The new PGA Tour schedule has 1 ‘hot topic.’ It highlights a new reality
Lucas Glover won’t join the PGA Tour’s Board of Directors as director of players until 2027, but the former US Open champion is already aware of ongoing discussions about a restructured program recently unveiled by CEO Brian Rolapp.
At last week’s Traveler Championship, Rolapp revealed some major membership-approved changes. The changes are scheduled to begin in 2028. (GOLF.com’s Sean Zak has a detailed update here.) The PGA Tour will use a two-track system in 2028. Track 1, the Championship Series, will feature approximately 130 players playing for $20 million in purses. Track 2, the Challenger Series, will feature multiple players competing for purses of around $4 million. Which tournaments will be Tier 1 and which will be Tier 2 is still being worked out, but the changes come with a number of sticking points depending on which part of the PGA Tour membership you’re talking to.
Another big expected rule is that players in the Championship Series will not be allowed to come down to play in Challenger Series events. Jordan Spieth said that would create an “awkward” situation where players who won Challenger Series events could not defend their titles the following season after being promoted to Track 1.
Glover knows that there are many players, including himself, who will want to play in Track 2 events because of their location or their personal connection to the tournament.
“That was a very hot topic in the PAC and among the [policy board] from what I understand,” Glover said Thursday at the John Deere Classic. “I’m not getting on the board until next year. I’m used to having a home tournament. There are many guys who live in the West Palm area. There are many boys who live in Scottsdale. There are many guys who live in Dallas. That was difficult.”
Glover points to The Cognizant Classic (West Palm), the CJ Cup Byron Nelson (Dallas), the Charles Schwab Challenge (Fort Worth) and the WM Phoenix Open (Scottsdale) as tournaments with the largest number of PGA Tour pros residing in their areas. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler makes the CJ Cup Byron Nelson an annual stop. A number of PGA Tour stars used to make the Cognizant Classic, formerly the Honda Classic, a regular stop before the Signature Event model and schedule changes after the arrival of LIV made it a difficult tournament to play in. Those small areas have left Cognizant in a precarious position as the new schedule hits 2028.
Glover and many other pros would be more than willing to give up playing in a big-money Tier 1 event in order to have the ability to play in a meaningful Tier 2 event. However, after speaking with current board members and others close to the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Enterprises, Glover understands that reality is unlikely, given how much money the companies sponsoring Tier 1 events put in to have the top 130 players in their fields.
“I would rather come here and play for less points and less money than the Track 1 event with more money and more points because, there are more chances that I will do better here than there. I’m trying to win, I don’t care about the money,” said Glover. “Then I was also explained in terms of trade and what we will ask for these sponsors, one compared to the other.” It stinks but it makes sense.
“I was on the side that I would like to choose and be able to play one or two down, but with what they will be asking these sponsors to go up, it will be difficult to sell.”
Schedule changes come with pros and cons to membership. It is generosity that may result in the players ending up in a better situation than the one they are currently living in.
While players in Track 1 can’t play down and players in Track 2 can’t play up unless they win twice and earn a midseason promotion, the PGA Tour’s new system offers players something they don’t currently have: systematic predictability. In the current structure, many players make their schedule as the weeks and months go by because of their significant PGA Tour status. In short, the current composition of the PGA Tour has about 200 to 250 professional golfers with some appearance, and many of them are not sure how many beginners they will get in the current year when the calendar turns to Jan.1. But when the new schedule changes go into effect, more than 200 players will know exactly how many starts and when. be. They will receive 21 stroke-play starts in the Championship Series or 20 in the Challenger Series. That is important information that will please almost every member.
Is it perfect? No. Some players in the Championship Series and Challenger Series tournaments will not be happy with the rule that prevents them from crossing paths. But that’s part of the larger puzzle being built to build a better version of the PGA Tour.
Glover has been one of the PGA Tour’s most talked-about voices in recent seasons. He has been critical of the Tour’s direction of high-profile events, limited events and having fewer full-time members. But he sees where Rolapp and the Future Tournament Committee, led by Tiger Woods, want to take the PGA Tour. He understands the movement even if he doesn’t agree with everything that might happen. The goal of the major changes is to create a competitive product that is easy for fans, media, players and sponsors to understand. Everyone will have to contribute a little to help the Journey move forward. But they will benefit in the long run.
“People smarter than me make those decisions, but that was a big, big point of contention and discussion, but it has to be the way it is,” Glover said of Track 1 players who can’t play lower-level events.
