Welcome to Issue #30
“That ball is so far left Lassie couldn’t find it even if it was wrapped in bacon.”
David Feherty
What’s on my mind this week
The USGA's Rules AI app is here and my playing partners will still ignore it, Dustin Johnson is a man of few words, Alex dreaming of teeing it up with brother Matt in Adare, Don Rea leaves the PGA of America after 8 years and plenty of controversy, Women’s Golf Day this week, Furyk spotted doing his research in Ireland, PGA Tour schedule is changing in 2027 – but not by much, Ryder Cup tickets now on general sale – time to remortgage the house.
In the news
Why it matters: The Tour has confirmed major changes to its 2027 schedule, ending the five-decade Hawaii season opener, while signalling a 2028 two-tier structure that expands signature event fields from 70-80 players to 120 and reintroduces cuts.
Our Take: The reversal is the story. Two years ago the Tour built small, no-cut, high-purse signature events as a direct response to LIV, betting that scarcity, star guarantees and premium positioning were what sponsors valued most. New CEO Brian Rolapp, in from the NFL, is now unwinding that bet. Larger fields and reinstated cuts move the product back toward access and jeopardy. Implicitly, the Tour is signalling that the emergency anti-LIV architecture of 2023 no longer needs to dictate the economics of the product. The expansion also redistributes opportunity toward the broader membership after two years in which the Tour concentrated value around its top players. The harder question is what 120-man fields do to the appearance guarantees underpinning current sponsor contracts. The Tour is betting a better overall product is worth more than the certainty of selling a specific star in a specific week.