Last week, the PGA Tour announced a new two-series model that will replace the current one in 2028.
Event Context
While Rolapp and the Tour are calling it a merit-based system (that argument has some merit), the real reason for the change is that a majority of sponsors on the PGA Tour are getting edgy over the rising cost of sponsorship. Already, Rocket Mortgage has ended its sponsorship of the tournament in Detroit and 3M is reportedly considering its options.
This is a good way of placating them. If you want the biggest stars in the game at your event, cough up $20 million. If you cannot, then you can still be part of the PGA Tour, but at the second level.
Player Focus
Adding to the confusion is the word ‘Challenger’ in the Series. The rest of the world still clearly associates the word ‘Challenge’ with the Challenge Tour, which used to be the name of the development tour of the European Tour Group before it was changed to HotelPlanner Tour.
Team Analysis
I do appreciate that it will take some time to iron out all the details, but some questions need to be answered by Rolapp and his team…
A golfer friend had an interesting take on the subject, which makes a lot of sense. “History has proved that the rich will always keep getting richer”, he said. Ideally, it should not be this way, but I completely agree with his sentiments.
Match Outlook
There will now be a PGA Tour Championship Series, comprising approximately 20 standalone events, the major championships, and the Players. As many as 130 of the top players on the FedEx Cup rankings will be able to play the Championship Series. The prize money for each of these events is expected to be north of $20 million.
The next track on the PGA Tour is the PGA Tour Challenger Series. Almost 200 players are expected to compete in this, with the top-20 at the end of the season graduating to the Championship Series. The Challenge Series is expected to have about 22-25 odd $4 million events. This will include a few events in the fall season, called the “last chance” series, which will offer a few spots in the Championship Series.
The new two-track system is the brainchild of Brian Rolapp, who has been confirmed to take over as the next Commissioner of the PGA Tour starting January 1, 2027.
At the outset, it looks like a scheme proposed by one of the Big Four consultancy firms. The first step is always laying off a certain percentage of the staff. That has been happening across the board on the PGA Tour for the last couple of years. The second step is to pack the same old wine in a new bottle.
The PGA Tour already had the Korn Ferry Tour, its second tier of events. We now have three tiers and Rory McIlroy was right in calling the second series a “glorified Korn Ferry Tour”.
