WM Phoenix Open role in new PGA Tour format remains a mystery

PHOENIX – The role of the WM Phoenix Open in a newly announced PGA Tour restructuring remains a mystery.

The Tiger Woods-led Future Competition Committee unveiled a significant overhaul of the PGA Tour at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, Tuesday. The tour will implement the new structure in 2028, which establishes a tiered system that includes promotion and relegation and two main player divisions: the PGA Tour Championship series and the PGA Tour Challenger Series.

Questions surrounding the Phoenix Open have come as a result of the unfinalized list of PGA Tour events expected to be a part of the new championship series. Despite the uncertainty, the chairman of the 2027 tournament at TPC Scottsdale did not sound concerned.

“The WM Phoenix Open is far more than a golf tournament – it’s one of Arizona’s premier events and a powerful driver of economic impact, charitable giving, sustainability and community pride,” Chris Camacho said. “The Thunderbirds have built something truly special alongside WM and the PGA Tour, and we remain confident in the tournament’s continued success and long-term future.”

The tour has finalized 10 of the 15 events that will make up the championship series. The remaining five sites will either be filled by existing PGA Tour events, or host new tournaments in new markets. The markets under consideration are Boston, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Numerous places have expressed interest in becoming a host city, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said.

“I think we have 10 of the 15 identified,” Rolapp said in a press release. “Those will be subject to further announcement. We’re not prepared to announce anything today. But we’re very excited about the attention we’re getting and the demand for these events as well as others.”

The news has attracted mixed reaction from a fan base grounded in traditionalism.

“From day one, the focus of the Future Competition Committee has been to build the best version of the PGA Tour, and to do so in a way that reflects the voice of our players and the expectations of our fans,” Rolapp said. “This model positions the PGA Tour for the future, and our focus now shifts to finalizing the details and preparing for implementation in 2028.”

The PGA Tour plans to implement a season-long point system in each series. The system will be used to determine who will be promoted, relegated and retained at the end of each season. Players who finish top 20 in points of the challenger series will be eligible for promotion to the championship series. The change is meant to appeal to fans and media, providing more real-time and transparent player performance tracking.

“This work was bigger than any one player or person – it was about designing the strongest possible version of the PGA Tour for the future generations of fans and players,” Tiger Woods, chairman of the Future Competition Committee, said in a press release. “From the beginning, the committee’s focus was on delivering a better experience for our fans, while creating a model that best sets up the Tour, its players and its partners for long-term success and stability.”

A new postseason format was also included in the new plans. The tour will include match play for the first time, something Rolapp says fans have yearned for.

“Match play is a format our fans have been asking for, and I look forward to sharing more details about the postseason in my press conference at the Tour Championship in August,” Rolapp said at the Travelers Championship. “There’s great examples in the golf ecosystem for match play that’s compelling and that works, not only for fans, but also, as I mentioned, that the players feel are compelling. Our focus was to make sure that the players felt it was authentic, and I think that’s where most of the attention was.”

Rolapp hopes to bring the tour to fans all over the country.

“I think the goal is to go to prestigious courses that we’re not there a lot, that fans will recognize as prestigious,” Rolapp said. “We’re also not above building things on our own. I think one of the most successful tournaments in the world, you can’t argue it, is The Players Championship. That was a course that was built for that event. That’s certainly on the table. But I think there are plenty of great golf courses in this country that we’d like to get to.”

Golfer Maverick McNealy, who served on the Future Competition Committee, is optimistic about the positives the new format could bring.

“I mean, in some ways, it’s a big change, but in other ways it’s going to be the PGA Tour you know and love,” McNealy said at the Traveler’s Championship. “It’s just you’re going to know where to find it. You’re going to know when it is, when it starts, when it stops. We’re going to go to some awesome golf courses. We’re going to run really, really competitive tournaments that matter a lot for the players to win. I’m really excited for 2028. I can’t wait to start playing in that system. If you have player buy-in, it’s going to be a great thing.”

The WM Phoenix Open has drawn golf and non-golf fans alike since 1932, with a more casual atmosphere that’s helped appeal to the average sports fan. Its stop on the tour often coincides with the Super Bowl, and event leaders are confident it can withstand change.