Much of the talk at this stage of the PGA Tour season has centred around the futures of both the CJ CUP Byron Nelson and the Charles Schwab Challenge.
The 2028 PGA Tour schedule is looking set to be drastically different, with Brian Rolapp keen to introduce two tracks of tournaments.
Track one will involve all of the best players, with all of the tournaments seemingly set to be considered signature events. The hope is that they will be able to get all of the marquee names playing consistently.
Meanwhile, track two tournaments will likely look much more like a current opposite field event. They will lack star power, with players trying to earn their seat at the game’s top table.
With neither the CJ CUP Byron Nelson nor the Charles Schwab Challenge currently a signature event, it looks highly unlikely that both will be promoted for 2028.
If it is the case that the PGA Tour does decide to elevate one, then surely it is now a no-brainer for the latter to get the nod.
Colonial has been a breath of fresh air after another birdie fest at TPC Craig Ranch
The CJ CUP Byron Nelson becoming a track two event could put the PGA Tour in a tricky position, with top players reportedly set to be strongly discouraged from dropping down.
Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth have deep connections with the event. They are likely to want to continue playing at TPC Craig Ranch whatever happens.
However, the event has failed to capture the imagination in each of the last two years, with Scheffler and Wyndham Clark winning on 31 and 30 under par respectively.
An expensive renovation ahead of this year’s event did not manage to create a lot more excitement.
They were somewhat unlucky with the weather ensuring that the golf course was so soft, but the design did not help limit the impact that the rain in the days before the event had on the tournament.
The Charles Schwab Challenge, meanwhile, has provided a much more thorough test. Eric Cole goes into the final round in the lead on 12 under par. Everyone inside the top 18 is within five shots.
Had Cole played the previous week and been on exactly the same score after two rounds – five under par – he would have missed the cut.
And speaking on CBS Sports after the third round, Trevor Immelman was full of praise for the set-up at Colonial.
“Earlier in the week, after all the rain they’ve had over the last 10 days or so, things were soft. And when the greens are receptive, then it doesn’t put so much of a premium on accuracy off of the tee. But now as things have started to firm up, now you rarely need to hit these fairways because you do not want to be coming from this juicy Bermuda rough. I mean, it is a real problem for them from a distance control standpoint,” he said.
“Yeah, the golf course, it’s always been a great classic. There’s enough dog-legs to keep guys on their toes. There’s enough trees to where if you’re on the wrong side of the fairway, you can be blocked out to a hole location that’s tucked.
“It’s just a masterpiece. It always has been, and I think Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, when they went ahead and redesigned, or shall I say, refreshed the golf course a couple of years ago, they really, really did a marvellous job of keeping the character of the Colonial that all the greats have loved to play over the years.”
The Charles Schwab Challenge should be a signature event on the PGA Tour from 2028
Colonial is the venue with so much history attached to it. Ben Hogan won the event five times, while the likes of Lee Trevino, Ben Crenshaw, and Phil Mickelson are among the two-time champions.
The lowest winning score at the event, meanwhile, is 21 under par. That record is almost certainly not going to be broken this week.
It would be a real shame if the PGA Tour looked at these two tournaments and decided that TPC Craig Ranch was the venue worthy of signature event status.
Yes, there is a place on the schedule for golf courses that provide an almost endless amount of birdie opportunities.
But at a stage of the season where players are stepping up their preparations for the US Open, Colonial seems like an ideal stop for the PGA Tour’s best.
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