Details on the PGA TOUR's new competitive structure that will begin in 2028. How will any of us this work? A lengthy breakdown...

There will be two tracks: PGA TOUR Championship Series and PGA TOUR Challenger Series

PGA TOUR Championship series:
- The top players
- 23 to 24…

— Paul Hodowanic (@PaulHodowanic) June 23, 2026

Golf Digest Article

Yeah just read this. Looks interesting and very different.

I really like it. Cleans up all of those crazy exemptions in the gray area. No sponsor exemptions!

130 eligible for top series. 20 million purses! Expecting 120 player fields. 24 events Feb to August.

Top 90 make the cut, bottom 40 combine with an unknown amount of Challenger Series players after the season is done in an unknown amount of events (4-6) to make it back on the top tour.

Top 20 move up from the Challenger Series (144 players). None of the Challenger Series players will be eligible during the year to play in the top series on their off weeks (they can insta-move up with a certain # of wins or a major win).

That will be around 20 events, 4 million purses.

EDIT: oh we will still have medical exemptions

A minimum of 20 players from the PGA TOUR Challenger Series will be promoted each year, with remaining spots determined through multiple criteria including tournament winners, medical extensions, career milestones and a new "last chance" series. Full eligibility criteria will be finalized later this year.

That includes a new-look "last chance" series, comprised of four to six events to determine some of the final spots on the PGA TOUR Championship Series for the following season. Contested in the fall, players competing will include those who failed to retain PGA TOUR Championship status plus those from the PGA TOUR Challenger Series who failed to earn one of the automatic promotions.

Following the TOUR Championship, the top players from the PGA TOUR Championship Series will also be eligible for a limited series of elevated international events, played in the fall. Announced at a later date with the intent to be delivered in conjunction with the DP World Tour as part of the Strategic Alliance between the two organizations, these events will include prominent national opens. The fall calendar of events will not factor into the points race to determine eligibility for the following season but will give the best players in the world an opportunity to shine brightly in front of new audiences on an international stage.

I guess the one issue I see will be convincing sponsors to pay for the challenger series sponsorship knowing they won't have any big time guys playing there. Usually you could count on a few guys playing non signature events at various stops but looks like they won't be allowing that anymore. And unless they change that means all of the Texas events are challenger events as of today. Hopefully one or more gets bumped up.

You hit the nail on the head. Will be curious to see how the sponsor ship part plays out

98Ag99Grad said:

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I guess the one issue I see will be convincing sponsors to pay for the challenger series sponsorship knowing they won't have any big time guys playing there. Usually you could count on a few guys playing non signature events at various stops but looks like they won't be allowing that anymore. And unless they change that means all of the Texas events are challenger events as of today. Hopefully one or more gets bumped up.

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Yeah. Not sure this should even be called part of the PGAT, as it's clearly the minor leagues. I'm guessing one reason it is that they think they can sell sponsorships easier if they can still call it the Tour.

Overall, the new structure is interesting.

Could be am issue.

However, if it is truly going to be less Championship tournaments and the Challenger series is actively being promoted and televised by tye PGAT, it's a lot better reach than no tournament. Even if gate tickets are down, it's still relevant to cities not getting amy other tournaments.

Also interested in how this shakes out for TV viewing. I would think the challenger events are going to be relegated to Golf Channel, similar to the Puerto Rico Open and events like that?

CrockerAg98 said:

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I think I like it.

Should be interesting to see them really go after the target markets they called out (Boston, Denver, Seattle, San Fran, Philly, and DC), and I like the promotion/ relegation thing.

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Any one else find it odd they completely ignored the south? No Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Orlando/Tampa? I mean if we're talking top tv markets ignoring half the country and leaving out cities in the top 20 doesn't really make sense.

Overall, this looks like a great change

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And unless they change that means all of the Texas events are challenger events as of today. Hopefully one or more gets bumped up.

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And this is the major downside. Other than occasionally playing the PGA Championship in Frisco, I think you will rarely see top players in the State of Texas.

It will be really interesting to see what happens to the tournaments in Dallas, Ft Worth, San Antonio, and Houston. I would guess they sill get split between spring and fall for the Challenger events.

Outside or Atlanta, those markets already have tour events. And Atlanta traditionally has the Tour Championship to close the season.

Stymied said:

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Overall, this looks like a great change

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And unless they change that means all of the Texas events are challenger events as of today. Hopefully one or more gets bumped up.

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And this is the major downside. Other than occasionally playing the PGA Championship in Frisco, I think you will rarely see top players in the State of Texas.

It will be really interesting to see what happens to the tournaments in Dallas, Ft Worth, San Antonio, and Houston. I would guess they sill get split between spring and fall for the Challenger events.

