PGA Tour Overhauls Tour Championship With Match Play Format Starting 2028

The PGA Tour announced a major structural overhaul of the Tour Championship on Thursday, moving the season finale to a two-week format anchored by match play beginning in 2028. The shift ends East Lake Golf Club's run as the permanent host, a role it has held since 2004.

The new structure, according to Front Office Sports and BBC Sport, will feature eight groups of four players competing in head-to-head matches during the first week. The top two finishers from each group advance to the second week, where the remaining 16 players enter a single-elimination bracket to determine the Tour Championship winner. The top 32 players in the season-long points list will qualify for the event, per Front Office Sports.

The two-week format, to be played at two different courses each year, replaces a 22-year run of stroke-play finals at East Lake. Match play had been absent from the PGA Tour schedule since 2023, according to BBC Sport.

Multiple players voiced support for the format change. Rory McIlroy, a three-time FedEx Cup winner, told Front Office Sports: "It's cool, I think they've taken a big swing. And conceptually, I think I really like it." He added: "I think all the incentives are there, and the regular-season champion is going to be adequately rewarded after that final stroke-play event." McIlroy also said the Tour had "really taken on board what the fans have been calling for and have wanted, which is matchplay," according to BBC Sport reporting.

PGA Tour rookie Alex Fitzpatrick compared the format to soccer's World Cup structure. "I think it's exciting," Fitzpatrick told Front Office Sports. "I'm a massive fan of football, obviously the World Cup has that group stage, and then you keep playing until you have a winner. I think it's a good take on the game, and it's different than the regular season." Wyndham Clark said the two-week structure reminded him of tennis majors: "Those guys spend two weeks at Wimbledon, and that's what it is. It's unique to golf and new to it, but I think over time people will accept it and like it a lot," he told Front Office Sports. Si Woo Kim said he has "always liked" match play and called the new format "way more fun than 72-hole stroke play."

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp confirmed the changes on Thursday and explained the rationale for rotating venues away from East Lake. "The logistical demands associated with top-tier golf events can be limiting," Rolapp told Front Office Sports, adding: "I think we wanted to take that out of the equation so we could reach the best courses in the country." He acknowledged that the new venues will likely draw fewer spectators than typical PGA Tour events: "I think there's an acknowledgment and understanding on some of these sites that you don't see very often at a PGA Tour event, the footprint might be smaller," Rolapp said, according to Front Office Sports.

The Tour Championship overhaul is part of broader structural changes coming to the PGA Tour in 2028, including the introduction of a Championship and Challenger series with promotion and relegation, and a regular season of 15 events running from February to August. The current Tour Championship at East Lake this week carries a $40 million purse, including $10 million to the winner, per Front Office Sports and BBC Sport.