PGA Tour Pro Rips Signature Events Despite $1M Payday: ‘I hate it’

Despite a $1.079 million paycheck from the PGA Tour’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson event, Erik van Rooyen was not overly joyous.

On Sunday, Scottie Scheffler won $1.782 million after defeating Van Rooyen by eight strokes at TPC Craig Ranch. Scheffler also tied the 72-hole PGA Tour record of 253 total strokes along the way.

Although Van Rooyen didn’t win, it was not all bad.

The South African golfer earned over $1 million and secured an invite to the upcoming $20 million Truist Championship at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. That is the sixth Signature Event of the 2025 PGA Tour season.

When asked about qualifying for the event, Van Rooyen’s response was candid.

With a laugh, he said, “How honest do you want me to be? I hate it.”

“The strongest fields are the ones with the most players in them,” which differs from the PGA Tour’s signature event format.

The PGA Tour introduced signature events after LIV Golf’s inception in 2022 to ensure top players compete against each other in its biggest events. If we look at all eight signature events, the field size varies from 60 to 144 players, but are mostly limited field tournaments without a cut.

The purse sizes for these events are also considerably larger.

Whereas the CJ Cup Byron Nelson had a 156-player field with only the top 65 golfers playing in the final round. But still PGA Tour has kept a way open for other players to participate in those signature events.

The opportunity is offered via the Aon Swing 5 standings in regular events. That’s exactly how the runner-up of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson event also got a chance.

This process also makes the competition more challenging.

“The guys on the PGA Tour are so good. It’s so deep. I get that you’ve got the Scotties (Scheffler) of the world, the Rorys (McIlroy) of the world, and people want to see them; it’s entertaining.”

He continued, “Like the PGA Championship coming up, I think it’s the strongest field in the game, similar to The Players. I love competing, so selfishly I want to compete against those guys.”

The PGA Tour pro is not alone

Interestingly, Van Rooyen isn’t the only player to express dissatisfaction with Jay Monahan’s signature event format.

Recent Masters winner Rory McIlroy shared similar sentiments about competition on the field.

“I guess my thing is, I’m all for more cutthroat and more competitive and trying to give pathways to the younger generation,” he expressed last year when asked about the PGA Tour Card membership process.

McIlroy believes that “the most competitive professional golf tour in the world, you should have to come out and prove yourself year after year after year.”

Golf analyst Brandel Chamblee, known for his candid opinions, also chimed in, giving Van Rooyen’s views a stamp of approval.

“This is just gold from Erik van Rooyen; read it, breathe it in, and let it sink in because this is as much truth as Sir Isaac Newton describing the laws of motion,” Chamblee tweeted on X.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below!

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