The PGA Tour made a ridiculous decision by scheduling two Signature Events before the second major championship of the year.
The whole point of Signature Events in the first place was to ensure that the PGA Tour‘s best players would compete against each other more regularly.
And now the PGA Tour are faced with the scenario of their two biggest stars – Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy – not playing alongside one another for three consecutive Signature Events.
The PGA Tour have made sweeping changes since Brian Rolapp’s appointment as CEO last year.
With the emphasis being on scarcity, there will be more high profile tournaments moving forward, but within a more condensed schedule.
However, the PGA Tour have royally messed up the 2026 schedule, and they have to learn from their mistakes moving forward.
PGA Tour only have themselves to blame after Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler decisions
McIlroy will not be playing in the Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral this week.
Meanwhile, Scheffler has not committed to the Truist Championship next week.
It’s a terrible look for the PGA Tour that by the time the PGA Championship rolls around, the last three Signature Events will not have had McIlroy and Scheffler in the fields at the same time.
And they only have themselves to blame.
Seriously, who thought that scheduling back-to-back Signature Events the week before the second major of the season was a good idea?
The best golfers in the world very rarely play more than two weeks in a row, and they certainly don’t before a major week.
Not having McIlroy in the field this week and Scheffler missing next week is far from ideal for the PGA Tour.
The sponsors of the Cadillac Championship will certainly not be happy that McIlroy is not in the field at Trump National Doral, and the same can be said regarding Scheffler’s omission from the Truist Championship.
How do the PGA Tour solve the issue?
The worrying thing for the PGA Tour is that they can’t force anyone to play in certain events.
Any punishment given to McIlroy or Scheffler would be self-defeating in the extreme.
They obviously can’t punish their biggest stars by banning them from further Signature Events, while fining them would be a futile exercise as well.
Perhaps the only power the PGA Tour really have would be to implement a rule whereby you are only eligible to win the FedEx Cup if you play in a minimum of six Signature Events throughout the season.
Would they even be able to legally bring that rule in, though? Golfers are independent contractors and they are under no obligation at all to play in certain events.
Unfortunately, the PGA Tour may just have to accept that the Signature Event model is one that doesn’t actually work.
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