Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The PGA Tour season from 2028 will culminate in a new matchplay tournament that pits the world’s top golfers against one another across two weeks, chief executive officer Brian Rolapp announced Tuesday. The latest in a series of major changes to golf’s calendar intended to boost the sport’s popularity, the new finale will feature 32 players based on final season-long standings.
Week one will feature a “group stage” in which eight groups of four players will battle it out head-to-head, with the top two from each group progressing. The following week, at a different venue, the 16 remaining players will clash knock-out style, with the only undefeated player left after four rounds crowned as the Tour Championship winner. “It’s matchplay over two weeks, an opportunity to make this an extended moment that commands the attention of golf and sports fans,” said Rolapp.
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The re-imagined finale will be “one of the most difficult tournaments to qualify for and win, testing the world’s best golfers in a different way, in a unique competitive format,” he said. Matchplay is the format currently used in popular tournaments like the Ryder Cup, but has not been used previously in the PGA Tour’s post-season. Currently, the PGA season concludes with a series of three strokeplay playoff tournaments, each narrowing the field down until 30 remain for the Tour Championship — which takes place this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia.
The announcement was immediately welcomed by Tiger Woods, who chaired the committee working on the reforms. “The conclusion of the season should be worthy of the journey it takes to get there. Today’s announcement is a result of the hard work and passion of our players,” posted Woods on social media. “Excited to usher in a new era of match play on the @PGATOUR.”
Six-time Major winner Rory McIlroy offered more measured praise. “It’s certainly different. Two weeks, two different venues. But it’s cool,” McIlroy told a press conference Tuesday. “I think they’ve taken a big swing, and conceptually, I think I really like it.”
Under Rolapp’s new plans, a season-long strokeplay winner will still be recognized at the regular-season PGA TOUR Championship Series finale — “essentially identifying the best player in the world” — before the matchplay tournaments begin. McIlroy said it was important that “the regular season champion is going to be adequately rewarded after that final stroke-play event, and then the TOUR Championship match play is going to be completely different.”
He also noted that, with all 16 golfers playing all four rounds of the final matchplay weekend, motivation may be difficult for those who have been eliminated early. “It’s going to be hard for some guys to be playing matchplay and playing for 14th position or whatever it is,” he said. He added: “But I think it’s sort of a departure from what we’ve had the last few years, but I do think it’ll be a great thing.”
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