Spain is included in the plans for the global series that the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour are considering launching from 2028. An ambitious project that aims to build a truly international schedule, bring the leading figures to different continents and fill the wide competitive space that the new structure of the United States circuit will leave between September and January.
According to James Corrigan in The Daily Telegraph, talks between the two organisations are already underway and envisage the creation of a series still without an official name, with an approximate maximum of nine tournaments spread between autumn and the start of the following year.
The initial map includes regular stops of the DP World Tour in England, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, along with several tournaments in continental Europe. In this latter block Spain, France and Italy are explicitly mentioned. The expansion would be completed with events in Australia, South Africa and the Far East.
There is not yet a definitive list of championships, dates or courses. Nor has it been specified which Spanish tournament might be integrated into the project. The information places Spain among the countries being considered, but does not identify a venue or confirm that a spot has been awarded.
Even so, its presence on the initial roadmap is significant. The aim would not be to create a secondary stop, but to include the selected tournaments within a series with large prize funds, more points for the World Ranking and substantial representation of the top players from the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.
A truly global season between September and January
The future series —a kind of global Fall Series, although that denomination is not official— arises mainly from the deep transformation that the PGA Tour will undergo in 2028. From that year, the US circuit will be divided into two clearly differentiated routes: the PGA Tour Championship Series, reserved for the elite, and the PGA Tour Challenger Series, conceived as a route for access, retention and recovery of category.
The Championship Series will have approximately 130 eligible players and average ‘fields’ of around 120 participants. Its main season will run from February to August and will initially gather about fifteen top-tier tournaments.
The Challenger Series will continue to be played during the autumn, but members of the Championship Series will not be able to participate in those events. This will leave the leading figures with a period of up to five months without regular PGA Tour tournaments, from the end of the Playoffs of the FedExCup until the start of the next campaign. Few top players will want to remain so long without competing. That is where the big opportunity for the DP World Tour appears.
The tournaments of the new series would continue to form part of the European calendar and would reserve places for members of the PGA Tour. The exact formula of collaboration is still to be defined, but the intention is for US stars to be able to travel easily and compete in different markets during their period of lower domestic activity.
The combination is especially attractive: large prize funds, World Ranking points, significant ‘fields’, commercial opportunities and the possibility of increasing players’ international profile.
The Genesis Scottish Open model, but without relying on a Major
The Genesis Scottish Open has shown for years that it is possible to bring many PGA Tour members and a large part of the world top to Europe. Its status as a co-sanctioned event and its position in the week immediately before The Open Championship have made it an almost mandatory appointment for those wishing to adapt to the links before the last Major of the season.
The logical question is whether the main stars would accept travelling without a Major to follow. The officials of the two circuits believe they would. The incentive would not depend exclusively on money. World ranking points would also come into play, the opportunity to compete during the long break in the new US schedule and players’ interest in expanding their popularity outside the United States.
The series could bring together, for example, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood on courses in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia. Not as one-off appearances, but as part of a recognisable, powerful and connected block of tournaments.
For Scheffler and other US figures it would represent an opportunity to maintain competitive rhythm. For McIlroy, Fleetwood and the leading European members, it would be a way to strengthen their home circuit without giving up measuring themselves against the best.
The Australian Open offers the first clue
The project has not yet been officially announced, but movements already exist that allow one to imagine how it could work. The PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and Golf Australia have reached an agreement to boost the Australian Open in 2027, 2028 and 2029. The championship will continue to be part of the DP World Tour and the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, but will count for the first time with the formal participation of the US circuit as a partner.
The agreement includes a significant increase in the prize fund, a distinct window within the global calendar and greater facilities to attract PGA Tour players. It is, in many senses, a perfect rehearsal of what the future series could offer.
Australia has history, top-level courses, crowds and a long tradition of champions. What it needed was a protected date and a structure that made it easier for the stars to travel. That is precisely the philosophy intended to be applied later to other markets. Spain could occupy a similar space within Europe
The country has established tournaments, favourable weather across much of the autumn, sponsors, internationally recognised destinations and a huge connection with figures like Rahm. However, it is still too early to point to which championship or course could be incorporated.
A map that also extends into Asia
The creation of this series fits with other agreements that are already shaping a more connected calendar. In July, the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the Asian Tour announced a partnership in force at least until 2029. The pact foresees new access routes for the leading Asian players and the return, from 2027, of several co-organised tournaments by the DP World Tour and the Asian Tour.
The declared intention of the three organisations is to build a more global professional ecosystem, with shared playing opportunities, major national Opens and clear pathways between circuits.
Added to this is the DP World Tour‘s long-standing collaboration with the Sunshine Tour in South Africa and with the Australasia circuit. The necessary infrastructure already exists. What was missing was a calendar window in which the top US stars could participate without competing simultaneously with the main tournaments of their own circuit. The 2028 restructuring creates that space.
A huge opportunity for the DP World Tour
The project can also transform the position of the DP World Tour within international golf. The strategic alliance with the PGA Tour, initiated in 2020 and expanded subsequently, provided financial stability, commercial opportunities and access routes to the United States. However, it also received criticism because the top ten players of each Race to Dubai without a US card obtain PGA Tour status, a circumstance that could weaken the European circuit by facilitating the departure of its talents.
The new series reverses the direction of flow. Rather than merely exporting players, the DP World Tour could host the top PGA Tour figures for several months. Its tournaments would increase in prize money, points, television impact and strength of field. Europe would cease to be merely a development or access platform and would become the great global stage during the autumn.
Moreover, the current agreement between the two circuits ends in 2027 and the parties are negotiating its renewal. The future series appears as one of the most important elements of that new framework of collaboration.
Spain enters a game of enormous scope
Many matters remain to be resolved: the name of the series, the final number of tournaments, the prize funds, the access criteria, the exact dates and the venues. But the direction is fairly clear.
The PGA Tour will concentrate its main competition between February and August. The DP World Tour has the calendar, the markets and the international experience. Players need to compete and maintain their level during the autumn. And fans around the world want to see the leading stars more often without having to wait for the four Majors. The future series aims to bring all those needs together.
Spain is among the countries capable of hosting one of its big events. There is not yet a confirmation, but there is a real possibility within the project revealed by The Daily Telegraph. A Spanish tournament with a large prize fund, a high number of world ranking points and a field headlined by Scheffler, McIlroy, Fleetwood and, very likely, Rahm would be one of the most important events held in our country outside the Majors and the Ryder Cup.
The idea of the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour is not simply to add more tournaments. It is to build a calendar less confined to specific territories and much more connected with golf’s global dimension. And Spain can occupy a leading role.
