ATLANTA, GEORGIA | For all the celebration and wished-for drama that has not always materialized, it has been clear for a while that the FedEx Cup playoff structure has been aspirational but underwhelming.
It has been fabulously lucrative for a handful of players and a career-defining achievement for some (Bill Haas and Billy Horschel come to mind) but its multiple iterations over the past two decades is evidence of the inherent challenges of creating a playoff-like scenario in a sport not naturally structured that way.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp on Tuesday confirmed the promise of a new model that will begin in 2028 as the culmination of the tour’s reimagined schedule.
It will begin with a 72-hole stroke-play event for the top 90 players on the Championship Series including the crowning of a season-long champion, which the tour is intent on giving a higher profile along with a substantial financial reward.
From there, a two-week Tour Championship will be conducted with the top 32 players in the season-long points race advancing to begin match play. There will be eight groups of four players, who will compete against each other in match play with the top two from each group advancing to the final week.
In the finale, players will advance through the bracket based on their won-loss record with two undefeated players meeting in the championship match. The 16 players will play all four days.
The next question is where the events will be played. Without offering specifics, Rolapp reconfirmed the tour’s intention to elevate the final events by playing at special venues.
“I think everybody knew if the competition itself and if the venue wasn’t meaningful to our players, it wasn’t going to be meaningful to anybody — fans, broadcast partners, sponsors, anyone,” Rolapp said Tuesday at East Lake Golf Club, site of this week’s Tour Championship.
“I think it was important to them, and I think to everybody, that we’re able to go to places that you don’t see very often at the PGA Tour.”
The potential new sites would also allow the tour to limit the number of spectators and hospitality buildout at places that may not have room for or want a full-field tour event.
“We have received a tremendous level of interest from prospective host venues. As a result, multiple discussions are under way, site visits have begun, and we are encouraged by the enthusiasm we are seeing for the future of the Tour Championship.” – Brian Rolapp
East Lake, which has been the exclusive host of the Tour Championship since 2004, is among the courses under consideration as a future host, Rolapp said.
“We have received a tremendous level of interest from prospective host venues. As a result, multiple discussions are under way, site visits have begun, and we are encouraged by the enthusiasm we are seeing for the future of the Tour Championship,” Rolapp said, declining to name potential sites.
During a lengthy question-and-answer session with the media inside the East Lake clubhouse Tuesday morning, Rolapp touched on a variety of topics, though he said several times that the various details are still being finalized.
Having previously announced the Championship/Challenger structure the tour will adopt in 2028, Rolapp noted that seven of the 15 Championship Series tournaments have been announced and another four, so far unnamed, will be announced in the near future.
With four additional Championship spots to fill, Rolapp said the tour is in discussions with 14 prospective partners for those events. The full schedule of both series will be announced in a televised event next Feb. 22 at the tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Rolapp said work on confirming the Challenger Series, which will feature events with $4 million purses, will begin soon.
With LIV Golf’s uncertain future and the potential for some former players to rejoin the PGA Tour, Rolapp said there are no current plans to reinstitute the returning member program that allowed Brooks Koepka to return earlier this year.
While saying he is intent on doing what is best for the PGA Tour, Rolapp said three principles will guide whatever happens down the line regarding the return of players who joined LIV.
“One, the PGA Tour is built on meritocracy. Every player, whether they’re already here or they’re trying to be here, they’re going to earn a place based on their performance and on their success. That’s a core principle of the sport, and it certainly is of the PGA Tour,” Rolapp said.
“Two, the tour is a membership organization. It has rules. Those rules exist for lots of reasons, for fair, competitive reasons. They exist so we can actually create the tour as you know it. Rules matter.
“Three, rules only matter if they’re enforced. So accountability and discipline are essential to any organization, and certainly for the integrity of the tour and for the game, especially in a game that prides itself on rules and integrity. Those are guiding principles for us.”
Rolapp also addressed the recent controversy surrounding an ad posted by Good Good Golf in conjunction with Callaway Golf in which Good Good’s co-founder Garrett Clark shoves female golfer and content creator Alexis Miestowski to the ground when she approaches his golf bag that holds a new driver.
Both Good Good and Callaway have issued public apologies but the issue continues to simmer. Good Good is the title sponsor of a new PGA Tour event to be played in Austin, Texas, in November.
Rolapp said he was disappointed in Good Good’s initial reaction to the issue.
“I think what we saw was concerning, is clearly not aligned with PGA Tour values. We take it very seriously. I think their initial response was disappointing. It was a bit defensive and late,” Rolapp said.
“But I think the responses are getting better. I think we’ve seen some things this morning, we’ve had some conversations with them, so we’ll continue to monitor and work with them going forward. But no, we were disappointed with what we saw.”