WGT's benefit, than a 25-credit Tour Pro ready-go?