Kevin Streelman isn’t just co-leading the Valspar Championship. He also cares deeply about the PGA Tour and has strong opinions on its future

KS: I don’t know. Decisions were made, things were signed a year ago and we’re just trying to clarify some things. I’m 45, I care deeply about the Tour but I didn’t get elected as the next PAC chairman so it’s like I’ve gotta just try to keep my job. It’s one of those structures where the Tour is supposed to have our backs and you’re supposed to trust them and they kind of did some things where they lost some of that and now what more can we do except show up and play the next week. A tournament begins and we’re trying to win. We’re like rabbits in that sense. This other stuff is pretty far down the list. It’s been disheartening to a degree. 

The way the Tour has pivoted to appease the highest talent levels — and I understand that they need to be taken care of – but what makes the PGA Tour special is the accessibility for young superstars to have access to see how good they can do. We know how good the top players are. We want to see how good the next generation of superstars are when they get a chance to play the best of the best. So, seeing a onesome on a Thursday and Friday at a signature event is comical. Bring in the next ranked player in the FedEx standings. There’s some things that need to get ironed out now but part of us are like, yeah, if it’s at the cost of our careers, we’re going to try to figure it out. 

I don’t know where it falls. I sincerely hope our fans, our tournaments, our sponsors, our volunteers know that we really care about them. It’s what makes our sport great, it’s what makes our sport different. There are no guarantees of a job. You can have that magical week and it changes your life forever. You can miss 10 cuts in a row and have that magical week; there’s something beautiful about that. In baseball, your team can be out of it by June and it’s so depressing.