The PGA Tour is overhauling its postseason beginning in 2028 by introducing a new match-play format that will culminate with a two-week Tour Championship at rotating, prestigious golf courses around the country.
The changes were announced as the PGA Tour finishes its 2026 season with the FedEx Cup playoffs, which have featured minimal drama heading into this week's Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta. The PGA Tour said on Tuesday, Aug. 25, it hopes this will be a "clearer and more consequential finish" when its new PGA Championship Series is scheduled to start.
"From the beginning, the goal of the Future Competition Committee was to create an easier-to-follow competitive model for our fans with greater consequence and a stronger season-long
narrative," PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said in a statement. "Throughout this process, we listened carefully to our fans, players and partners. One message came through clearly: the culmination of our season should be worthy of the journey it takes to get there. The result is a season-ending structure that rewards excellence over the course of the year while building toward a reimagined TOUR Championship. We are creating something different, something distinct within professional golf that can resonate far beyond it."
How the new Tour Championship will work
This new season-ending structure, which will start in conjunction with the launch of the PGA Tour's Championship Series featuring the best golfers in the world in 2028, will remain three weeks long. It begins with the PGA Championship Series Finale, the final stroke-play event on the schedule. The field features the top 90 players in the season-long points race, all of whom retain their cards for the following season.
At the end of the Championship Series Finale, the top 32 players in the season-long points race advance to the new Tour Championship. The Tour Championship will now be contested over two weeks and feature match play at different golf courses.
The first week will be a three-round group stage, with eight groups of four golfers. The top two golfers from each group advance to Week 2 of the Tour Championship. In the event of a tie at the end of group play, a playoff will determine who advances.
Week 2 of the Tour Championship will be a four-round, match-play competition with the 16 golfers who made it through the group stage. Players advance through the bracket based on their win-loss record, with the final two undefeated players facing one another to be crowned Tour champion. Golfers records across all four rounds will determine the final championship standings, according to the PGA Tour release.
The Tour Championship will rotate among prestigious venues from year-to-year. This will be the first time the PGA Tour's postseason will feature a match-play component.
The PGA Tour said eligibility for the PGA Championship Series will be announced following a Sept. 14 board meeting and it will unveil a full lineup of dates and venues for the 2028 debut of the PGA Championship Series on Feb. 27, 2027.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: PGA Tour announces Tour Championship overhaul for season-ending drama
