PGA Tour's new structure, plans for 2028 don't include LIV players

The PGA Tour's future form is coming into focus, and it doesn't currently include a path back for LIV Golf players.

Tuesday morning, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp announced that the Tour has finalized the qualification models for its impending two-track system, set to start in 2028, and has established the ways that players can move between the upper-tier Championship Series and lower-tier Challenger Series.

"We set out to preserve the meritocracy of our sport and build a competitive model that rewards excellence and ensures a clear path for top performers at each stage of their career," Rolapp said, adding that the "new eligibility structure … will do just that."

At the same time, Rolapp briefly addressed the elephant in the room — and announced that there was no room for it. With LIV Golf currently in dire financial straits and its players uncertain of their future, Rolapp made it clear that the PGA Tour will not be offering a lifeboat, or any kind of return opportunity like the one Brooks Koepka used earlier this year.

"We are not currently contemplating a returning-member program like the one you saw in January," Rolapp said. "Everyone at the PGA Tour, myself included, has been focused on what is best for the organization," he said, adding that the Tour's goal now is "building the optimal competitive model for the future."

Explaining the Tour's two-tier structure

That future will include two tiers of competition, with the opportunity to move between the two depending on performance. The 2027 season will be used to set the fields, which will begin starting in the 2028 season.

Once it's fully underway, the Championship Series will include players meeting a number of criteria, including the top 90 players from the previous season, the top 20 players from the previous year's Challenger Series, and two-time winners on the previous season's Challenger Series. Winners of any Championship Series event or major in previous years win a two-year exemption.

Players on the Challenger Series and new to the PGA Tour can play their way onto the Championship Series through several pathways and a "last chance" series. Challenger Series participants can qualify through PGA Tour University, the Korn Ferry Tour, Q School, or by winning a major within the last four years, among other pathways. A fall "last chance" series will offer three slots on the Championship Series.

For the 2027 season, players will be able to set themselves up for the incoming two-track format by winning tournaments, with each tournament format — major/signature events, full-field events, and opposite-field events — offering differing lengths of exemption for the 2028 season and beyond.

While the specifics of both series' qualifications are primarily relevant only to the players and their interested parties, the overall motivation is obvious: play good golf to get on the Challenger Series, play great golf to get on the Championship Series.

The Tour also announced the points system for the Championship Series, with the goal of rewarding both winners and strong finishers while at the same time giving value to making the cut. Players will effectively compete against one another for points, theoretically making it easier for fans to determine who's playing well over the course of a full season and who's in danger of falling out of the top-tier series.

The winner of a given tournament will receive 300 points, with second and third place receiving 200 and 150, respectively. The 65th-place finisher will receive 30 points, and no finish below that will earn points. As with exemptions, this will likely be easier to grasp in practice than on a spreadsheet.