Rory McIlroy backs new PGA Tour plan to conclude season with two-week matchplay event

The PGA Tour’s best players will compete in matchplay ‌to determine the winner of the Tour Championship starting in 2028 as part of a new season-ending structure announced on Tuesday.The new ‌format will be played out over three weeks, starting with the 72-hole strokeplay PGA Tour Championship Series Finale ​featuring the top 90 golfers on the year’s points list to find the season-long winner and set the Tour Championship field.At the conclusion of the Series Finale, the top 32 players will move on to the ​new-look Tour Championship that will feature matchplay contested over two weeks at different venues.This marks a dramatic shift ⁠from the current format, a series of three traditional strokeplay events featuring ‌a ‌progressive ​cut with fields of 70, 50 and 30 players.READ MORE“It’s cool, I think they’ve taken a big swing,” Rory McIlroy said shortly after the announcement of the format. “And conceptually, I think I really like it.“First week will be great trying to get into the top 16. Then the second week I said to Brian, you really want to win a few matches as you don’t want to be playing for 14th position or whatever it is. The regular season champion will be adequately rewarded after the final strokeplay event, and the matchplay is going to be completely different.“It’s a departure from what we’ve had the past few years, but I do think it will be a great thing.”In announcing the changes, the PGA Tour said the goal of the Future Competition Committee, ⁠a nine-member group chaired by Tiger ​Woods, was to create an easier-to-follow competitive ​model for fans with greater consequence and a stronger season-long narrative.“The result is a season-ending ‌structure that rewards excellence over the course ​of the year while building toward a reimagined Tour Championship,” PGA Tour CEO Brian ⁠Rolapp said in a press release.“We are ⁠creating something different, ​something distinct within professional golf that can resonate far beyond it.”The Tour Championship will begin with 32 players competing in matchplay against the three other golfers in their group. The top two from each of the eight groups advance to week two of the Tour Championship.The championship will culminate in a four-round, 16-man single-elimination bracket with the final two undefeated golfers battling to be crowned Tour ‌Champion.The changes to the ⁠season-ending structure built on the recommendations approved in June when the PGA Tour announced a promotion and relegation model starting in 2028 featuring a Championship Series ‌and Challenger Series.“The conclusion of the season should be worthy of the journey it takes to get there. ​Today’s announcement is a result of the hard work and passion ​of our players,” Woods wrote on X. “Excited to usher in a new era of match play on the @PGATOUR”.