The PGA Tour has announced a complete overhaul to its structure and schedule starting in 2028. After a year of discussion and debate over how the organization could create a format that pleases all parties — players, sponsors, hosts and fans — CEO Brian Rolapp’s new vision for the PGA Tour was detailed Tuesday.
Moving to a new two-series structure that splits professionals across the PGA Tour Championship Series and PGA Tour Challenger Series, the PGA Tour will institute a formalized promotion and relegation structure that will result in players moving between the series. While both series will feature 20+ events, the similarities largely stop there, particularly when it comes to purse sizes.
“From Day 1, the focus of the Future Competition Committee has been to build the best version of the PGA Tour, and to do so in a way that reflects the voice of our players and the expectations of our fans,” Rolapp said. “The result is a new competitive model grounded in meritocracy, with clearer pathways, higher stakes and more consistency when the best players compete together.”
Perhaps the most significant change for fans is a new postseason structure for the PGA Tour Championship Series. A match play format will be instituted, and the season-ending Tour Championship will be played at different courses across the United States, moving from its current annual home at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. Fans have been clamoring for match play to return to the PGA Tour in the playoffs, and that will become a reality in 2028.
“Today’s announcement is a positive step for professional golf. As more details emerge, it is encouraging to see the PGA Tour reaffirming the importance of meritocracy and creating a structure that will serve both players and fans well into the future,” Rory McIlroy said. “… The commitment to elevate some of these historic international tournaments and national opens is incredibly important for the game and something I’m very supportive of. Over the last few years, golf has faced a period of uncertainty and division, which has not been in the best interests of the players or the fans of the game. Today, we are putting the fans first, and I am excited about the future of our sport.”
While the PGA Tour is still finalizing some key details about its new structure, there is plenty to break down about how the organization will undergo a significant competitive restructuring in 2028.
PGA Tour series comparison
| Eligible players | 120~ | 144~ |
|
Events |
23-24* |
20+ |
|
Purses |
$20 million or more |
$4 million or more |
|
Format |
72 holes, stroke play |
72 holes, stroke play |
|
Cut |
Top 65 (and ties) |
Top 65 (and ties) |
* Including the four majors (Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, Open Championship), The Players, international team events (Ryder Cup, President’s Cup) and Olympics (every four years)
PGA Tour Championship Series
Format, structure
The PGA Tour is moving on from its traditional start as the circuit regularly began playing in January with events in Hawaii. As such, the schedule will run from February to August, except for the international team events. These will be treated like the current “signature events,” with purses of at least $20 million, 36-hole cuts to the top 65 (and ties), and every player on the Championship Series eligible to compete throughout the season. There will be regularly scheduled off weeks to give players breaks.
Ten of the 15 “regular season” events are set for 2028; all are current signature events. The other five will consist of either existing events or new events in large markets. Boston, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C. are all under consideration to host these tournaments
Tour Championship refreshed
- Length: Two weeks
- Formats: Group stage, match play bracket
- Host: Rotating locations
While the PGA Tour has promised further details in the first quarter of 2027, it has confirmed that the Tour Championship will return to a match play format. Such a move has been debated for years, as many believe the format creates greater stakes for a season-ending tournament.
PGA Tour is refocusing on celebrating a regular-season champion while creating a more siloed postseason, with the Tour Championship winner honored in a separate yet prestigious fashion. The Tour Championship will become a two-week playoff (down from three), starting with a group stage that moves into a bracket to determine the champion.
“We thought, and the players thought, it was important to have the season finale culminating in a regular-season winner at the end of the regular season,” Rolapp said. “And I could probably argue that if you beat the best 120 golfers over a series of a season, that is the most impressive accomplishment in the sport because you’re consistently beating those. It was important to do that.
“At the same time, it was always important to set up a separate competition after that regular season culmination, where a subset of those best players can compete in a separate, but also prestigious competition, bringing back match play. That’s one thing we heard a lot from our fans, from our partners: How do we embrace match play more? And we thought this separate competition was a great way to do it.”
The Tour Championship will no longer be contested annually at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, as it has since 2004. Instead, its host will rotate among “prestigious venues,” including former PGA Tour stops and some of the nation’s most elite clubs. Pine Valley Golf Club in New Jersey, Cypress Point Club in California and Seminole Golf Club in Florida are on the short list, according to ESPN. This will allow the PGA Tour to not only highlight some of the country’s greatest golf courses but also explore those in larger markets like the Chicago Golf Club (Chicago) and Merion Golf Club (Philadelphia), among others.
Fall international events
Players from the Championship Series will be eligible to play in a new series of international events, including a handful of prominent national opens, such as the Australian Open, which the PGA Tour previously announced as a new partner event. This is part of the PGA Tour’s strategic alliance with the DP World Tour. While the international series will not count in point totals accumulated for the following season, the PGA Tour will sell its players on the opportunity to play in new markets in front of international audiences — while also competing in prestigious national championships.
PGA Tour promotion, relegation
The most significant unknown in this new structure is how players will flow between the PGA Tour Championship Series and PGA Tour Challenger Series. While Championship Series players will be locked into every tournament each season, a midseason “battlefield” promotion will be available to those in the Challenger Series; however, it will require a player to win multiple times or claim a major after qualifying for such a tournament. Otherwise, the two series will remain separate until the end of the season.
After each season concludes, the top 90 on the Championship Series points list will retain their spots for the following year. The top 20 on the Challenger Series will get promoted. The remaining Championship Series spots, approximately 10, will be filled by a variety of unspecified criteria, including tournament wins, medical extensions, career milestones and a new “last chance” series.
The last chance series will replace FedEx Fall, offering players who finished 91-130 in the Championship Series, and those outside the top 20 in the Challenger Series, an opportunity to secure Championship Series status across a handful of events.
PGA Tour Challenger Series
Format, structure
At least seven of the 20 Challenger Series tournaments will be held on Championship Series off weeks to create “increased competitive consequence, benefits and exposure.” The others will be held concurrently.
The points system for the Challenger Series will be completely separate from the Championship Series. Players will only earn points for one series at a time. The Challenger Series will award bonus points for events played on Championship Series off weeks and for competition in major championships.
The Challenger Series will feature a similar membership structure to the current PGA Tour system, with fully exempt members who have priority to all Challenger Series events and conditional members who will fill out fields.
Q-School
Q-School will continue, offering golfers an opportunity to qualify for the Challenger Series. Q-School will be held prior to the last chance series, providing players with access to the Challenger Series and the PGA Tour’s other developmental pathways.
