Tiger Woods is all in favor of the PGA Tour changing the format of its Tour Championship to include a 32-man match play competition.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp announced the news on the new format Tuesday ahead of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The new match play competition will begin in 2028, featuring the top 90 golfers in a stroke-play event to determine the 32 players who will advance to the first of two match play rounds.
“The conclusion of the season should be worthy of the journey it takes to get there,” Woods wrote on X. “Today’s announcement is a result of the hard work and passion of our players. Excited to usher in a new era of match play on the PGA Tour.”
The FedExCup Playoffs currently are contested over three weeks, with fields of 70, 50 and 30 players competing in stroke play events.
As for the new format, the first week will feature a group stage, dividing 32 golfers into eight groups of four for head-to-head match play. The top two players in each group move on to a new course in a Week 2 finale.
In the finale, the remaining 16 players compete in four rounds of match play. The final two undefeated players will battle to be crowned the Tour champion.
In the end, one player will be left standing.
“From the beginning, the goal of the Future Competition Committee was to create an easier-to-follow competitive model for our fans with greater consequence and a stronger season-long narrative,” Rolapp said. “Throughout this process, we listened carefully to our fans, players and partners. One message came through clearly: the culmination of our season should be worthy of the journey it takes to get there. The result is a season-ending structure that rewards excellence over the course of the year while building toward a reimagined Tour Championship. We are creating something different, something distinct within professional golf that can resonate far beyond it.”
