Champions Tour Players Fuming After PGA Tour Eliminates $10 Million Pension Fund

PGA Tour Champions players are furious after learning their retirement fund is gone. The Tour has eliminated the senior circuit's player pension pool entirely — it was cut from $10 million to $8 million last year, and now sits at zero — with three-time Champions Tour winner Billy Andrade leading the backlash, telling Golfweek the decision is "actually criminal."

Andrade argued the cut lands badly at a moment when the PGA Tour is spending heavily elsewhere: "You've got all these millions flowing everywhere for Championship Series, this series, that series, for all these leagues this guy is creating," he said, adding that the money being taken from Champions players had been designated for the generation that helped build the Tour.

Champions Tour President Miller Brady delivered the news at the circuit's first player meeting of the season, saying the long-term goal is for the senior tour to stand on its own financially rather than lean on PGA Tour funding. Brady said the Champions Tour is performing well commercially, with new events like the Portugal Invitational and next year's Sony Championship Open in Hawaii carrying $3 million purses, and that raising prize money is his priority.

The pension program began with a $250,000 allocation approved year-to-year and was suspended during the 2020 pandemic. Players qualified for credits by finishing among the top 48 in an event while playing at least 12 tournaments in a season. The move comes as the PGA Tour transitions to a for-profit enterprise backed by Strategic Sports Group, withdrawing subsidies for the senior circuit's operational and retirement costs.