PGA Tour unveils major overhaul to schedule, format beginning in 2028

· Yahoo Sports

The PGA Tour schedule will look considerably different in 2028 than it does now, following some major changes approved by the PGA Tour boards.

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The new format will feature two distinct series of tournaments − the PGA Tour Championship Series and the PGA Tour Challenger Series − in which players move up or down between the two based on their performance.

"The result is a new competitive model grounded in meritocracy, with clearer pathways, higher stakes and more consistency when the best players compete together," PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said in announcing the changes.

How the new PGA Tour format will work

The PGA Tour says its new top-level Championship Series will offer "a consistent schedule of playing opportunities for the best players in the world." It will consist of 23 or 24 events and will run from February to August.

Those events will have a total purse of at least $20 million for fields of roughly 120 players with no sponsor exemptions and no alternates.

The Championship Series will also have a new postseason format, including the introduction of match play and a "new-look Tour Championship contested across a rotation of prestigious courses."

Meanwhile, the Challenger Series would be comprised of at least 20 events, with purses of $4 million or more, that will give players the opportunity to be promoted to the Championship Series.

Challenger Series events will have slightly larger fields of roughly 144 players and will be played concurrently with Championship Series events.

Challenger Series golfers who win multiple events during the season (or win one of the Grand Slam tournaments) would receive an immediate promotion to the Championship Series.

And at the end of the season, a minimum of 20 Challenger Series players will receive a promotion to the Championship Series the following year.

Tiger Woods helps fuel PGA Tour changes

The radical overhaul of the Tour schedule in 2028 comes as a result of a newly formed Future Competitions Committee, chaired by Tiger Woods.

Woods was present for the official announcement and made a brief statement before turning things over to Rolapp.

Rolapp convened the FCC as one of his first acts in August after coming over from the NFL to revamp the Tour’s competitive model. Woods led the committee until he took an indefinite leave from professional golf to seek treatment for his health.

"This work was bigger than any one player or person – it was about designing the strongest possible version of the PGA Tour for the future generations of fans and players," Woods said in a statement. "From the beginning, the Committee’s focus was on delivering a better experience for our fans, while creating a model that best sets up the Tour, its players and its partners for long-term success and stability."

Two-time defending Masters champion Rory McIlroy expressed his support for the new format in a statement issued Tuesday, calling it "a positive step for professional golf."

"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," McIlroy added. "Today, we are putting the fans first, and I am excited about the future of our sport.”

Contributing: Adam Schupak, Golfweek

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: PGA Tour announces radical promotion, relegation format for 2028

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