Tiger Woods is at the forefront of a change from his heyday. As announced by PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolup at this summer’s Tour Championship, Woods, who serves on the future competition committee, will wield significant power as changes are predicted for the PGA Tour in 2027 and beyond.
Harris English spoke at the RSM Classic about the future PGA Tour schedule. The schedule, with a tournament of about 20 events, a post-Super Bowl start date, and avoiding overlap with the NFL so golf could avoid competition and garner more attention, sparked conversations about the league’s future.
Mr. Woods also offered. Latest information on his return to golf While rehabbing two injuries, he discussed some of what his colleagues revealed on Tuesday, providing insight into what’s going on behind the scenes at upcoming competition committee meetings and leading to some of those potential fixes.
“We started with a blank slate. What’s the best product we could make, what would it look like? So we take a blank sheet of paper and start throwing ideas around, and there’s like a thousand ideas on this board,” Woods said. “Then we add all the people we interviewed and what they want to see, and we throw it all in there.
“Then we start talking to the players: what do they want, how can the players get promotion (and) relegation, how can we get the players even more committed to fairness. All of the things that we’re trying to include and things that we’re trying to change. Sure, there’s going to be some eggs that are going to spill and break and break, but I think in the end we’re going to have a much better product for everyone involved.”
Since taking on the CEO role this summer, Rolup has said numerous times that the three pillars he and any future Competition Commission will be guided by are scarcity, competitive parity, and simplicity. He said the PGA Tour currently only has one of those, competitive parity. We need a seasonal structure that allows other pillars to emerge.
“Equality is inherent in the game of golf because it’s a meritocracy,” Woods said. “It’s just there. We already have parity. We play from scratch every week. As for the parity part, that was the easiest part to understand because it’s already there. Now, the simplicity part, this is something you can simplify Another part that I didn’t say we needed to do is simplify the points structure of the FedEx Cup so that not only the players but the fans understand what’s going on week in and week out, how to follow it and how we can improve it.
“And I know scarcity is something that scares a lot of people, but I think it’s good when you have scarcity at a certain level because you have less time and you get more attention. But let’s not forget that a year of golf is a long time. So there are other opportunities for golf and other places, other places to play around the world that you can create and hold events on. So the scarcity aspect is not as scary as people think.”
Even Woods doesn’t know for now whether these will come as big waves of fundamental change or unfold one by one. With so many stakeholders at the table – players, fans, tournament sponsors, partners and private equity, just to name a few – the soon-to-be 50-year-old said his goal is to reimagine the PGA Tour calendar in 2027.
“We’re trying to make it happen in the best way possible so that it can be introduced in 2027,” Woods said. “Hopefully we can get there, hopefully we can get to that point. We’re working with all of our partners to create the best schedule and product to make it all happen in 2020. That’s what we’re trying to do. We don’t know if we’ll get there, we don’t know if we’ll get there, but that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The schedule change is not unusual, as the PGA Tour moved to a calendar-year campaign in early 2024. With this switch, the league largely avoided playing against the NFL, leaving only the fall FedExCup season (a season for players who missed the regular season) to play against the NFL.
This would be a much heavier hike for the tour and its players compared to the more nuanced changes aimed at reconciling various interests under relatively new leadership. But the goal remains the same. The PGA Tour must provide consumers with the best possible product.
“We’re trying to find the best schedule possible so that we can have the best field and get the most viewers and the most fan participation, but what will that look like?” Woods said. “You know, that’s one of the reasons I stopped playing in the early days of September and October and even early November when I was playing in the Tour Championship. There’s something influential about the Shield (NFL).
“It’s important to consider different timetables for starts and ends, different tent poles throughout the year, and what that will look like. We’ve had some incredibly smart player directors, some who have been independent, and some who have led change in other sports. So bringing all of that together as Brian’s leadership and administrator. We’re trying to do all these different things. Again, create a product that players want to be a part of, that they’re going to be a part of, that they’re excited to be a player in. We believe that this is a better product for all of our fans and all of our partners who attend all of our events and everyone involved in the sport.”
