Tiger Woods is spearheading change differently compared to his prime playing days. Serving on the future competitions committee — as announced by PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp at this summer’s Tour Championship — Woods wields plenty of power with change forecasted on the PGA Tour in 2027 and beyond.
Harris English spoke at the RSM Classic about a future PGA Tour schedule that could consist of a tournament load of roughly 20 events, a start date after the Super Bowl and avoiding overlap with the NFL so golf can evade competition and catch more eyeballs, sparking conversation about the league’s future.
Woods, who also provided an update on his return to golf while rehabilitating two injuries, on Tuesday discussed some of what his peer revealed, offering insight on what has occurred behind the scenes in future competition committee meetings to arrive at some of these potential modifications.
“We started with a blank slate: What would the best product we can possibly create, what would it look like, OK? So you take a white sheet of paper, and you start throwing ideas out there, and there’s like a thousand ideas on this board,” Woods said. “Then you add in all the people that we interviewed and what would they like to see, and you throw all those up there.
“Then, we start talking to the players: What would they like to see, how can players can have the promotion [and] relegation, how can we have more player equity involvement. These are all things that we’re trying to include and all the things that we’re trying to change. Yes, there’s going to be some eggs that are spilled and crushed and broken, but I think that, in the end, we’re going to have a product that is far better than what we have now for everyone involved.”
Since taking on the role of CEO this summer, Rolapp has stated numerous times that the three pillars which he and the future competition committee will be guided by are scarcity, competitive parity and simplicity. He said the PGA Tour only has one of these, competitive parity, at this time; it needs a season structure conducive to allowing the other pillars to emerge.
“Parity is something that’s inherent in the game of golf because of the meritocracy of the game,” Woods said. “It’s just there; we already have parity. We play each and every week starting at zero. So with the parity part, it was the easiest part to figure out because it’s already there. Now, the simplicity part, that’s another part that you didn’t say that we have to try and simplify. Simplify the point structure on the FedExCup so not only the players understand but the fans can understand it: what goes on every week, week to week, how they can follow and how we can make it better.
“And the scarcity thing is something that I know scares a lot of people, but I think that if you have scarcity at a certain level, it will be better because it will drive more eyes because there will be less time. But don’t forget the golfing year is long. So there’s other opportunities and other places around the world or other places to play that can be created and have events. So there’s a scarcity side of it that’s not as scary as people might think.”
Whether these occur as one big wave of sweeping changes or get rolled out one by one, not even Woods knows at this time. With so many parties holding seats at the table — players, fans, tournament sponsors, partners, private equity, just to name a few — the soon-to-be 50-year-old stated the goal is to see a reimagined PGA Tour calendar in 2027.
“We are trying to do that in the best way possible so we can introduce this in ’27,” Woods said. “Hopefully, we get there — hopefully, we get to that point. We’re working with all of our partners to create the best schedule and product to deliver all that in ’27 is something we’re trying to do. I don’t know if we can get there, I don’t know if we will get there, but that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The PGA Tour is no stranger to changing the schedule, as it moved to a calendar-year campaign at the onset of 2024. With the switch, the league largely avoided competing with the NFL with only the FedEx Cup Fall — a season for those players who fell short in the regular season — up against it.
This will be a much heavier lift for the tour and its players compared to that subtle change as it juggles various interests under relatively new leadership. However, the goal remains the same: The PGA Tour must put the best possible product on the table for consumers.
“We’re trying to figure out what is the best schedule possible so we can create the best fields and have the most viewership and also the most fan involvement and what does that look like,” Woods said. “A lot of that, as you know, that’s one of the reasons why we quit playing in September and October and even early November back when I was playing in my early days at the Tour Championship. There’s this thing with the shield [NFL] that’s out there that’s influential.
“Looking at different timetables of when we start and finish, different tentpoles throughout the year and what that might look like [is important]. We have some incredibly smart player directors, some independents and some leaders that have led in change in other sports. So, trying to pull all of that together with Brian’s leadership and stewardship, that’s what we’re trying to implement all these different things. Again, create a product that players want to be involved in, will be involved in, they’re excited to be a part of and the fans and all of our partners at all of our events and all the people that are involved in the sport, that this is a better product.”