PGA Tour Considering Major Schedule Shift, Post-Super Bowl Start
The PGA Tour is exploring significant changes to its structure, including a potential post-Super Bowl season start and elimination of signature events after 2026.
“The goal posts are moving a little bit,” Harris English said Wednesday at the RSM Classic, borrowing a football phrase that feels especially appropriate given new commissioner Brian Rolapp’s NFL background.
English revealed that Tour officials are discussing a February start date that would begin after the Super Bowl.
“I think [that] is a pretty good thing,” English said, “because we can’t really compete with football.”
This potential shift would dramatically impact the traditional January events in Hawaii and several West Coast swing tournaments. It’s worth noting that two of English’s five PGA Tour victories have come in January events that could be affected.
But the schedule changes don’t stop there. English also mentioned that signature events might disappear entirely after next season.
“I think that’s what they’re going to change down the road, maybe in 2027, is have all the tournaments be equal, and not have the eight elevated events and the regular events,” English said. “They’ll have 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.”
The fate of fall tournaments remains uncertain. While the Tour recently added two new fall events for 2026 in Austin, Texas, and Asheville, North Carolina, there’s growing skepticism about the fall schedule’s long-term viability as the Tour pushes for a more competitive, streamlined product.
English, 36, knows the value of fall events firsthand. Last season, he used the fall to secure his place inside the Aon Next 10 (players ranked 51-60 in FedExCup points), which earned him spots in two signature events. He went on to make the Tour Championship and qualify for his second Ryder Cup team.
This fall looks different for English. The RSM Classic is just his second start since the Tour Championship, and first since the fall-opening Procore Championship.
Despite potential changes, English expressed support for preserving these tournaments.
“I’m putting my faith in the guys at the helm and having the direction of this tour to make it the best it can be,” he said. “Tournaments like this, I don’t want to see them go away because I know how much they mean to this community. A lot of these fall events, we go to a lot of places in the country that they don’t get a whole lot of golf tournaments, and you can tap into a different fan base. I don’t really want to see them go away, but I think they’ll find a time and a place for some of those.”
