A Rory McIlroy will miss one tournament. The Northern Irishman will not reach this season the minimum of 15 events on the PGA TOUR required by the rules for players who are also members of the DP World Tour to fully retain their playing rights in the United States. The rule is there, written and in force. However, all signs point to it having no consequences for Rory. It was already known, but we had not yet heard from the PGA TOUR.
Brian Rolapp, chief executive, left the path virtually clear during the lengthy press conference he held on Tuesday in Atlanta, ahead of the TOUR Championship. He did not formally announce an exemption, but he acknowledged that the bylaws give him the necessary discretion to resolve the case and emphatically highlighted McIlroy’s commitment to the TOUR.
“I have had conversations with Rory. His commitment to the PGA TOUR is evident to me. He feels an enormous passion for the circuit and is clearly committed to it”, he said.
Rolapp also defended the Northern Irishman’s relationship with the DP World Tour, a circumstance that precisely explains why he will not reach the minimum of 15 appearances in the United States.
“He also maintains a commitment to the DP World Tour because of his legacy and where he comes from. We have a strategic alliance with the DP World Tour that we are actively working to improve, modify and expand. We are continuing those conversations”.
The conclusion seems fairly clear. McIlroy will not comply with the letter of the rule, but the PGA TOUR has no intention of leaving him without his playing rights. Rolapp has room to prevent that.
“I believe the bylaws give me considerable discretion on this matter. Rory’s participation in Memphis was magnificent and he is also here at the TOUR Championship”, he explained.
In other words, Rory has already been forgiven. The term may sound overly solemn for an administrative matter, but it aptly describes what is going to happen: the player does not meet the regulatory minimum and the tour’s chief executive will use the power granted by the bylaws so that he does not suffer the consequences.
The story, however, goes beyond simple forgiveness. McIlroy could end up being revolutionary because his case seems to have delivered the final blow to a rule that was already under review and that Rolapp sees as having no place in the PGA TOUR that will begin operating in 2028.
“Regarding the rule itself, we are studying it and questioning its continuity. It’s a rule that only applies to members of both circuits and it is debatable whether it even fits within our new competitive model”, he noted.
“It’s one of the many rules and regulations that we will review as we change the competitive model”.
Therefore, Rory is not only set to receive an exemption. His situation may help to permanently remove the 15-tournament minimum for players who combine the PGA TOUR and the DP World Tour. First the rule will be bypassed through the CEO’s discretion and then, probably, the rule will cease to exist
The 2028 schedule will be announced on 22 February
Rolapp’s press conference also provided numerous details about the construction of the new PGA TOUR that will take effect in 2028.
The PGA TOUR Championship Series will feature 15 regular-season tournaments. Seven have already been announced, four more have been identified and will be communicated over the coming weeks. For the remaining four slots, the tour is in talks with 14 potential partners, not 15, and expects to finalise decisions soon.
The full schedule will be presented on 22 February 2027 via a new televised programme from the PGA TOUR headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach. By that date at the latest the four events that have not yet been awarded should be known, as well as the rest of the dates and venues of the main structure.
The high demand could theoretically allow the number of tournaments to be increased, but Rolapp ruled out that the PGA TOUR will add events solely to increase revenue.
“Theoretically we could stage a tournament every weekend of the summer. But the reality is that, to reach the competitive level we aim for, not all professional golfers will play every week. It’s too much, especially now that we have compressed the schedule”, he explained.
The goal is to design the best possible schedule for fans, generate recognisable storylines throughout the season and ensure that the top players coincide regularly.
“We are not interested in adding events here and there just for money. We want to make sure the competition is the best we can design. As I have always said, if you get that right, the money will follow”.
The development of the PGA TOUR Challenger Series is progressing at a somewhat different pace. The tour expects to announce a significant part of its schedule before THE PLAYERS Championship 2027 and to have it completely defined, at the latest, for that year’s TOUR Championship.
The access routes to the Championship Series and the Challenger Series are one of the major outstanding issues. The PGA TOUR expects to make progress on defining them after the Board meeting on 14 September and to complete all the details before the end of the year.
PGA TOUR University, Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR Americas will remain key
Rolapp gave special importance to PGA TOUR University, the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR Americas as access routes to the tour. It has not yet been decided how many cards each platform will award or which series they will lead to, but the CEO guaranteed they will continue to play a fundamental role within the new model.
The breakthrough this season of Jackson Koivun, Michael Thorbjornsen and Michael Brennan, three former PGA TOUR University pupils who won consecutively on the tour before turning 25, is the best argument to reinforce that platform.
“PGA TOUR U will be a very important part. It has been a successful programme. We are seeing some of these young members achieve extraordinary things. We want to do more of that, not less”, he said.
“It is still being decided how many cards there will be and where they will lead. But, as with all our access routes, we will continue investing in PGA TOUR U”.
The message was similar regarding the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR Americas. Rolapp recently met in Omaha with numerous Korn Ferry members and assured that both circuits will continue to be part of the PGA TOUR ecosystem.
“We are still defining exactly what form they will take, but they will continue to be an important part of the TOUR. We expect to have the details resolved in November”.
Between six and eight international tournaments
Another piece of the model will be the international events to be played during the autumn, once the TOUR Championship has concluded. Rolapp outlined a range of between six and eight tournaments, although he insisted the design is still open.
The PGA TOUR is in talks with the DP World Tour to develop this part of the schedule and intends to provide more information at the 22 February presentation.
“We continue to focus on giving it a more international character and on staging more significant tournaments. It’s part of our conversations with the DP World Tour, which are ongoing. We are excited about some of the conversations and plans, but we are not yet ready to talk about them”.
The Scottish Open appears almost certain to be part of the Championship Series. Rolapp did not make a formal announcement, but his statement was highly significant.
“The Scottish Open and the week before The Open are very important to us. They form an important part of the Championship Series schedule”.
It remains to be resolved how these tournaments will coexist with national opens, what access conditions they will have and what exactly the degree of collaboration with the DP World Tour will be. However, the Scottish Open seems to have a secured prominent place in the main 2028 structure.
Bringing history back into tournament names
Rolapp also defended an evolution of the sponsorship model. The PGA TOUR intends to give greater prominence to the historical identity of its tournaments and markets, avoiding the tournament name depending exclusively on the company that provides the main sponsorship.
The formula would involve using geographic or historic names more frequently accompanied by the tagline presented by and the corresponding sponsor.
“Golf is a sport with an enormous wealth of tradition and history, a tradition and history that most sports would probably like to have”, Rolapp said.
“Within our new model we want to show more of that richness, lean on it and celebrate the tradition, not only of the TOUR, but of golf as a whole. We want to connect new fans better with the history of this sport”.
Rolapp used the Greensboro tournament, played since around 1934, as an example. His argument is that, at times, the changing weight of sponsors has weakened the connection between fans and the legacy of some events.
“Our aim is to do this generally across everything we undertake. The way a tournament is named is one of the tools we want to use”.
The controversy with Good Good Golf
The appearance also addressed the controversy surrounding Good Good Golf, a brand linked to the PGA TOUR, over the video that sparked the dispute with Callaway.
Rolapp was particularly critical of Good Good’s initial reaction.
“Initially, no. What we saw was concerning and not at all aligned with the values of the PGA TOUR. We took it very seriously. Their initial response was disappointing, somewhat defensive and late”.
The CEO said the company’s attitude has improved over the past 24 hours after several conversations with the tour, although he did not rule out that the controversy could affect its participation in the tournament scheduled in Austin at the end of the year.
“It seems they have made some progress over the last 24 hours. We will continue monitoring the situation to see how it develops”
