PGA Tour Proposes Two-Tier Competition Model for 2028 With Limited Promotion to Top Events

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said June 3 that a proposed two-track tournament model could begin in 2028. The plan would create a top tier of 15 to 18 events plus the four majors and the Players Championship, while a second track would feed players upward each season. Rolapp spoke at Muirfield Village Golf Club during the Memorial Tournament.

He told reporters the timeline reflects the complexity of both the competitive format and the commercial arrangements required to implement it. The top 90 players in the season-long points standings would keep their places on Track One the following year.

Roughly 20 to 30 additional spots would open each season for promotion from Track Two, separate from the 10 players who would move up from the DP World Tour.

Fields on Track One events would range from 120 to 130 players, the Golf Channel reported June 3. Most tournaments would feature 36-hole cuts. " Golfers on Track One would not be allowed to drop down to Track Two events, though that rule has not been finalized.

The tour is still determining whether mid-season promotions from Track Two would be permitted. Rolapp said the structure aims to restore competitive meritocracy. "I think we have lost a lot of that with the smaller fields, no-cut events," he said.

Details of the model are still being reviewed by the Future Competition Committee and the Player Advisory Council. Any changes would require approval from the PGA Tour policy board. Rolapp said there is momentum to announce the changes later this summer.

He noted the tour began the discussions because the issues were significant and required early attention. Eighteen-time major winner Jack Nicklaus, host of the Memorial Tournament, said he plans to meet with Rolapp and former PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan about the schedule.

Nicklaus expressed concern that too many signature events are currently bunched together and said he is not in favor of the present arrangement.