The Skins Game has just shown the PGA Tour the change they urgently need to make for the 2026 season

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The Skins Game returned to our TV screens on Friday after its 17-year hiatus from the schedule.

American duo Keegan Bradley and Xander Schauffele were accompanied by Europeans Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood at Panther National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, the day after Thanksgiving for the 27th edition of The Skins Game.

The first ever Skins Game took place in 1983, with Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson competing for the pot of gold.

With so much intense competition throughout the year on the PGA Tour, The Skins Game has provided a nice respite from that, with the more relaxed approach being a big hit amongst golf fans the world over.

Perhaps now the PGA Tour can learn from the way that golf fans received The Skins Game on Friday.

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp is determined to make big changes, and he has now been given the blueprint for success moving forward.

The PGA Tour must make a change in 2026 after The Skins Game success

One of Rolapp’s main ambitions is to modernize the PGA Tour by making the tournaments, and indeed the players, more accessible to the everyday fan.

And after the success of the Skins Game in Florida, the PGA Tour now have an easy decision to make ahead of the 2026 season.

One thing that was clear to see on social media throughout the day was that golf fans were absolutely loving listening to the mic’d up players out on the golf course.

Moving forward, the PGA Tour absolutely have to hold at least one tournament per season in which a selection of the best golfers in the world are mic’d up throughout their rounds.

Back in January, Justin Thomas said PGA Tour players must be more accessible to fans, just like athletes are in other sports.

Thomas wrote an open letter to the PGA Tour suggesting that golf fans deserve more real-time insight from the players.

What better way to provide them with exactly that than to have players like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy mic’d up during one or two of their rounds?

There may well be some resistance to this idea from certain players, though.

Most PGA Tour players excel when they are ‘in the zone’ so to speak, and being mic’d up could well detract from them being fully concentrated on their game.

Whether the powers that be at the PGA Tour would even consider mic’ing up some of their stars during tournament play remains to be seen.

However, after the success of The Skins Game, it would certainly add another level of excitement for the fans.

Why Jack Nicklaus wouldn’t like PGA Tour mic’ing players up

Jack Nicklaus is a traditionalist by nature, so it would be no surprise at all if he wasn’t keen on players being mic’d up during PGA Tour events.

Six months ago at The Memorial Tournament, the 18-time major champion made it very clear what he thinks of on-course interviews.

“I can’t stand that, the interview on the golf course,” Nicklaus vented.

“Let me tell you how I think, how I feel…I mean, seriously, here’s a guy, leading the golf tournament, he’s just hit the edge of the rough, he’s got a very difficult shot on a very difficult hole, and you’re talking to him about stuff that totally takes his mind off of what he was doing.

“How do you think Hogan would respond to that question? You would not have any teeth left if you did…He’d hit you right in the face with it.”

Nicklaus made a fair point back in June. However, the PGA Tour is nothing without their fans.

So it will be interesting to see whether Rolapp and co learn from how the fans reacted to The Skins Game on Friday.