COLLEGE GROVE, TENNESSEE – SEPTEMBER 17: A PGA Tour flag near the putting green during the final round of the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation at The Grove on September 17, 2023 in College Grove, Tennessee. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
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There could be big changes in store for the PGA Tour in 2027, including no more Signature Events and delaying the start of the season until after the Super Bowl in February.
Speaking to media at the RSM Classic, the last tour event of the season, world number 11 and Ryder Cup member Harris English hinted that big changes could be coming to the PGA Tour under new CEO Brian Rolapp.
According to English, the PGA Tour could be getting rid of the Signature Events, for which there are nine scheduled in 2026. This would leave around “20-22 events that are all the same. I think that’s a good model to have. That’s where you’ll see all the top players play every single event because you can’t really afford to take one off.” He went on to state that the season may start in February, after the Super Bowl, “because we can’t really compete with football.”
Talks have been going on behind closed doors with Rolapp and a newly formed committee, led by Tiger Woods trying to find new ways to revamp the PGA Tour. Rolapp has talked about the need for “scarcity” and making the golf season more watchable from its beginning to its end.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – AUGUST 20: Brian Rolapp, Chief Executive Officer of the PGA TOUR, speaks to the media prior to the TOUR Championship 2025 at East Lake Golf Club on August 20, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
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The idea of not competing against the NFL makes sense. The new PGA Tour CEO seemed to back up what Harris English said as well. “If you dig deeper into what he (English) said, it’s not that complicated,” Rolapp said. “Competing with football in this country for media dollars and attention is a really hard thing to do.” Interestingly enough, in 2000, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem made it a 20-year goal to surpass the NFL in number of fans. Now, 25 years later, they seem to be ready to do the exact opposite.
“Part of professional golf’s issue is it has grown up as a series of events that happened to be on television,” Rolapp said. “As opposed to, ‘How do you actually take those events and make them meaningful in their own right, and cobble them together in a competitive model — including a postseason — that you would all understand whether you’re a golf fan or a sports fan.”
It is yet to be seen what kind of changes the PGA Tour will make in the future, but Rolapp made it clear to the media that he is open to anything. “Blank sheet of paper,” Rolapp said. “What would you do? How would you make this great to increase fan engagement?”
Mike is a founding member of Break80 Golf and a contributing golf and sports writer for Forbes with PGA Tour and LIV Golf media credentials.