PGA Tour Announces Major Changes: New Format Explained for 2028

The PGA tour is changing the way professional golf works.

A new competitive model is coming that will split players into two different levels of competition creating a system with promotion, relegation (think professional soccer), and a bigger focus on the best players competing against each other.

Here's everything you need to know.

The PGA Tour Is Becoming Two Different Levels

The biggest change is the creation of two series:

Championship Series

This will feature the top level of PGA Tour competition, 120 man fields

• More elite fields - best players in the world

• Bigger prize purses - tournament prize pools of at least $20 million (winner's share 18%)

• More meaningful tournaments

Think of it as the "Major League" version of the PGA Tour.

*NO SPONSORS EXEMPTIONS TO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES EVENTS

Challenger Series

The Challenger Series will give more players a path to compete and prove they belong at the highest level.

These events will have 144 player fields.

Players will have the opportunity to earn their way up through performance .

How to get Promoted:

• Minimum of 20 players from the points list at the end of each season will be promoted to the PGA Tour Championship Series for the following year

• "Last Chance" series being held in the Fall

• Winning multiple PGA Tour challenger series events in the same season

• Winning a major championship

Promotion and Relegation Comes to Golf

One of the biggest changes is the introduction of a promotion and relegation system.

Instead of players having a guaranteed spot year after year, performance will matter even more.

Play well -> move up

Struggle -> risk moving down

Players now have to fight to stay in the top division.

What does this mean for the fans?

More elite matchups

More pressure on players

More reasons to watch tournaments outside of the biggest events

The Future of Professional Golf

This is a lot of change coming in 1.5 years. It will be very interesting to see how the plays out but at the very least it should be good for the game at the professional level and give the fans more reasons to tune and develop some favorites they will like to root for event after event.

It is good to see senior leadership trying to make quality changes and not stay stagnant. You would be hard pressed to not think LIV had anything to do with these rapid changes to the core ecosystem of professional golf.

What do you think, is this good for golf?