The PGA Tour is set for the biggest change in its history from the 2028 season.
While the addition of Signature Events went some way to creating a two-tier tour, whereby the top players compete in eight Signature Events, four majors, The Players, potentially three play-off events and then two or three others throughout the year, the 2028 year will officially create two separate tracks on the PGA Tour.
The top 120 players will compete on the PGA Tour Championship Series throughout the season, with fields of 144 competing in PGA Tour Challenger Series events with the goal of earning promotion to the Championship Series.
At the end of the Championship Series is where we will see the most significant changes.
Ever since its abolition in 2023, fans have clamoured for the return of a match play event, and the format will return to the PGA Tour in 2028.
At the end of the Championship Series, the top 90 players in the season-long standings will retain their status for next season and play in the PGA Tour Championship Season Finale. After that, the top 32 players from the season-long standings will move on to the new Tour Championship.
Split into eight groups of four, the 32 players will face each other once, playing three matches in three days, with the top two in each group progressing to the knockout stage.
The following week, at a new venue, those 16 players will go head to head in a straight shootout over four days, with the winner crowned after Sunday's final.
While the fans' desire to reintroduce match play to the PGA Tour season was no doubt a factor in its return, the format does allow different venues, not currently on the PGA Tour rotation, to be introduced, owing to smaller crowds and the lessened requirement to find a venue suitable of hosting 156-player events.
