PGA Tour board meets Monday to approve future competition rules and regulations - Golfweek
There is an old saying that the devil is in the details.
That could very well apply to the recent work of the PGA Tour’s Future Competitions Committee, which had its competitive model approved by the Tour’s board in June – with player director Patrick Cantlay abstaining. Since then, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said, “our focus has shifted from evaluation and design to implementation.”
Ah, those nitty-gritty details, with their hidden complexities, traps or problems that are waiting in the small, specific parts as the Championship and Challenger Series begins to gain some definition of the promotion and relegation process.
On Monday, Sept. 14, members of both the PGA Tour Inc. board, the non-profit arm of the Tour’s business, which includes the likes of Tiger Woods and Adam Scott as well as PGA vice president Nathan Charnes in a non-voting role, and PGA Tour Enterprises, the for-profit arm which includes the likes of Arthur Blank and John Henry, are scheduled to meet via a virtual call to approve many of those details. [It depends on the item on which board votes, according to a Tour spokesman.] The goal is to give players a clear picture of what is at stake next season in pursuit of status on the Championship and Challenger Series in 2028 and beyond.
“The key element is how are we going to relegate and how are we going to promote?” Tom Watson told Golfweek in an interview at the British Open in July. “If it is going to remain as close to a meritocracy as it needs to be, they need to be very careful how they relegate and promote the players from two different tours. The other thing I don’t know about is status. What kind of status do you get and what kind of levels of status qualify you for the championship tour? Is it just from the previous year’s points list? Is that it? Do you get status for being a major winner or does that (five-year exempt) status go away? That’s a question that needs to be asked.”
The answer to those questions and the pertinent details should be revealed to players on Monday night via an internal memo.
“I think all eligibility matters when it comes to both tracks, we're working hard on it as we speak, and we'll have it sorted most likely by the September board meeting,” Rolapp said last month in his press conference at the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Rolapp also is scheduled to meet with members of the media on Tuesday morning to provide a FCC update regarding competition-related items coming out of Monday's board meeting. Chief Competitions Officer Tyler Dennis and Kirsten Burgess, senior vice president of competitions, will also partake in the virtual press conference.
There's a lot of ground to cover, including a decision on whether the No. 1-ranked player in PGA Tour U will be granted status on the Championship or Challenger Series.
It’s unclear whether Rolapp will address the longstanding rule that requires regular Tour members to play in at least 15 events each season to maintain their full playing privileges. Rory McIlroy came up one short but the commissioner is granted discretion on this matter.
“I think we are questioning looking at it. It's a rule that applies just to dual members. It's questionable if it even has a place in our new competitive model,” Rolapp said in Atlanta. “I think it's one of many rules and regulations we will look at as we change the competitive model.”
There are many layers to be determined and each change can impact something else. Rolapp previously noted that it will be a two-tiered process with another round of approvals likely to be voted on at the Nov. 16 board meeting, the last one of the year. Rolapp said the Tour plans to unveil the full 2028 schedules on Feb. 22, 2027, which should include the schedule of the Fall International Series.