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I don't think the Tour will want Texas entirely shut out of the champions tour and one event will be elevated. Since Crane is a hardcore golfer and takes a very personal interest in the Texas Children's Open, he will be lobbying hard for it so my money is on Houston even though it doesn't have the history of the others.

I like it. The promotion/relegation aspect will add some spice to those later events in both seasons. And overall, week to week, the main tour will have stronger fields

Quote:

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In its release, the PGA Tour said it has already identified 10 of its 15 Championship Series regular-season tournaments for the 2028 season. The current eight signature events -- AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational, RBC Heritage, Cadillac Championship, Truist Championship, Memorial Tournament and Travelers Championship -- are expected to remain part of the future schedule.

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In addition to losing Texas tournaments, this also leaves out the Farmers at Torrey Pines and Waste Management in Phoenix

I bet the schedule shapes up something like this...

West Coast swing (2-3):

• Pebble
• Riviera
• New event?

Florida (3):

• Bay Hill
• Players
• Cadillac at Doral or somewhere else in FL

Masters

Carolinas (3)

• RBC at Hilton Head
• Truist at Quail
• PGA (location TBD, could be anywhere)

Midwest / DC? (3)

• Memorial
• Some new event?
• US Open

Cooler weather (North East, North West, or Denver) (3-4)

• NY
• Boston
• Open Championship somewhere in here...
• Pac NW
• Midwest (Chicago / Detroit)

Season ending events (location TBD, probably not Texas in August/September)

I don't blame them but we would be lucky to get a tournament in Texas every few years.

JCA1 said:

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I don't think the Tour will want Texas entirely shut out of the champions tour and one event will be elevated. Since Crane is a hardcore golfer and takes a very personal interest in the Texas Children's Open. He will be lobbying hard for it so my money is on Houston even though it doesn't have the history of the others.

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I hope you are right but I think the best bet is that a Texas event on the Championship level is held every 1-2 years. Memorial is would be a good fit for one of those rotating ones. Colonial would be a great option too; However, I think the Salesmanship Club will fight tooth and nail if an event thinks about coming through DFW.

My gut is that we are lucky if a Championship event is in the state every 2-3 years. The fact that PGA Frisco gets the PGA Championship in 2027 and 2034 is a headwind too.

Stymied said:

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JCA1 said:

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I don't think the Tour will want Texas entirely shut out of the champions tour and one event will be elevated. Since Crane is a hardcore golfer and takes a very personal interest in the Texas Children's Open. He will be lobbying hard for it so my money is on Houston even though it doesn't have the history of the others.

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I hope you are right but I think the best bet is that a Texas event on the Championship level is held every 1-2 years. Memorial is would be a good fit for one of those rotating ones. Colonial would be a great option too; However, I think the Salesmanship Club will fight tooth and nail if an event thinks about coming through DFW.

My gut is that we are lucky if a Championship event is in the state every 2-3 years. The fact that PGA Frisco gets the PGA Championship in 2027 and 2034 is a headwind too.

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I haven't dug into the details. Is there talk of having champions events on a rotation? Assuming it would require the challenger sponsor to pony up the requisite 20+ million when it's their turn?

The other, and biggest, factor to consider is strength and term of sponsorship commitments. Like it or not, CJ Group has very deep pockets and a long term agreement to sponsor the Byron Nelson and they just dumped money in to renovating the course. If the tour needs groups to sponsor $20MM purses CJ can do it and I'm not sure Crane/Texas Children's will want to.

A much smaller consideration would be money made/raised at the tournament which is also a Byron Nelson strong point combined with the level and quantity of Dallas based pros that move the needle relative to Houston or San Antonio.

Of course all of that is partially offset by the joke of a golf course and setup that they play combined with a long history of dicey weather in the current calendar spot.

98Ag99Grad said:

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I guess the one issue I see will be convincing sponsors to pay for the challenger series sponsorship knowing they won't have any big time guys playing there. Usually you could count on a few guys playing non signature events at various stops but looks like they won't be allowing that anymore. And unless they change that means all of the Texas events are challenger events as of today. Hopefully one or more gets bumped up.

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Good point, I watch golf just about every week, Challenger series won't be must watch TV for many golf fans which will spook sponsors.

With 19 to 20 non-major Championship Series events, and at least 20 Challenger Series events, one of the big questions now is what will Augusta National do?

