PGA Tour Plans Two-Week Match Play Championship 2028

Rory McIlroy has welcomed the PGA Tour’s plan to end the season with a two-week, match-play format beginning in 2028, a major revamp designed to heighten the finale and align with fan requests. The schedule will start with a 90-player, 72-hole stroke-play event, followed by a Tour Championship where the top 32 compete in group play and then a four-round knockout to crown the winner, with the final two undefeated players meeting for the title. McIlroy praised the move as a radical departure that could deliver a more exciting conclusion and highlighted the strong incentives for the regular-season champion within the broader restructured schedule. The changes, disclosed ahead of this year’s East Lake event, are part of a broader reorganization that could ripple through other tours, with discussions around how the top-tier Championship Series and a new Challenger Series will fit into the revamped season. Several articles noted McIlroy’s positive reception of the plan and his belief that the format shift could yield meaningful competition and strategic depth in late-season play. The reforms mark a clear shift away from the current FedExCup playoff structure toward a model that blends stroke play and match play across multiple venues over two weeks.