PGA Tour’s ‘Dramatic’ Changes to Schedules, Points, More Revealed, Tiger Woods Reacts to New System
The PGA Tour Policy Board and PGA Tour Enterprises Board approved a series of changes to the tour’s competitive structure that will go into effect in 2028.
Per ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, the “dramatic” changes two separate series of tournaments known as the PGA Tour Championship Series and PGA Tour Challenger Series, with the latter serving as a pathway to the former.
The PGA Tour’s official announcement noted it has already lined up an initial set of 10 of the expected 15 Championship Series events, which will all boast a prize purse of at least $20 million.
Other key takeaways from the Championship Series include a reimagined postseason, introduction of match play and a new look TOUR Championship.
Tiger Woods, who has led the PGA Tour’s Future Competition Committee, reacted to Tuesday’s announced changes in a social media post”
PGA TOUR CEO Brian Rolapp also issued a statement as part of Tuesday’s announcement:
“From day one, 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. The result is a new competitive model grounded in meritocracy, with clearer pathways, higher stakes and more consistency when the best players compete together.”
In a separate release from the PGA Tour, the new point structure is “geared toward winning, emphasizing top finishes and reinforcing the importance of making the cut.”
The top 90 finishers in the Championship Series in one year will be fully exempt for the following year, while “a minimum of 20 players” from the Challenger Series will be promoted year over year.
Players can receive automatic promotion by either winning multiple Challenger Series events within the same season or winning a major championship.
Under the current FedEx Cup system, the playoffs tournaments feature a progressive cut system and eight tournaments starting in September are used to finalize the top 100 and additional playing opportunities for the ensuing FedEx Cup season.
There is also an elevated point system in the FedEx Cup that hands out 750 points to the winners of the the four major tournaments and The Players Championship; 700 points to the winner of signature events; 500 points to the winners of full-field events; and 300 points to the winners of additional events.
The winners of the first two FedEx Cup playoff events also receive 750 points.
Under the new system, major tournaments will maintain an elevated points structure.
According to Schlabach, the PGA Tour is pursuing larger markets like New York, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C. to fill out the remaining five Championship Series tournaments that haven’t been set yet.
The Challenger Series will be played concurrently to the Championship Series, with 72-hole events and a 36-hole cut line to the top 65 players and any ties.
This new system was originally proposed by the Future Competition Committee, a group that includes Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay, Maverick McNealy and Keith Mitchell.
