PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp is looking to totally revamp the PGA Tour schedule.
Starting in 2028, the PGA Tour will be a 20 event season, including the majors and the playoffs. The elevated Signature Event model will be scrapped, and instead each event on the PGA Tour will be of equal value in terms of FedEx Cup points and prize money.
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The tour will also be split into two “tracks”, and there will be promotion and relegation between those two tracks. The first track will feature bigger prize pools, better golf courses and a more talented field.
But because the schedule is being chopped down, some of the current events on the PGA Tour will be scrapped. For the first track at least. The West Coast Swing is set to be affected the most, as the new season will begin after the Super Bowl rather than in January.
Another event that is likely to be lost is the RBC Canadian Open, which takes place this week. Canadian Nick Taylor expressed his concern about the potential of losing his national open as a PGA Tour tournament.
Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Nick Taylor is worried about the Canadian Open’s future in new PGA Tour schedule
The Canadian Open is a special event on the PGA Tour calendar. The fans are incredible, and national opens are always brilliant spectacles.
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Losing this event on the first track of the PGA Tour would be a crying shame, and Taylor spoke to that before this year’s event. He said, “That would certainly suck. I talked to a lot of guys that are on the PAC, a lot of people with the TOUR, I think the goal in mind is to have the best product possible.
“That’s the scenario that I’ve asked and questioned and what happens in that scenario or in that case. I guess time will tell.
“I wouldn’t love that certainly. I know there’s a lot of guys that maybe have their local events that that might be a possibility as well.
“So I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, but I think it would probably obviously lose the Open name of it because nobody can essentially earn their way into it or play into it.
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“So it’s unique for us, being a National Open. If you can’t play in it, that’s going to be a big bummer. But again, I think the goal is to make the best product possible. And I feel like I trust a lot of people that are doing it. When I heard of that, that’s definitely a down side, but again, I don’t think anything’s finalized.”
The Canadian Open would likely be in the top 20 events for PGA Tour fans, so the tour should work hard to keep it on the schedule. The fields are typically good, the fans are incredible and so is the golf course.
These are the types of events that make the tour special.
Brian Rolapp’s interest in big markets threatens the soul of the PGA Tour
When introducing the idea for the new PGA Tour schedule at The Players Championship, Rolapp said he wants to bring the PGA Tour to the biggest markets in the country, including places like New York and Chicago.
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This philosophy threatens the identity of the PGA Tour. The most successful events on the tour are those directly associated with their locations. TPC Sawgrass and Harbour Town Golf Links are in small markets, but the entire neighbourhood turns out in force to attend the event.
When The Players comes to town, all of Ponte Vedra Beach comes to Sawgrass to make for an incredible environment, and that’s something that can only be achieved in smaller markets.
When the PGA Tour came to Trump Doral in Miami, the event felt soulless. Formula One was in town, so the tour was the last thing on people’s minds. The issue with targeting big markets is that there’s too much competition.
So events like the Canadian Open, which always attracts fans, could suffer from Rolapp’s plans, and that would be a huge mistake.
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