Matt Fitzpatrick reveals the complaint players have about the PGA Tour schedule

The future of the PGA Tour’s schedule is completely up in the air as CEO Brian Rolapp looks to completely reinvent the season.

In a press conference prior to The Players, Rolapp revealed that he plans to change the PGA Tour schedule to feature between 21 and 26 events, including majors. There will be no more signature events, and instead, every tournament will be of equal value.

These are among several planned changes to the schedule, which also include changes to the playoff format and a relegation/promotion system. Rolapp aims to simplify the PGA Tour’s format and ensure the stars play more often.

And judging by a frequent complaint that players have about this year’s schedule, it looks like Rolapp is making the right move.

Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images

The complaint players have about the PGA Tour schedule

The field for this week’s Valspar Championship is stacked full of some of the best players on tour, including Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, and Fitzpatrick. It’s a far cry from the weak field at the Cognizant Classic from just a few weeks ago.

So why the strong field for this event and not the Cognizant? It has nothing to do with the event, according to Fitzpatrick. The Englishman said that this month is so packed with incredible golf tournaments that players have to miss one.

When asked about why the Valspar is such a popular tournament among players this year, he said, “I think the golf course is obviously great. It’s a great test. Guys want to play good golf courses, tough golf courses, I think. I also think the big thing is the schedule.

“The way it is, you know, I think if you swap this one for Cognizant this week you would probably get the same strength field.

“You would get a stronger field at Cognizant. I know that’s been a bit of a gripe by a lot of people that – you know, I really wanted to play the Cognizant this year, but if I play that, it’s then seven in a row if I’m playing this one as well. It just becomes a lot.

“When you look at the best golfers in the world, they’re not playing seven in a row, the majority of them. So you really have to manage that really well.”

It’s a great problem for the PGA Tour to have. Between the Genesis Invitational, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players, there are so many can’t-miss tournaments over this period that the stars have to sit out events they really don’t want to.

But Rolapp has a fix for the near future.

How Brian Rolapp will resolve players’ PGA Tour schedule complaints

Since taking the helm as the PGA Tour’s first-ever CEO in 2025, former NFL executive Brian Rolapp has moved with NFL-style urgency to restructure professional golf.

His primary goal is to solve the star participation problem by creating a schedule that emphasises scarcity and star-on-star competition.

Firstly, Rolapp is shifting the Tour toward a two-tiered system. The “First Track” consists of a condensed schedule of 21 to 26 premier events. By doubling the number of Signature Events to 16, Rolapp ensures that the world’s top players are financially and competitively incentivised to play against each other more frequently.

And to ensure fans actually see the stars they came for, Rolapp is advocating for consistent 120-player fields with a 36-hole cut. By moving away from small, no-cut invitationals, he is leaning into a meritocracy where the best players must perform to stay on the “First Track.”

This creates a promotion-and-relegation dynamic similar to football, making every appearance by a star player high-stakes and meaningful.

But the only way to resolve the issue Fitzpatrick has presented is to take bye weeks. Rolapp already mentioned giving players weeks off in the build-up and aftermath of majors, so that should allow the stars some opportunities to rest and recover without missing out on events they would otherwise like to play.

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