08/25/26 12:40:00
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08/25 12:39 CDT PGA Tour moving to match play for two-week Tour Championship at
two courses
PGA Tour moving to match play for two-week Tour Championship at two courses
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
ATLANTA (AP) --- The PGA Tour is reshaping its postseason for 2028 by ending
the year with a Tour Championship played over two weeks at different golf
courses involving match play.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp announced the changes Tuesday before the Tour
Championship, which has been 72 holes of stroke play for the top 30 players
since it began in 1987. Under the current format, whoever wins the tournament
is declared the FedEx Cup champion and earns $10 million in official money from
the $40 million purse.
Starting in 2028, the BMW Championship --- to be held that year at Olympia
Fields near Chicago --- will be for the leading 90 players on the points list.
Points from the season continue, and the No. 1 player will be the season
champion with bonus money paid out accordingly.
The top 32 after the BMW Championship will be broken into eight groups of
four-player pools for the first week of the Tour Championship. The leading two
players from each pool advance to the final week, which will be match play over
four days. Even players eliminated early will play through Sunday to determine
final positions.
"This sets the stage for a reimagined Tour Championship, a separate,
stand-alone competition that will emerge as one of the most difficult
tournaments to qualify for and win," Rolapp said. "It's match play over two
weeks, an opportunity to make this an extended moment that commands the
attention of golf and sports fans."
Key details, such as where the final two weeks will be played and how much
money will be at stake, have not been announced. The Future Competition
Committee is still working on those details, along with the rest of the 2028
schedule overhaul.
Two people with knowledge of the discussions said Sleepy Hollow in New York,
Interlachen Golf Club outside Minneapolis and Los Angeles Country Club, which
held the 2023 U.S. Open, are under consideration. They spoke to The Associated
Press on condition of anonymity because nothing has been finalized.
"This new format creates an exciting opportunity to showcase some of the most
renowned venues in our sport, including places the modern tour has never been
before," Rolapp said.
As for the money, Rolapp said he hoped to have that sorted out by November.
Scottie Scheffler earned $23 million from about $100 million in a bonus pool
for leading the points list. The $40 million for the Tour Championship is
additional --- and official money --- for the top 30.
"I think there's an open question how we will allocate that in a new
competitive model," Rolapp said.
The Tour Championship first came to East Lake in Atlanta in 1998 and has been
there every year since 2024. Rolapp said it would still be part of the
rotation, suggesting the venues would change annually. Currently, the BMW
Championship is the only postseason event that moves around.
Under the new format, that means the BMW Championship will offer three trophies
--- one for the BMW Championship, one for the Western Golf Association that has
run the tournament for 126 years and the PGA Tour Championship Series Finale.
The first week of the Tour Championship will have no trophy at all. That's all
about being among the 16 players who advance to the final event.
Also undecided is whether a corporate title sponsor will be involved. FedEx
took over in 2007 when the PGA Tour attempted a postseason for a clear finish
to a golf season that for decades had been defined by the four majors.
The format has changed five times since 2007 in an attempt to define a season
champion without taking away from whoever played the best golf that year.
This will be the first time match play, the most fickle format in golf, will be
used in the postseason. Match play was last used on the PGA Tour in 2023, a
separate World Golf Championship. One of the concerns was the television
product having only two players the last day.
In the 2028 format, everyone plays all four days, with other matches deciding
final positions. The winner will be the only player who didn't lose a match.
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