Big changes are coming to the PGA Tour schedule as CEO Brian Rolapp looks to totally reinvent the golfing calendar.
He’s already confirmed that in 2028, the tour will significantly reduce the number of events played to 20, including major championships and the playoffs. All of these events will be of equal value, as the Signature Event model is scrapped.
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This new schedule will also feature a two-track system with promotion and relegation between the tiers.
While the outline of this new schedule has been laid out, we’re yet to have any concrete details confirmed. And Dan Rapaport expects one major change to the FedEx Cup.
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
The change Dan Rapaport expects to be made to the FedEx Cup
The FedEx Cup, the season-long PGA Tour competition, is a staple of the current calendar. The standings are constantly referenced before and after events, and it’s the season finale on the PGA Tour.
So Rapaport, speaking on Dan on Golf, noted that it’s strange how much airtime FedEx receives as the title sponsor of this award, and expects that to change in the near future.
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He said, “I’m pretty sure that the FedEx deal with the tour is up pretty soon, and I feel like that’s something the tour might want back.
“Not saying there won’t be a season-long points race, but in the NFL, which a lot of this new leadership comes from, they’re not playing for the Cisco AFC Championship or the Knockaround NFC Championship or the Manors AFC Championship or the Zone AFC Championship.
“I could see that being the Jack Nicklaus Trophy or the Tiger Woods Trophy. I think they want to lean into the legacy of the tour and the history of the tour. And so, having an event that you’re chasing the whole season, it’s one thing to have a tournament to have sponsors, but to have like the thing for the PGA Tour.
“You have to remember they don’t own the four majors, and they don’t own the Ryder Cup; they
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don’t sell titles to the President’s Cup. But I could totally see them going that way with the FedEx Cup, where it’s like the Arnold Palmer trophy presented by, and then that’s maybe how they could use some of that capital that they raised from Strategic Sports Group to put it into that.
“They have a $2 billion fund, and a couple of us spoke to Brian Rolapp earlier, and they haven’t touched it.
“They’re just sitting there that they raised from the Strategic Sports Group, and I asked him what they’re going to do with that, and he said, ‘We have to get the competitive model first. Once we get the competitive model, maybe we need to buy some golf courses, or maybe we need to buy some tournaments, or maybe we need to fill certain things here or there.’
“So that’s something that I could absolutely see happening.”
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Rory McIlroy drops hint on FedEx Cup changes
These comments from Rapaport weren’t pulled from thin air. They were referencing an interesting hint that Rory McIlroy dropped in his press conference prior to the Memorial Tournament.
McIlroy was speaking about his current reduced PGA Tour schedule and how that affects his ability to win the FedEx Cup.
During his answer, the back-to-back Masters champion said, “Does it mean it makes it harder for myself to win the FedExCup or whatever the season-long title race is going to be called? Absolutely.”
Interesting. It seems McIlroy is expecting a change in the near future. Maybe we should expect FedEx to be dropped as the tour’s season-long title sponsor soon.
Read the full article here
