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Brian Rolapp wanted a simpler system based on merit (Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty Images)
Somewhat overlooked last week among the PGA Tour’s unveiling of its qualification criteria for its Championship Series model, which is to begin in 2028, is the actual change to the competitive structure of the season-long points race.
While someone who dominates the way Scottie Scheffler has on recent years will still prosper in the new system — which has yet to be named or tied to a corporate sponsor — it will be considerably more difficult to run away with any points title.
Several of the changes are impactful., with a premium placed on making cuts.
For example, in the current version of the FedEx Cup points structure, there are different points levels given for the major championships, signature events and regular tournaments. A major winner gets 750 points, signature winners receive 700 and regular event winners 500. The points taper down to every player who made the cut.
Also in today’s DD …
This week in golf: Spaun’s European vacation; Bridgeman primed for Prez Cup
DP World Tour official speaks out about countering LIV’s intended incursion
Starting in 2028, the winners of all Championship Series events — including majors and the Players Championship — will receive 300 points. Every event is the measured same, which means there is no advantage to be gained playing only the majors or big events. In terms of the PGA Tour’s competition, this will, in theory, make it more difficult to skip any tournaments.
For example, if a player wins the RBC Heritage (300 points) but skips the new Championship Series event in Greensboro and the Truist Championship, a player with consecutive third-place finishes (worth 150 points) would catch him in only two events and without winning. So it’s going to be easier to catch up and harder to maintain a lead without continuously padding it.
As it stands now, there is a wide gap between the top and the bottom in FedEx points structure. The winner of a regular event gets 500 points and a player who makes the cut gets in the neighborhood of 4 points. In other words, there’s not much difference between finishing at the bottom of the pack or missing a cut. You’re also not making up much ground right now making a cut and finishing near the bottom of the field.
That will change significantly in the new model, The range in points goes from the 300 for a winner to 30 for 65th place. That’s only 10 times more points for the person who wins over the person who makes the cut and finishes last, which will make for a much more compact points list throughout the season.
Sustained good play will undoubtedly be rewarded but there is less volatility based on one top result. A player who finishes 10th one week (100 points) and then misses the cut the next is in the same spot as someone who had consecutive 45th-place finishes (50 points each).
And the number of points given to the last-place finisher is also important because it is putting a premium on making cuts. If you survive to the weekend, you are guaranteed 30 more points than someone who misses.
There are several desired reasons for all this. One is to have a competitive race for the season-long champion. Another is to have heightened interest in the 32 players who qualify for the two-week Tour Championship, especially in the last Championship Series event.
And, of course, the race to finish among the top 90 who will qualify for the last regular Championship Series event (believed to be the BMW Championship), thus earning a chance to not only qualify for the Tour Championship but also avoid being relegated to the Challenger Series the following season.
That is the plan anyway. We’ll have to see how it all shakes out in 2028.
J.J. Spaun surged to the top of elite field at Wentworth (David Cannon/Getty Images)
This week in golf …
BMW PGA Championship: Confessed Anglophile J.J. Spaun ends his London vacation with a 5-under 67 and a two-shot victory in his debut in the DP World Tour’s flagship event at Wentworth. Rory McIlroy tied for second with Adam Scott, Aaron Rai and Manuel Elvira, drawing 532 points closer to leader Patrick Reed in the Race to Dubai after the American retired with a wrist injury in the second round.
Biltmore Championship Asheville: Jacob Brdgeman tuned up for his Presidents Cup debut by shooting a final-round 61 to win the PGA Tour fall series opener at The Cliffs at Walnut Grove by two shots over rookie Ben James.
Pure Insurance Championship: Zach Johnson won for the second straight week on the PGA Tour Champions, surging to a two-shot win over Henrik Stenson, Rory Sabbatini and Steven Alker at Pebble Beach. Johnson’s sixth win ties Gil Morgan (1997) for the fourth most wins by a senior rookie, behind the trio of seven-time rookie winners Bruce Fleisher (1999), Lee Trevino (1990) and Bruce Crampton (1986). There are still six more tournaments in the 2026 Charles Schwab Cup season.
Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship: Scotland’s Sandy Scott’s closing 65 caught John Marshall Butler for a one-shot win in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals event at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio. Scott climbed to second in the season-long KFT points standings and follows Ross Steelman, Doc Redman, Ian Holt, Alistair Docherty, Alvaro Ortiz and Cole Sherwood as the seventh player declared PGA Tour bound in 2027.
ATB Classic: England’s Charlie Crockett won the PGA Tour Americas event in Edmonton, Alberta by two shots over Americans Justin Biwer, Matthew Kress and Charlie Nikitas.
European Legends Cup: Sweden’s Johan Edfors shot a final-round 64 to rally from four shots back and win his second Staysure Legends Tour title of the season. He finished three shots clear of Steve Webster and Robert Coles at at Fontanals Golf Club in Spain.
