Inside The Ropes' is the chance for Golf Monthly's expert team to share its honest thoughts on the biggest subjects in the game. This time, it's all about the PGA Tour's future structure announcement.
The PGA Tour is set to look pretty different from the start of 2028, with the historic US-based circuit unveiling big, shiny new plans for a two-tier structure on Tuesday.
The idea is quite simple - there will be an elite tier called the Championship Series which features all of the PGA Tour's best players in 120-man fields in 23-24 events with a halfway cut and $20 million (minimum) prize purses.
Meanwhile, the Challenger Series will sit between the top level and the Korn Ferry Tour with 144-man fields competing in a similar number of tournaments but for at least $4 million every time.
Many of the finer details still need ironing out, according to new PGA Tour commissioner and existing CEO Brian Rolapp, but the idea is that at least 90 players will hold Championship Series status every year with 20 or more earning promotion from the Challenger Series.
Unsurprisingly, the most prestigious tournaments will sit on the top tier alongside The Players and the Majors with the biggest markets serving the brightest stars.
In addition, there are big changes coming to the Playoffs, too. The Tour Championship is switching to a match play format and will cycle away from East Lake in a bid to keep things fresh.
Overall, Rolapp says the new-look PGA Tour has been designed this way with meritocracy at the forefront and a desire to innovate in order to breathe new life into the circuit.
What do you make of the PGA Tour's plans? Please let us know in the comments box below this article. For the time being, here's what some of our writers made of the changes.
The early signs of the Future Competition Committee's big, sweeping upheaval of the PGA Tour pointed to some drastic changes, but in reality it doesn't seem like there will be too much of a difference to what we see now, with far too many tournaments and an over-saturation.
There are plenty of positives, though, like getting rid of no-cut, small-field events. I am glad the PGA Tour has listened to the criticism of these. The Tour Championship moving to match play also sounds exciting, as does the potential of playing some of America's greatest courses.
I am disappointed to see purses remain at $20m+ following the Saudi PIF withdrawing from LIV Golf, though. That was a great chance for a reset and the Tour to reduce the ridiculous sums players are earning.
There are still lots of unknowns so it is tough to get too excited. Rolapp essentially said the job has been to organize the tour into a more simple system for fans to follow and ultimately I think that will be achieved.
So what do I think? I think it sounds... good. I am interested to hear more and hopeful Rolapp can deliver on his promises, especially around courses.
I'm a big fan of the new schedule. The removal of Signature Events and the introduction of a second tier make a huge amount of sense to me.
I also like that winning twice on the second tier – the Challenger Series – is the only way to get a promotion to the Championship Series during the season.
There are no sponsors' invites or places available through things like the Aon Swing 5 - you either qualify for the top tier or you wait another season. This creates genuine jeopardy if you're at risk of falling outside the top 90 on the Championship circuit.
I also like the introduction of match-play in the play-offs. Essentially, the new structure creates a clearly defined extra level between the Korn Ferry Tour and the Championship Series, which makes things easier from a logistical standpoint and creates a clear pathway to the top.
It also sounds like some 'Fall' events might be co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour, hopefully seeing some top American players coming to Europe during the autumn months.
Given the news has not long broken, I'm still processing it, but here are my initial thoughts on the whole situation.
I'm not sure I love the fact there will be two PGA Tours (even though many would argue that has been the case for a while now).
I think it would have made more sense to add another separate tour in below the PGA Tour and call it something else, so effectively relegate the Korn Ferry Tour to the third tier and either renegotiate that sponsorship deal with them or tweak the contract to give Korn Ferry the naming rights for this new second tier.
Practically, I'm thinking this two-tier system creates confusion in regards to filing wins as well.
Will every victory be titled PGA Tour wins even though they're clearly not the same standard? What if Tiger Woods is able to come back and he wins a Challenger Series event? Does he now have sole possession of the all-time record for PGA Tour wins?
On a different note, I wanted a match play event back, but making the Tour Championship a match play tournament is an awfully bold decision. Is it the right one? Only time will tell, but I'm sure it had been suggested before and not many liked it. So what's changed?
Overall, I do think the general changes are good ones and I'm excited to see how it plays once 2028 rolls around, but there are so many unknowns still at this stage my mind may well change by the turn of this year.
What do you think about the PGA Tour's future? What could have been done differently? Or do you love the plan as is? Let us know in the comments box below.
