PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has some bold plans for the tour’s schedule in the future.
The former NFL executive plans to completely revamp the PGA Tour schedule, getting rid of the Signature Event format, which has been widely criticised. Rolapp plans to introduce a brand-new format for 2028.
Rolapp wants to split the PGA Tour into two “tracks”. The first track would be 23 elevated events, with 16 regular-season tournaments, three FedEx Cup Playoff events and the four major championships.
Currently, regular-season signature events have fields of 70 to 80 players and only three of the nine have a 36-hole cut. However, that is expected to change under Rolapp’s vision, increasing to 120-man fields.
But Rolapp also wants to introduce promotion and relegation from the first to the second track. In theory, any player on the first track could be relegated to the second, playing for less money on less prestigious golf courses.
The big question is, will the biggest stars in the sport be willing to accept playing on the second track if they were to be relegated? Would a player like Jordan Spieth, for example, grit his teeth and fight for promotion? Well, Brooks Koepka and Aaron Rai’s recent actions suggest that yes, these players would.
Brooks Koepka and Aaron Rai prove the new PGA Tour schedule would work
As part of the deal Koepka agreed to which saw him return to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf, he cannot receive sponsor exemptions for Signature Events. That means he must earn his way into these events with his play at smaller tournaments.
Koepka’s attitude towards this situation has been first class. He was a first alternate at the RBC Heritage and waited patiently to see if he would get a place in the field. Nobody withdrew, so Koepka didn’t get to play.
He then didn’t have a place in the field at Quail Hollow for the Truist Championship, so instead Koepka played in the Myrtle Beach Classic, a smaller event. And he wasn’t the only one.
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Rai, who won the PGA Championship the following week, also didn’t have a place at the Truist, so he played at Myrtle Beach, too.
He proved at Aronimink that he is talented enough to compete with the best in the game, but the Englishman accepted that he hadn’t earned his way into the field at Quail Hollow, so played in this alternate event.
Both Koepka and Rai proved that irrespective of their star power and talent, they’re willing to play golf wherever they can. So if they were relegated from the first track in Rolapp’s new format, they’d also surely be willing to fight for promotion on the second track.
That’s a great sign for Rolapp.
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