Open de Portugal: Sebastian Friedrichsen of Denmark shot a final-round 62 to overtake Scotland’s Marc Warren to win the HotelPlanner Tour event by three shots in Lisbon.
DPWT official speaks out
After it became apparent that the Public Investment Fund would be pulling its backing of LIV Golf — and likely the International Series on the Asian Tour — the DP World Tour and Asian Tour officials engaged in conversations to again collaborate on a working arrangement that would see co-sanctioning of events and Asian Tour players earning spots on the DP World Tour.
Golf Digest’s Evin Priest detailed the timeline just after the Masters when Ben Cowen, the DP World Tour’s chief tournament and operations officer, called Cho Minn Thant, CEO of the Asian Tour, to discuss a new deal after it appeared the Asian Tour’s LIV Golf alliance might be imperiled. LIV signed a $300 million deal with the Asian Tour in 2021 to fund International Series events with $2 million purses.
Cowen detailed some frustration over LIV’s framing of the golf ecosystem. LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil has sought to strike a more collaborative tone than his predecessor Greg Norman and made inroads with the Official World Golf Ranking as well as the U.S. Open and the Open Championship.
But Cowen took issue with LIV’s desire to bring some national opens under its banner. He noted that LIV had infringed into DPWT territory in such places as Spain, Hong Kong and Singapore.
“Look, it was a constant battle for the last five years with (LIV) going after events that were on our schedule, going after venues that were on our schedule, going after sponsors that were part of our schedule as well,” Cowen told Golf Digest. “Everyone can say that’s fine, that’s business. We spent a lot of time talking to our partners and explaining to them why they should stay within our ecosystem as the global tour. The global TV distribution we have, the players that we have who have proven themselves when they get a card onto the PGA Tour. We were the ones that were providing the real value and that value has really been there for over 50 years as the European Tour, now the DP World Tour.
“There were a lot of rumors, that a lot of national opens, including Australia, were going to go to with LIV. It was great when we were able to announce (the Australian Open) continuing with us in partnership with the PGA Tour. That’s taken a lot of hard work, a lot of time and effort. It’s been a rocky road, but I feel we’re in a really good place.”
The DP World Tour schedule already shows co-sanctioning for 2027 with the Hong Kong Open and the Singapore Open. The Singapore event is going to Sentosa Golf Club, where LIV has played the last several years. Still to be determined is an extended agreement on its strategic alliance with the PGA Tour.
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Brace for Dubai? DPWT players raise concerns
The DP World Tour’s two-tournament playoff series in Abu Dhabi and Dubai remains on the schedule despite questions over whether the events can go on due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Tour officials have said little on the matter other than that they continue to monitor the situation, which is clearly a challenge.
The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (Nov. 5-8) at Yaz Links plays host to the top 70 players in the season-long Race to Dubai standings. The top 50 advance to the DP World Tour Championship (Nov. 12-15) in Dubai and Jumeirah Golf Estates.
Matt Fitzpatrick, who won last year’s DP World Tour Championship, expressed concerns about heading to the region in a press conference ahead of the BMW PGA Championship.
“Being completely honest, as things stand right now,I would say I’m not that comfortable,” Fitzpatrick said. “No, I wouldn’t be that comfortable. A few things have obviously changed for me, perspective and stuff. I’ve had a child in August, and that obviously kind of changes things a bit more.
“Obviously I know the tour has been on this for a long time. It’s obviously frustrating that the decision hasn’t been made so you can plan what’s going on. But I understand there’s obviously a lot of moving parts to that, and it’s obviously difficult to make these decisions. … As things stand right now, I wouldn’t necessarily be too keen on going.”
It’s Presidents Cup week
For the 16th time, the Ryder Cup’s little brother — the Presidents Cup — will take place, with the American and International sides competing at Medinah Country Club outside of Chicago.
The event mirrors the Ryder Cup in that it has a match-play format, there are 12 players on each side and there are four-ball, foursomes and singles competitions.
The differences: 30 points instead of only 28 at the Ryder Cup. And four days of competition instead of three.
The U.S. leads 13-1-1 and it has posted 10 straight victories in the series since a tie occurring in 2003 in South Africa. The Americans suffered their only defeat in 1998 in Australia, when Tiger Woods was a Presidents Cup rookie.
On Thursday, there will be five four-ball matches starting at 12:35 p.m. ET. Friday will have five foursomes (alternate shot) matches beginning at 2:05 p.m. ET. Golf Channel has coverage both days.
Saturday morning sees four four-ball matches starting at 8 a.m. ET on Golf Channel followed by four foursomes matches on NBC beginning at 2:15 p.m. ET.
On Sunday, the 12 singles matches will be on NBC starting at noon ET.