Tiger Woods chaired the Future Competition Committee that helped shape the PGA Tour’s new two-tier competition model, which is set to start in 2028. | Photo Credit: AFP

Tiger Woods said the objective was to create the best version of the PGA Tour. The answer on Tuesday was a major shake-up to its model that effectively creates two tours, expanding the field for the elite tier and cutting prize money for the secondary tier by half.

The new system will start in 2028, and the Future Competition Committee, led by Woods, still has work left on key details. Chief among them is which of the roughly 15 tournaments will be part of the “Championship Series” and which 20 events will be on the lesser “Challenger Series”.

Other details involve bringing a form of match play to the postseason and creating a rotation of prestigious courses instead of going to East Lake in Atlanta every year.

“This work was never about any one player or person,” Woods said in his first public appearance since his arrest on DUI charges on March 27. “It was about bringing together different perspectives, having honest, hard conversations, and thinking boldly about what is best for the game that we all love.”

The PGA Tour boards approved the recommendations on Monday afternoon. Woods jumped back into his role as chairman in the last several weeks after returning from seeking treatment outside the country following his arrest.

“It’s great to see him back,” PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said. “Tiger has been involved throughout the process. He’s contributed meaningfully. It’s awesome to see him back and in great form.”

Rolapp preached “scarcity, simplicity and parity” when he took over last summer, and those pillars have become more clear. The season will be shorter, approximately from February to August with some scheduled weeks off, without taking away playing opportunities.

The $20 million signature events for 72 players will now be part of the Championship Series and expanded to an average of 120 players. Players will not be required to play them all, and those tournaments will not have sponsor invitations or an alternate list. There will be a 36-hole cut.

“When fans tune into the PGA Tour Championship Series, they know they will see the best players in the world competing head-to-head,” Rolapp said.

The Challenger Series will be a path for players to earn their way to the top level. Those fields will have about 144 players, and Rolapp said purses would be at least $4 million. This year, all but three regular non-signature events had prize funds of at least $9 million.

Except for about seven times during the season, the Championship and Challenger Series tournaments will be held in the same week. Rolapp said that when the elite circuit has a week off, the Challenger Series event would be elevated.

Rory McIlroy last week referred to the secondary tier as a “glorified Korn Ferry event”, referring to the tour’s developmental circuit.

“I just think there’s going to be certain events that might lose their status if a sponsor doesn’t pony up $30 million,” McIlroy said.

Rolapp said he spoke to McIlroy on Tuesday and added that the new model would serve the same players and offer a similar number of tournaments. Korn Ferry purses are $1 million.

“We’ve just organised the same tour into a much more interesting and competitive system,” Rolapp said. “If you look at the Challenger Series events, they’ll be at venues you recognise. They’ll be for healthy purses. They’ll include a subset of the same 200 and change players that we have today. That is much different than what the Korn Ferry Tour is today.”

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Each tour will have a separate points standings, and there is no plan for players to move up to the Championship Series during the season unless they win twice.

Championship Series eligibility will be determined by the top 90 players from the previous year, the top 20 from the Challenger Series and other exemption categories for tournament winners, injuries or career milestones.

Missing from the announcement was any mention of FedEx Corp., the financial muscle behind the PGA Tour’s postseason since it began in 2007. The most recent FedEx deal ends in 2027.

“Our hope is to create more value for FedEx and everybody else. We’re in an existing contract, and we’re going to honour that,” Rolapp said.

As for the fall, the PGA Tour is moving towards a separate series of four to six tournaments in which top performers can earn their way back to the Championship Series.

The tour said it still has plans for the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Americas and the PGA Tour University ranking system that creates places for top college players.

Finishing in August would give elite players time to consider playing overseas, such as premier European tour events or the Australian Open. The PGA Tour recently became partners with Golf Australia without co-sanctioning the century-old event.

Published on Jun 23, 2026