The PGA Tour is preparing for major changes to its playoffs.
First reported by Sports Business Journal, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp will unveil the new postseason format on Tuesday morning at East Lake Golf Club ahead of this week’s Tour Championship. The new-look playoffs, which would begin in 2028, will be contested over three weeks at rotating venues with the final two weeks using a match-play format.
Currently, the FedExCup Playoffs are contested over three weeks, with fields of 70, 50 and finally 30 players competing in traditional stroke play to determine the FedExCup champion. Starting in 2028, though, the top 90 players in season-long points will qualify for the first postseason tournament, dubbed the Championship Series Finale, which will be standard, 72-hole stroke play.
Note that season-long points won’t reset before the 90-player series finale, and the top 32 players in points after that event will advance to a two-week, match-play competition, the new Tour Championship, which resembles international soccer’s World Cup. The first week will feature group play with eight, four-player groups. The top two players from each group, 16 total, will then move on to the second week at a different course, where the format will shift to a knockout bracket. Ties for group stage will be broken using sudden-death playoffs.
It’s unclear how players will be seeded in the 16-player bracket, though it appears there will be a consolation bracket to help determine the final playoff standings based on players’ win-loss records.
SBJ noted that Los Angeles Country Club, Interlachen Country Club in Minnesota and Sleepy Hollow Country Club in New York are among the early possibilities to host these playoff events.
Check back for more details after Rolapp speaks.
Leave a Comment