We’re a week away from the next Signature Event on the PGA Tour schedule, and the list of star players not teeing off at Trump Doral is eyebrow-raising.
Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele, Robert MacIntyre, and Ludvig Aberg are among the players in the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings who are not playing at The Cadillac Championship.
This is one of the premier events on the PGA Tour schedule as it returns to Trump Doral for the first time since 2016, but its stars have said they are not interested in the $20 million purse.
But that’s largely because of the schedule this year, and Justin Thomas said as much before the RBC Heritage.
Justin Thomas’ complaints about the PGA Tour schedule proven right
We are in the midst of a jam-packed stretch of Signature Events between The Masters and the PGA Championship. In the four weeks between the majors, we have the RBC Heritage, the Cadillac Championship, and the Truist Championship.
It’s a breathless run of golf, and it comes after having no Signatures in the three weeks between The Players and The Masters, a strangely low-stakes series of events before the year’s first major.
Thomas was critical of this stretch before he played the RBC Heritage, and it could explain why so many players are sitting out Doral.
Would you like to see more team events played on the PGA Tour?
Matt Fitzpatrick has backed the idea ahead of the Zurich Classic
He said, “It’s tough. I mean, it’s not how I would prefer to draw it up, I would say.
I think especially when it comes to majors, because majors are — the season is important. Obviously, it’s very important for your FedExCup standing, how your season is going, getting into events, not in events, whatever it may be.
“But majors are kind of what guys will generally build their schedule off of, in a sense, of what they need to do to prepare for a major, and it’s also how kind of your legacy in the game is remembered for a lot of people.
“Going to very difficult courses into a major I don’t think is probably how it would be drawn up for a lot of guys, but it’s one of those things that it’s obviously — we’ve had some changes and probably will continue to see some in the next, I don’t know, couple years until it gets — it’ll never be perfect, but at least something that’s maybe a little more ideal for guys in their eyes.”
If Thomas’ words weren’t a wakeup call for the PGA Tour, then their field for the Cadillac Championship certainly should be.
Cadillac Championship field shows Brian Rolapp’s new schedule is much-needed
It’s not like the PGA Tour is unaware of this issue. CEO Brian Rolapp has announced his plans to revamp the season schedule in the near future.
He wants to get rid of the Signature Event model and instead shorten the season to around 20 events, all of equal value. That way, players are encouraged to play in more events, while also being given more time to rest in between.
This would solve this specific issue. Instead of feeling that they need to play in three of the four weeks before the PGA Championship out of fear of missing the Signature Events, players would be able to dictate their own schedule more easily.
But it doesn’t look like this will be introduced next season, so hopefully the tour can make some tweaks to their 2027 schedule in the meantime.
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