Champions Tour golfers who once dominated the fairways are facing a shock. A pension frozen at $10 million for over two decades is now dropping to $8 million. Many veterans expected it to grow to $20-25 million over time, factoring in inflation, but instead they are watching their safety net shrink while current PGA Tour players continue to cash ever-larger checks.

The controversy exploded on the October 9 episode of The Shotgun Start podcast. Hosts Andy Johnson and Brendan Porath tore into the pension cut during their rapid-fire Monday morning show, dissecting how new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp’s cost-cutting measures are squeezing the 50-and-over circuit.

Johnson and Porath opened with Peter Jacobsen’s scathing assessment. The seven-time PGA Tour winner and current Golf Channel commentator called the situation “disheartening” in his comments to Golfweek.

“The PGA Tour clearly has a lot of money right now and they’re spending a lot of money keeping players from going to LIV, and we’ve kind of slowly become LIV,” Jacobsen said. “I think we are giving way too much money to way too few players on the PGA Tour and the players on the Champions Tour live by the decisions made by the PGA Tour.”

The numbers back up Jacobsen’s claims. Strategic Sports Group invested $1.5 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises, with commitments totaling $3 billion. The Tour also dramatically increased purses for signature events to compete with LIV’s massive payouts.

The hosts acknowledged Jacobsen’s point but added crucial context. “Well, I mean, for good and bad, they don’t have a tour unless the PGA Tour is underneath it propping it up,” one host noted. The Champions Tour exists because the PGA Tour subsidizes it. That creates a dependency problem.

Johnson and Porath then turned to Billy Andrade‘s fiery reaction. The Rhode Island native compared Rolapp to Keyser Söze from “The Usual Suspects.” The hosts found the comparison darkly amusing. “He’s like Keyser Söze, you know, from the usual suspects,” they read from Andrade’s comments. “He’s just slashing stuff. And you know, everyone’s taking a pay cut except the PGA Tour players.”

Andrade pointed out the numbers that suffered a major drop, letting the math speak for itself. This frustration spilled over as Tom Pernice Jr. criticized venture capitalists for the current situation.

Tom Pernice Jr. blames venture capitalists as Champions Tour players lose control

The conversation shifted when Johnson and Porath reached Tom Pernice Jr.‘s explanation. The six-time Champions Tour winner pointed directly at Strategic Sports Group’s influence.

“The venture capitalists are doing what they like to do,” Pernice told Golfweek. “They get rid of the waste and make it look more profitable. The tour is working to get their SSG their 11% return.”

The power dynamic became the focal point. Andrade admitted Champions Tour players have zero leverage. “We don’t have control of that big board,” he said. “They’re going to do whatever this new guy wants to do. I guess it should be up higher in my opinion, but nobody’s going to listen to us or me.” Johnson and Porath went on to highlight the delicious irony there.

These players spent careers as independent contractors. Now they’re demanding pension protections like union workers. “Honestly, one of the most amazing things is to pull if you pulled this selection of men on similar situations in other industries and how they would fall on that,” one host observed.

The other host pushed further. “Can you just be super average, and by that I mean you are among the best golfers on the planet but you finish a hundredth every year and nobody knows your name?” The question hung in the air. What would Tom Pernice and Billy Andrade say about teachers’ pensions?

Strategic Sports Group invested $1.5 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises, with commitments up to $3 billion. They expect returns. Brian Rolapp became CEO in mid-2025 after more than two decades in senior media and business roles at the NFL. The pension reduction is part of wider cost-cutting, including voluntary early retirement offers to hundreds of staff. Ultimately, Champions Tour players are bearing the impact of private equity’s entry into professional golf.