PGA Tour to Split into Two Series Starting in 2028, Introduces Relegation System

The PGA Tour has announced a new operational plan starting from the 2028 season, which includes splitting tournaments into upper and lower tiers and introducing a relegation system.

The PGA Tour announced on its website today (June 24) that its board of directors held a meeting and approved the 2028 season tournament format proposed by the Future Competitions Committee.

According to this plan, PGA Tour events will be divided into the Championship Series, featuring top-ranked players, and the Challenger Series, for lower-ranked players.

The Championship Series will run from February to August and consist of 23 to 24 tournaments, including The Players Championship, the four major championships, and international team competitions (Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup).

Each tournament will feature a field of approximately 120 players, with a minimum total prize purse of $20 million, and will not include alternate lists or sponsor exemptions.

The Challenger Series will be held concurrently with the Championship Series, with some exceptions, and will feature approximately 144 players.

While the top 90 or so players in the Championship Series will be guaranteed tour cards for the following season, those who fail to qualify will be relegated to the Challenger Series.

Conversely, 20 players from the Challenger Series will advance to the Championship Series for the following season.

The board also elected Brian Rolapp, the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the PGA Tour, to succeed Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour Commissioner whose term ends at the end of this year.

As a result, Rolapp will hold both the positions of Commissioner and CEO starting in 2027.

(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.