The future of the PGA Tour is beginning to become a bit clearer.
In a report published Tuesday by Josh Carpenter with Sports Business Journal, several details were laid out about what changes might be made to the Tour’s schedule in the coming years. Sources told Carpenter that the “concept of a plan” was presented to players during a meeting two weeks ago at the Truist Championship.
A detailed view of a PGA Tour logo prior to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Pebble Beach Golf Links on January 31, 2024 in Pebble Beach, California.
The plan was consistent with what PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said during a press conference prior to the Players Championship in March: A two-tiered system, or, as Rolapp called them, “two tracks.” According to Carpenter’s sources, the new “first track” schedule would feature 16 elevated regular-season events, three playoff events and, of course, the four major tournaments, resulting in a total of 23 events for the year. Unlike the current model, which features eight signature events with fields consisting of 70-80 players, the 16 regular-season events on “track 1” would have 120-man fields.
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Along with the restructured schedule would come expansion into more major markets — something Rolapp said in March was a big priority for him as CEO. Sources told Carpenter the Tour is considering cities like Boston, Philadelphia, Denver, Nashville, San Francisco and Seattle as potential hosts.
As for “track 2,” Carpenter reports that those tournaments would feature around 140 players, but beyond that, the plan for those events remains unclear, as does their impact on existing developmental circuits like the Korn Ferry Tour or the PGA Tour Americas.
Brian Rolapp, CEO of the PGA Tour, speaks to the media prior to THE PLAYERS Championship 2026 at THE PLAYERS Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass on March 11, 2026 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Of course, all of this seems tentative, and sources emphasized the fact that these plans have not been finalized and could still change. Carpenter reported that the PGA Tour declined his request for comment.
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More player meetings are reportedly set to be held this week during the CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, and Rolapp is expected to address the media again at some point in the lead-up to the Travelers Championship, which runs June 25-28, following a PGA Tour board meeting scheduled for the same week.
As of May 19, the PGA Tour has 13 events scheduled for the 2027 season. Both Hawaii tournaments, which have served as a kickoff to the season for many years, are confirmed to be discontinued. Other than that, the Tour’s 2027 calendar looks quite similar to this season’s, but it still has a ways to go in filling out the schedule.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: PGA Tour informs players of tentative plan for new schedule, per report
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