Will winners of Challenger events, which have same purses as alternate-field events right now, receive Masters invites? pic.twitter.com/woZUBai1M6

— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) June 23, 2026

Here is my rough draft of what 2028 could look like. The Olympics definitely throws a wrench into the schedule:

February 3 - 6th: Waste Management (Phoenix)
February 10 - 13th: Pebble Beach Pro-Am
February 17 - 20th: Genesis Invitational (Los Angeles)
Off week
March 2 - 5th: Arnold Palmer Invitational (Orlando)
March 9 - 12th: Cadillac Championship (Miami)
March 16 - 19th: The Players Championship
Off week
March 30 - April 2nd: Texas Event (San Antonio)
April 6 - 9th: Masters
April 13 - 16th: RBC Heritage (Hilton Head)
Off week
April 27 - 30th: Colonial (Fort Worth)
May 4 - 7th: Truist Championship (Charlotte)
May 11 - 14th: New Event (Seattle)
May 18 - 21st: PGA Championship (San Francisco)
Off week
June 1 - 4th: The Memorial
June 8 - 11th: New Event (Philadelphia)
June 15 - 18th: US Open (New York)
Off week
June 29 - July 2nd: Travelers (Hartford)
July 6 - 9th: Canadian Open
Off week
July 19 - 29th: Olympics (Los Angeles)
August 3 - 6th: Open Championship
Off week
August 17 - 20th: New/Playoff Event (Boston)
August 23 - 27th: Tour Championship (Denver?)
December 1 - 3rd: Presidents Cup (Australia)

The bolded events are all but set in stone. Colonial has hosted a tournament every year since 1946, and with it's ties to Hogan, I just can't see it falling off the championship schedule. San Antonio started hosting tournaments since 1922 but has missed several years in between...but they'll need a primer for The Masters and luckily, the tour is limited with the weather on who could host the week before Augusta.

I think I like it as well. The reality is, the top players need to play more, and they need to have levels of events. I think it makes sense. I'm excited for the changes.

Two major reasons I don't think Colonial survives as a top tier event. One, the title sponsorship with Schwab expires in either 2026 or 2027 so they would have to agree to a much bigger investment which I've heard through the grapevine would be a challenge. Second, and maybe more important, Colonial is the last and only tournament put on by the club rather than the PGA tour directly and the new tour isn't going to go for that. Either the club would have to relinquish control of the event or I can't see a scenario that it stays as a Tier 1.

What happens if you win the PGA Championship but finish 91st on the list... You gone?

I highly doubt that if someone wins a major that they wouldn't have enough points on that alone to be in the top 90 at the end of the season.

Yea, if the point structure is anything like it is now, a player winning any tournament will have enough to secure their card for the following season.

What are our guesses on the match play locations? "Venues we can't hold full event fields at" is what I saw. And they got to keep Colonial in there... too much history.

vwbug said:

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What are our guesses on the match play locations? "Venues we can't hold full event fields at" is what I saw. And they got to keep Colonial in there... too much history.

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I'm guessing they're hoping for iconic west coast venues to host prime time playoff events. Cypress Point being the holy grail.

Texas events are normally played in spring on overseeded turf, which is typically in phenomenal shape. Wish we had it year round.

_lefraud_ said:

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Here is my rough draft of what 2028 could look like. The Olympics definitely throws a wrench into the schedule:

February 3 - 6th: Waste Management (Phoenix)
February 10 - 13th: Pebble Beach Pro-Am
February 17 - 20th: Genesis Invitational (Los Angeles)
March 2 - 5th: Arnold Palmer Invitational (Orlando)
March 9 - 12th: Cadillac Championship (Miami)
March 16 - 19th: The Players Championship
March 30 - April 2nd: Texas Event (San Antonio)
April 6 - 9th: Masters
April 13 - 16th: RBC Heritage (Hilton Head)
April 27 - 30th: Colonial (Fort Worth)
May 4 - 7th: Truist Championship (Charlotte)
May 11 - 14th: New Event (Seattle)
May 18 - 21st: PGA Championship (San Francisco)
June 1 - 4th: The Memorial
June 8 - 11th: New Event (Philadelphia)
June 15 - 18th: US Open (New York)
June 29 - July 2nd: Travelers (Hartford)
July 6 - 9th: Canadian Open
July 19 - 29th: Olympics (Los Angeles)
August 3 - 6th: Open Championship
August 17 - 20th: New/Playoff Event (Boston)
August 23 - 27th: Tour Championship (Denver?)
December 1 - 3rd: Presidents Cup (Australia)

The bolded events are all but set in stone. Colonial has hosted a tournament every year since 1946, and with it's ties to Hogan, I just can't see it falling off the championship schedule. San Antonio started hosting tournaments since 1922 but has missed several years in between...but they'll need a primer for The Masters and luckily, the tour is limited with the weather on who could host the week before Augusta.

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Byron nelson likely in that spot 2 weeks after masters. They have sponsor that wants it and has deep pockets.