The 2025 Pool
The 2025 pool will start with The Sentry tournament on January 2.
I hope to start accepting entries in early December.
I won't be able to prepare the list of eligible golfers until after the Fall portion of the
current PGA Tour season ends on November 24.
As it was in 2024, the 5 golfers who earn their Tour Card through the PGA Tour Q-School, which
doesn't finish until December 15, will not be eligible for the pool.
I will notify everyone when the list of eligible golfers has been posted.
Some eligible golfers may jump to LIV Golf after the pool begins.
To account for that possibility, rules like those in place for the 2024 pool will
be in place for the 2025 pool, with some minor modifications. In short, if a golfer jumps to
LIV during January, and you have that golfer on your team, you will be allowed to choose a
substitute golfer, subject to certain restrictions. I will provide the details before the pool
commences.
The pool is open to all, so if you know anyone who would like to participate, let them know
about this website.
Under Consideration
In the past, I have made certain golfers ineligible for the pool if I felt it was in the
pool's best interest to do so. I made a golfer ineligile if I determined
that he was undervalued to such a degree that most teams would select him.
This was a subjective process, but I took my best shot using the data I had available
to me at the time.
This year, on a one-year trial basis, I'm considering a different approach. Instead of
eliminating a golfer, I would adjust his "buy" price to reflect a more realistic value.
This is also a subjective process, but it will keep most of the better and more popular
golfers eligible for the pool.
To determine a more realistic price, I would identify a golfer whom I formerly might have
eliminated and average his earnings for the prior three years; in this case, 2024, 2023,
and 2022. Using this approach, several golfers, including Victor Hovland, Max Homa,
Matt Fitzpatrick, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, and others could have their prices
adjusted.
I'm also considering a change to how the "buy" price is assigned to Korn Ferry graduates.
For the 2024 pool, their price was set at the greater of $1,000,000, or their PGA Tour
earnings from the previous season. For 2025, I may set their price to $1,000,000 plus
their PGA Tour winnings from the previous season. If so, I will likely do something
similar with the 10 golfers who earn their cards through the DP World Tour for the
golfer whe earned his card by finishing first in the PGA Tour University standings.
Also under consideration is an adjustment to the 'buy' price for Nick Dunlap, who won the
American Express in January while still an amateur. As a pro, he would have won
$1,512,000. Therefore, I may set his "buy" price to the amount he won after he
turned pro, plus what he would have won in the American Express.
As stated, these changes are just under consideration for now. I don't know yet
which ones, if any, I will move forward with. I'm not asking for feedback, but if you
want to share your thoughts on these considerations, I will take them under advisement.