New York (AFP) – World number one Scottie Scheffler says he’s still digesting the radical overhaul planned for the PGA Tour but believes elite golf in the United States is “heading in the right direction.”
“I think we’re moving in the right direction for sure,” Scheffler said Wednesday as he prepared for Thursday’s start of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, the last of the 2026 season’s elite signature events. On Tuesday, PGA Tour chief executive Brian Rolapp unveiled details of the revamped competition model to launch in 2028, with a two-tier system featuring a PGA Tour Championship Series of about 23 events, including majors. A second tier of at least 20 events, the PGA Tour Challenger Series, will run alongside, giving golfers a chance to secure a pathway to the elite circuit.
Related news
“I think what people want is to get the best players playing together more often,” Scheffler said, adding that he wasn’t sure the current signature events, like the Travelers, with fields of 72 and no halfway cut — had hit the mark in the tour’s bid to get the game’s best competing more often. “I’m not sure if the smaller fields were a huge fan favorite,” Scheffler said. “So getting fields back to 120-man fields, getting a cut back — I think it’s good changes. I think the competition will get better,” he said. “I think when you look at larger fields it will be much harder to win tournaments.”
Eight of the world’s top-10 players will tee it up this week at TPC River Highlands, including newly crowned US Open champion Wyndham Clark. Scheffler, who played in the final group with Clark on Sunday at Shinnecock, but settled for a share of fourth place. He noted that River Highlands, known for producing birdies and already softened this week by rain, would offer a far different challenge to the one golfers faced at Shinnecock. “This golf course is interesting in a sense of you hit some different clubs off the tee, there’s some strategy involved, but you’ve got to show up and make birdies,” he said.
Last year, Keegan Bradley conjured a dramatic last hole birdie to snatch victory from Tommy Fleetwood, who bogeyed the 72nd hole. Despite the disappointment, England’s Fleetwood said his play that week was a springboard to a late-season surge. “It was the start of what was an amazingly strong finish to the season for me,” Fleetwood said.
© 2024 AFP
