PGA Tour slammed by fans as legendary venue could be dropped in controversial schedule change

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The PGA Tour is reportedly considering sweeping changes to its schedule, putting a legendary course at risk of losing its place on the tour.

Harris English recently revealed that the PGA Tour was considering shortening its schedule to around 20 events of equal value, getting rid of signature events, and starting its season after the Super Bowl.

Some more details on these changes have recently been reported, which include “bye” weeks after majors, the elimination of Torrey Pines and part of the West Coast swing, and a number of events in Florida and Texas. Instead, tournaments will be hosted in larger cities, such as New York, as the Ryder Cup was. 

CEO Brian Rolapp said he wasn’t bound by tradition when he was appointed, and this is clear evidence of that. But these reported changes have angered fans, who have pointed out some key problems with Rolapp’s plan. 

Fans slam PGA Tour for reported schedule changes

The potential elimination of Torrey Pines and the West Coast swing has angered fans, who clearly hold this historic venue close to their heart. The West Coast events, starting in Hawaii, have traditionally marked the start of the season, and fans don’t want that to change.

One fan posted to X, “Streamlining the schedule might not be a bad idea, but losing iconic courses like Torrey Pines feels like a big miss. Tradition matters in golf.”

After the fan behavior in New York soured the Ryder Cup, one fan noted that it would be a mistake to hold more events in major cities. 

They added, “Why would you EVER ‘drop’ Torrey Pines? It’s a mistake to NOT have a PGA event on television EVERY week .. DROP tournaments at your own peril. And, asking for a friend, how did that BIG TOURNAMENT in NYC go in 9/25 .. probably smooth with no crowd issues, right?”

This season, the PGA Tour reduced the number of fully exempt players to 100, down from 125, leading to an emotional outburst from Justin Lower, who finished the season outside the top 100 and lost his fully exempt card.

And having fewer events means it will be even harder for players further down the ranking to earn enough points to retain their card, and fans expressed their sympathies for them.

One fan said, “It is hard to plan a career when the goal posts move all around and stability is out the window because of it. Who will have a job? No one knows. It is the end of November and Americas Tour hasn’t posted a schedule, how many events members play, zero. A new tour would be great.”

Another added, “Probably can’t retain enough sponsors plus the top players have too much influence. Bad deal for the young players that need tournaments to break though. Save for a few, players go through ups and downs in the their careers. Locking in a few in not ideal for golf.”

Rolapp joined the PGA Tour from the NFL, and his former role clearly inspired these changes. The NFL has a 17-game season, emphasising urgency. They make every game matter, which means their biggest stars play every game.

Getting stars to play in every event has been a problem for a number of years on the PGA Tour, and they hope that with these changes, players like Rory McIlroy will be incentivised to play week-in, week-out. But fans had mixed opinions on these plans. 

One said, “Now they’re getting it. NFL the heck out of the tour. Make every event matter.”

Another was more sceptical, adding: “The problem with this entire theory of the NFL thriving because of scarcity is the NFL has pretty consistently expanded its schedule. The bigger issue for the PGA Tour isn’t scarcity. It’s events with no star power because players are unwilling to play as much as other athletes.”

PGA Tour changes are to favour the casual fan

In truth, those complaining are not the target audience for these changes. As LIV Golf struggles to provide a viable alternative to the PGA Tour, it is banking on these hardcore fans tuning into every event, no matter how much they disagree with these changes. 

But Rolapp wants to grow the game beyond its core fan base, and to do so, it has to be realistic about how casual fans operate. Moving the schedule away from the NFL and doing everything to ensure that their stars are playing every week is all about grabbing the attention of the everyday sports fan.

Golf traditionalists may well have tuned into the WM Phoenix Open instead of the Super Bowl this year. But the average fan? Unlikely. They tune into golf at the major championships, or when they know they can watch McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler duel it out down the stretch. 

Rolapp’s task is to get those fans to tune in as often as possible. How does he do that? By making a more streamlined product that is easier to follow, by getting big names on the posters of these events, and by making sure the PGA Tour is the biggest sporting event taking place that weekend. 

Unfortunately for the likes of Lower, the average fan does not care about those fighting for their cards. They care about those competing for wins every week.

The PGA Tour knows that it has its core fan base in its pocket. Everything they do from now on will be to bring in the rest of the sporting world.