The introduction of relegation is arguably the most significant change that the PGA Tour is set to make from the 2028 season.
Brian Rolapp provided further updates on how the PGA Tour is expected to look in the years to come ahead of the Travelers Championship.
What do you make of the planned changes to the PGA Tour?
What do you like? What concerns you about the changes?
The tour is set to be split into a Championship and Challenger Series, with promotion and relegation set to be used to move players between the two tiers.
Anyone who loves English football will appreciate how exciting a step this could be. Some of the most enthralling storylines each year centre around the teams fighting to stay in the Premier League, or dreaming of getting there from the Championship.
But the PGA Tour must avoid repeating a mistake that LIV Golf has previously made.
LIV Golf took too long to get relegation right
One of LIV’s biggest selling points should have been relegation from the league each year. Initially, it was possible that one of the league’s biggest names, a Bryson DeChambeau or a Dustin Johnson, could have such a terrible year that they lose their place on LIV.
Obviously, the strength in depth on LIV was always going to ensure that did not happen. But there could have been real jeopardy when you consider that many of those star names burnt their bridges with the PGA Tour.
Unfortunately, LIV took several years to enforce relegation properly.
Captains were previously exempt from being kicked out, before they could then make a business case to the league – whatever that means.
That allowed Bubba Watson to retain his spot ahead of 2025.
But everything became farcical when Branden Grace was also relegated in 2024.
Grace was not the captain of Stinger GC. So when he lost his place, he entered the field for the Promotions Event hoping to gain it back.
When LIV kicked off their 2025 season in Riyadh, Grace was in the field. So had he earned his place through the Promotions Event?
No.
No, despite missing out on earning a spot, Grace was retained by Stinger. Even more incredibly, Louis Oosthuizen confirmed that Grace was the only player he spoke to about completing the team.
It certainly made a mockery of the system.
Thankfully, LIV were much more brutal at the end of 2025. Henrik Stenson and Anthony Kim were the biggest names to be relegated, with Kim subsequently earning his place back.
But with doubts over the league’s future, it is hard to imagine that relegation is going to be properly enforced at the end of this season.
The PGA Tour only need to look at Anthony Kim to realise how important it is that they are ruthless when it comes to relegation when it is introduced in 2028.
The PGA Tour enforcing relegation properly will create interest in the Challenger Series
What made Kim’s victory in Australia earlier this year all the more remarkable was the fact that he had been relegated and then earned his place back on the league.
He was not given a handout. His game improved dramatically as the 2025 season edged towards a conclusion. Nevertheless, few could have ever imagined that he would go on and win, particularly as he started the final round in Adelaide well adrift of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.
The PGA Tour has previously tried to suggest that futures are on the line in the Fall. However, those who finished outside the top 100 last year have still been able to make plenty of starts in 2026.
It is imperative that the PGA Tour map out exactly what it takes to get promoted or end up relegated. And it needs to be incredibly simple.
That is where LIV went wrong for a number of years. And that is how the PGA Tour will get casual fans to care more about the Challenger Series, as well as the Championship Series.
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