Big changes are incoming on the PGA Tour from the start of the 2028 season.
Brian Rolapp announced his plan to really shake things up on the PGA Tour on Tuesday this week at TPC River Highlands.
The inception of LIV Golf back in 2022 clearly forced the PGA Tour into action, but the Signature Event model simply hasn’t worked.
It has often been the case where the best players in the world don’t actually play together in all of the PGA Tour Signature Events, and now Brian Rolapp has made a big change in the hope of addressing that issue.
The key feature of Brian Rolapp’s plan is two separate series on the PGA Tour, with the possibility of players moving between each tier.
There will be 23-24 Championship Series events featuring fields of around 120 players with halfway cuts and boasting $20 million purses.
Meanwhile, there will be 20 Challenger Series events which will run concurrently alongside the Championship Series tournaments.
Promotion from the Challenger Series to the Championship Series will be possible, while players face the danger of getting relegated down from the top tier to the second tier.
Rolapp’s plan has been met by almost unanimous excitement, with genuine jeopardy soon to be implemented on the PGA Tour. However, Rich Beem has highlighted a potential problem.
Rich Beem warns Brian Rolapp against making ‘disgraceful’ PGA Tour decision
Beem was speaking during Sky Sports’ broadcast of the Travelers Championship, and made it very clear that Rolapp cannot afford not to include the Canadian Open in the Championship Series.
“Well, it’s going to be so clear cut and dry that you’ll know exactly where you stand at any given moment,“ Beem explained.
“I think that the meritocracy of it, I like the fact that there will be no sponsors’ invites, and there’s no Monday qualifying for any Championship Series events. If you’re in, you’re in. If you don’t want to play, that’s fine, they’ll just take you out.
“Although it remains to be seen, because, again, in some markets, we know like Scottie Scheffler, he loves to play in Dallas.
“The CJ CUP, that is on the outside looking in, or historically has been, how is that going to change?
“Is the Tour going to take the Canadian Open and make it one of their top tier events?
“I’d be surprised if they didn’t, because I think there are too many Canadians that are going to be inside the top 120, and for them not to have an opportunity to play for their national championship, I think that’d be disgraceful. I really do. I think that’d be a very bad move for the Tour.“
Rich Beem insists no sponsors’ exemptions is ‘worth its weight in gold’
The 2002 PGA Championship winner went on to explain why he believes having no sponsors’ invites will be a great thing for the PGA Tour.
“So, again, they’ve already got 10 out of the 15 slots picked.
“They’re just working on a couple different markets right now. But I think it’s everything being merit-based,“ Beem said.
“I think the one thing right now is that what we’re going to lose is the fact that some of the sponsors’ invites are not going to go to all the popular players.
“There is no sponsors’ exemptions. Either you’re in or you’re out, and I think that alone is worth its weight in gold.“
The PGA Tour will be returning to their meritocratic roots from the start of the 2028 season onwards, and that can only be a good thing.
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