Tiger Woods is hopeful the PGA Tour can introduce widespread schedule changes in 2027 that will bring a “financial windfall” for everyone from players to tournament organizers to media-rights holders.
Speaking Tuesday morning in the Bahamas ahead of this week’s Hero World Challenge, which Woods annually hosts, the 15-time major champion addressed recent conversations about dramatically shifting the PGA Tour calendar.
“Hopefully we get to that point,” said Woods, who is chairman of the Future Competition Committee that PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp created in August. “We’re working with all of our partners to create the best schedule and product to deliver all that in ’27.”
Last month, PGA Tour player Harris English revealed that one major change being discussed was pushing the start of future seasons back so the PGA Tour would annually begin after the Super Bowl to avoid any competition with the NFL. “There’s this thing with The Shield that’s out there that’s influential,” Woods said.
Big Plans
Woods said the Future Competition Committee (or FCC, as he called it) has had three meetings so far and has spoken with tournament directors and title sponsors, chief marketing officers, and PGA Tour media partners to receive input about potential changes.
Another major change could be reducing the PGA Tour’s primary schedule to around 20 events, down from 33 consecutive weeks (some with multiple overlapping tournaments) next year.
The 2026 PGA Tour schedule—which begins Jan. 15—is set, so the earliest any changes could take place would be 2027. Woods said a major conversation is whether to “rip the Band-Aid off [and] create a whole new product,” or “do it staged.”
Money Matters
After the Strategic Sports Group invested an initial $1.5 billion in the PGA Tour last year, players now have equity stakes in the Tour, which Woods thinks can grow with the discussed changes. “It could be a financial windfall for everyone,” he said.
Woods said Rolapp has “been fantastic” since he was hired in June, which began PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s exit process. “All the things that we were looking for and we needed on the Tour he has delivered in spades,” Woods said.
As the PGA Tour explores reducing its schedule, Rolapp has been a proponent of a more truncated schedule like the NFL’s.
“The scarcity thing is something that I know scares a lot of people, but I think that if you have scarcity at a certain level, it will be better because it will drive more eyes because there will be less time,” Woods said. He speculated that a smaller PGA Tour schedule, primarily in the U.S., could mean more opportunities for players to play globally. “There’s a scarcity side of it that’s not as scary as people might think,” Woods said.
Not Ready to Tee It Up
Woods, who turns 50 on Dec. 30, said he was just recently cleared to chip and putt as he recovers from his latest back surgery in October. He also ruptured his Achilles in March. “I’d like to come back to just playing golf again,” he said. “I haven’t played golf in a long time. It’s been a tough year.”
With lingering uncertainty about his health, Woods doesn’t know if and when he would play any events on the 2026 PGA Tour Champions, which is for players ages 50 and older. “Just let me get back to playing again. Let me do that, and then I’ll kind of figure out what the schedule is going to be,” he said. “I’m a ways away from that part of it and that type of decision, that type of commitment level.”
