PGA Tour to toughen gambling policy in 2018

Professional golf’s primary organizing body is rolling out a new gambling policy intended to “protect its competitions from potential outside influences related to gambling.”

On Monday, the PGA Tour announced that a new “more comprehensive” Integrity Program will take effect on January 1, 2018. The stated goal of this program is to “maintain integrity and prevent and mitigate betting-related corruption in PGA Tour competitions.”

The PGA Tour claims to have had “a longstanding policy prohibiting players from betting or related activities at Tour-related events,” but the new program will now apply to “all facets of competition and operations” on the roughly 140 events the Tour oversees around the globe each year.

The program will not only cover pro players but also “their support teams, all tournament staff and volunteers, the entire PGA Tour staff and the PGA Tour Policy Board.”