A senior official said part of the PGA Tour’s plan to revamp its schedule is to bring tournaments to more major U.S. markets that don’t currently have one.
Lee Smith, the executive director of The Players Championship, met with reporters Thursday at a media preview day for the PGA Tour’s flagship event often billed “the fifth major.”
According to Front Office Sports, Smith described a three-step plan for remaking the PGA Tour schedule into a leaner and more streamlined product: playing in the largest U.S. cities, “starting the season big” while avoiding the football postseason and “owning the summer.”
“I think you’ll see a lot more of that that will come out, especially over the next month or two as that group continues to meet and they continue to focus on what that future model of the PGA Tour looks like,” Smith said.
The tour used to play annual events in the New York, Chicago, Washington and Boston areas, but each fell by the wayside over the years, and in some cases LIV Golf filled the void. Those four cities, plus Philadelphia, make up half of the top 10 media markets in the country and do not have a regular PGA Tour stop.
Meanwhile, the tour’s two January events in Hawaii have long been rumored to be on the chopping block as the sport considers starting its season after the Super Bowl. The WM Phoenix Open is traditionally played the weekend of the Super Bowl every year, which has become part of the popular event’s identity.
The Players Championship will be played March 12-15 at TPC Sawgrass and could be a moment for new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp to unveil schedule changes.
