What the PGA Tour will have really thought of the Charles Schwab Challenge as they prepare for big changes in 2028
· Yahoo Sports
The Charles Schwab Challenge was the latest PGA Tour event that had the opportunity to prove why it should be given track one status when the new schedule comes in in 2028.
The PGA Tour is set to look drastically different from 2028 onwards, with Brian Rolapp planning to introduce two tiers of tournaments.
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Track one will be made up of signature events, with all of the big names featuring. Meanwhile, the goal for those on track two will be to earn a promotion to the game’s top table.
The Charles Schwab Challenge shines as the PGA Tour prepares to make big changes
Obviously, the likes of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial Tournament will almost certainly find themselves on track one. But there is a question mark over all of the tournaments not currently designated as signature events, including the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Colonial delivered a fantastic tournament this past week, with Russell Henley beating Eric Cole on the first playoff hole in Fort Worth.
It was a real palate cleanser after another underwhelming week at the CJ CUP Byron Nelson.
Photo by George Walker/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesAnd speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Ryan Lavner insisted that those at Ponte Vedra will have been convinced to elevate the Charles Schwab after what transpired over the last few days.
“Wind, rough, firmer greens, it had everything, dog-legs, trees, that is the perfect setup and that is the perfect golf course. I think Sunday on the PGA Tour is exactly if you held the PGA Tour at gunpoint, they would tell you that is what we want it to look like, right? That is exactly what we want,” he said.
“We want great scores to be in the mid 60s. We want there to be some ejections. We want there to be some mystery. We want there’s some be some consequence. It should matter hitting the ball in the fairway. It should matter hitting it hole high on some of the greens. It should matter being able to hold nervy 10 to 15 foot putts with a lot of slope on these greens as they typically do at Colonial.
“I was blown away. I absolutely loved it. I would love to see more of it. Tier one, track one, Colonial for life.”
Colonial backed to host a track one event on the new PGA Tour
It was the CJ CUP Byron Nelson that attracted two of the biggest names in the game, with Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth both involved once again at TPC Craig Ranch.
They clearly feel a connection to the tournament. And it would be no surprise to see the pair push to continue playing in the event even if it gets demoted down to track two.
However, for spectators, Colonial certainly provided a much more entertaining event. Henley was seemingly completely out of contention at the turn on Sunday when he had made four bogeys in the previous seven holes.
But the golf course seemed to strike an ideal balance. There were opportunities for Henley to get himself back in the mix, while it was treacherous enough to ensure that no-one could break away from the pack.
And in response to Lavner’s comments, Rex Hoggard suggested that he does indeed expect the Charles Schwab Challenge to be a top tier event once the revamped schedule comes in.
“I also made the comment last Sunday that TPC Craig Ranch was a different kind of test. It was also a very slow test. There was a lot of comments about the pace of play. And I pointed out that, let’s keep an eye on what happens at Colonial. This golf course was built for not just really fun and entertaining golf, but for speed,” he said.
“And I think the measure of this, because it’s difficult to measure exactly how fast a golf course is relative to what we saw last week, but I was watching the telecast on Saturday afternoon and the same thing happened Sunday, even with the playoff. They finished up play before CBS went off air. The PGA Tour rules officials are brilliant at getting that absolutely right. They have figured out the science of how to structure tee times to make sure that last group is finishing off exactly at 6 p.m. Eastern time. And that’s what they want. They need to finish. And they were about 10 minutes early on Saturday, and if not for the playoff, they would have been about five minutes early on Sunday. I think this as a test of golf is exactly what you want.
“And it’s worth pointing out when we talk about track one and track two, and again, I don’t think Colonial can, in any universe be a track two event, but Fort Worth is now a top 10 market in the United States. So, this has every single ingredient that Brian Rolapp, the CEO of the PGA Tour, has talked about. It’s got the history. It’s got the great venue. It’s got sort of that lore, everything that goes into what you want to see out of a good tournament. It’s also a major market, and it’s also loved by the community. Fort Worth embraces this thing. It’s a show. So I think it’s safe for me to say, this will be a track one event.”
Plenty of players would love to be able to play Colonial much more often. Hopefully, the 2028 season will see the event receive the spot in the schedule that it deserves.
The PGA Tour should certainly recognise that it is on to a good thing.