The PGA Tour has announced that its Tour Championship will switch to a two-week match play format from the 2028 season, as part of a major overhaul of the tour's season-ending schedule.
The change is one of several sweeping alterations coming to the PGA Tour, which is also set to introduce a new two-tier system featuring promotion and relegation.
From 2028, the current FedExCup Playoffs, which are played in stroke play, will be replaced by a new structure. A 72-hole stroke play event called the PGA Tour Championship Series Finale will feature the top 90 golfers on the season-long points list. The top 32 players in the points standings at the end of that event will then qualify for the Tour Championship, a standalone two-week match play tournament featuring groups and knockouts, similar to the World Cup.
It will be the first time in PGA Tour history that the Tour Championship has been decided by match play, and the first time the format has featured on the tour since the 2023 WGC Dell Technologies Match Play.
"Throughout this process, we listened carefully to our fans, players and partners," PGA Tour chief executive Brian Rolapp said. "One message came through clearly: the culmination of our season should be worthy of the journey it takes to get there."
"The result is a season-ending structure that rewards excellence over the course of the year while building toward a reimagined Tour Championship. We are creating something different, something distinct within professional golf that can resonate far beyond it."
How the new postseason will work
Throughout the 2028 season, players will compete for points as normal across regular-season events, similar to the current FedExCup system. The season-long points race will then conclude at the new PGA Tour Championship Series Finale, a 72-hole stroke play event that will confirm the season-ending points leader and final rankings for the year.
The top 90 players in the year-long points rankings will compete in the Finale. After it concludes, the top 32 players in the year-end standings will earn a place at the Tour Championship.
Format of the revamped Tour Championship
The Tour Championship will take place the week after the Finale, with a field of 32 players competing in a three-round group stage modelled on the World Cup. Players will be seeded according to their standing in the final season-long points list, and each golfer will face the other players in their group, with the top two from each group advancing to the second week. A play-off will be used to break ties at the end of the group stage.
Sixteen players will advance to the second week of the match play final, where the Tour Champion will be decided. Competitors will play a four-round match play competition, with the two undefeated players meeting for the title. A player's record and final standing at the Tour Championship will be based on their results across the full two-week event.
"Each week of the Tour Championship will be played at a different course," Rolapp said. "This new format creates an exciting opportunity to showcase some of the most renowned venues in our sport, including places the modern tour has never been before."
Venues for the 2028 PGA Tour Championship Series Finale and Tour Championship will be confirmed in February 2027. The tour said hosting duties would rotate among "prestigious courses," including some venues it has not previously been able to feature.
Woods and Faldo react to the changes
Tiger Woods, the 15-time major champion, welcomed the announcement on social media platform X. "The conclusion of the season should be worthy of the journey it takes to get there," Woods wrote. "Today's announcement is a result of the hard work and passion of our players. Excited to usher in a new era of match play on the PGA Tour."
Sir Nick Faldo, the six-time major winner, told the Sky Sports Golf Podcast he was delighted with the move. "Everyone is asking how you can get some excitement back into the game of golf," Faldo said. "A lot of people might disagree, but it's match play! You can pick the characters against each other rather than golf being almost like a wall. You can then get a bit of spice going on. We might get some great historic matches going on instead of seeing guys going nuts shooting 10 or 12 under."
Faldo recalled his broadcasting days covering the old WGC Dell Technologies Match Play. "When I used to do TV, we said the second-best day, after The Masters, was the first day of the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play," he said. "Back before they changed it to a round robin, 64 players started, 34 went home, and nobody wants to go home! That was the best excitement for a day's golf!"
