Matchplay format for 2028 Tour Championship

17th Hole at Cypress Point Club - Image courtesy of USGA

The PGA Tour has confirmed a sweeping overhaul of its season finale, with commissioner Brian Rolapp announcing on Tuesday at East Lake Golf Club that the Tour Championship will move to a two-week, match-play format from 2028. The change scraps the current 72-hole stroke-play finish that has crowned the FedExCup champion since 1987, replacing it with a standalone knockout event designed to identify the outright best player of the year.

Under the new structure, the BMW Championship will serve as a 90-player stroke play finale to the PGA Tour Championship Series, crowning the season-long points leader. The top 32 from that points race will then advance to the reimagined Tour Championship itself. Week one is a group stage — eight groups of four — with the top two from each group progressing to a four-round match-play bracket at a different course in week two.

Images courtesy of PGA Tour

Rolapp was careful to distance the new event from the "playoffs" label that has defined the postseason for nearly two decades. “We’re trying to make the Tour Championship matter more,” he told Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner and Brandel Chamblee. “I think calling the Tour Championship the playoffs doesn’t really land in golf. It’s not the NHL, it’s not the NFL; it’s just different.”

In a letter to fans released alongside the announcement, Rolapp framed the redesign as a direct response to feedback about the current finale falling flat. “One message came through clearly: the culmination of our season should be worthy of the journey it takes to get there,” he said, adding that the new format aims to be “the most difficult field to qualify for and the most difficult trophy to win.”

Venues for the first two-week Tour Championship have not been finalised, though Rolapp indicated the Tour is open to a smaller footprint away from traditional Tour-event infrastructure to access more storied courses, with hosts to be revealed at a live broadcast event on February 22, 2027. East Lake, the Tour Championship's home since 2004, remains under consideration for future editions.

16th at Cypress Lakes Club - Image courtesy of USGA

The announcement builds on Rolapp’s broader restructuring plans unveiled earlier this year, which include a leaner top-tier schedule and a new PGA Tour Challenger Series. Reaction from players has been largely positive, with Tiger Woods among those publicly welcoming the shift on social media. “We are creating something different, something distinct within professional golf that can resonate far beyond it,” Rolapp said.

The change to the end of season should be warmly welcomed across the golfing world. The current formula of the FedexCup Champion coming from a single tournament is only slightly better (or worse) than the earlier iteration where the leading points players obtained an artificial head start for the Tour Championship. The introduction of matchplay and playing at different, and hopefully iconic, courses cannot come quick enough.