Changes in the offing for the PGA Tour?
In a world of constant change, those who stand still are lost.
Perhaps this is the motivation that has pushed the PGA Tour to propose a series of changes that will be discussed at the Board of Directors meeting to be held on November 18.
If approved, they would come into effect in the 2026 season.
The proposed changes are contained in a memorandum sent to all Tour players.
These are the most relevant.
Pga Tour, card reductions
At the end of each season, the number of players who would retain a card would drop from 125 to 100 (keeping the Fall Series mechanism in place, Ed.), creating a new conditional category for the positions 101 through 125.
Major Tour cards awarded by the Korn Ferry Tour would drop from 30 to 20, while those awarded to DP World Tour players would remain at 10.
Monday Qualifier Reductions
Monday qualifiers, a last-ditch effort to secure a spot in that weeks tournament, would see significant cuts.
Some (Sony Open, WM Phoenix Open, for example) would be canceled.
Others (Valspar Championship, for example) would guarantee two spots instead of four.
Reduction of fields for regular season events
The fields of tournaments played during the period of solar time would be reduced to a maximum of 144 players, which would become 120 once the legal time comes into force.
Only in the case of tournaments played on multiple courses at the same time, the size of the field would be determined from time to time.
The motivation for this proposal is linked to the problem, now very frequent, of the difficulty of closing the days of the cut due to weather problems and/or the speed of play.
This last problem is then the subject of another separate proposal.
Changes to the system of fines for the pace of play
This is a complex proposal.
Players would no longer be subject to fines on the simple basis of a dry timing (moreover, the amounts of the fines for this type of infringement would also decrease, Editor's note).
The fundamental concept to apply would be that of the Average Stroke Time, for which the amount of the fine would also be increased.
It is not up to me to evaluate the validity of the proposals.
We just have to wait for November 18 (the meeting will be held during the RSM Classic, Editor's note).
