The PGA Tour’s new CEO, Brian Rolapp, is pushing a two-track schedule that could divide the circuit into a top tier of 23 elevated events and a second tier of 20 tournaments, and the plan is already rippling through one of golf’s most vulnerable stops. At the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, which began Thursday at newly renovated TPC Craig Ranch, players were weighing what a smaller-field future could mean for events like theirs.
Rolapp met with a few dozen players in the TPC Craig Ranch clubhouse on Tuesday to walk through the idea and take questions, after first discussing more details with players two weeks ago at the Truist Championship, according to a report by Sports Business Journal. Under the potential structure, regular-season tournaments in the top tier would have 120-player fields, while the second track would feature 140-man fields. That split would leave some events clearly above others, and players said the framework is still taking shape.
Eric Cole said Rolapp’s pitch was broad but serious. “It was a lot of talking points, but they definitely have an idea with what they want to do with the tier,” Cole said. He added that if the Tour goes to 120 players, “that’s going to eat into the level of players here. It’s certainly more people than you have now in the designated events.”
The Byron Nelson’s timing makes it an obvious test case. Scheffler, the only player in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking in the field, and Si Woo Kim, the only other player in the top 20 of the FedEx Cup standings here, are joined by just three players in the world top 50. Joel Dahmen called it “a lower-tier tournament” and said the scheduling window is a problem. “It’s just a tough time of the schedule for a lot of people. They would have to be willing to change the date in the schedule to get a better field,” he said.
The tension is that the Tour is trying to redraw its future while some events are still waiting to learn where they fit. The Byron Nelson is currently placed the week after next year’s PGA Championship, which is set for May 20-23 at PGA Frisco East, and tournament director Jon Drago said he had previously been willing to move the date if needed. A date for next year’s Byron Nelson has not yet been announced, and the Tour also has not finalized some 2027 Florida dates, leaving the Byron Nelson and next week’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial potentially movable anywhere from March to May.
Scottie Scheffler said Wednesday that he has “a lot of strong feelings for this tournament” and hopes “nothing but the best for it,” while making clear that the final calls are not his. “If the Tour wants my opinion, I have nothing but great things to say about this event,” he said. Tony Finau was blunter. “This tournament could be in some trouble,” he said, before adding, “You just have to see what could happen and what the Tour is thinking.”
Rolapp’s two-track plan is still only a proposal, but the stakes are plain. A schedule built around elevated events, tighter fields and separate tiers would change who gets seen, where they play and which tournaments can still count on drawing the game’s biggest names.
