Pro explains issues with PGA Tour changes

The reality of more PGA Tour schedule tweaks became a bit more serious when Tiger Woods spoke at length about them at the Hero World Challenge last week.

“We’re trying to figure out what is the best schedule possible so we can create the best fields and have the most viewership and also the most fan involvement,” said Woods, who is also the Tour’s chair of its new Future Competitions Committee. “Looking at different timetables of when we start and finish, different tentpoles throughout the year and what that might look like.”

Whether some of those changes happen in 2027, 2028 or at all is still to be determined. One thing that’s not up for debate, however, is that the Tour has changed its structure and schedule so often — Signature Events; calendar season vs. wrap-around season; number of PGA Tour cards awarded, etc. — that it can be difficult for average fans to follow. Turns out it’s not easy for players, either.

Beau Hossler has been a long-time PGA Tour member, although this year — with cards shrinking from 125 to 100 — Hossler finished 104th in the FedEx Cup Fall and lost full-time membership. Hossler was the guest on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar podcast, and while he said don’t feel bad for him — he made no excuses and said he’ll still get plenty of starts with his conditional status — he did say something needs to change with how the Tour structures its schedule and how often top players compete together.

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind for sure. I think the intention is obviously to get it right, but I think there is some value in just getting it consistent,” Hossler said. “I honestly believe if you want your fans to really be engaged, I really think they need to understand. And I can tell you with certainty your players need to understand what’s going on. And there’s been just so many changes over the last X number of years that frankly, it’s been hard to keep up, even internally.”

An example of some semi-recent changes: the Tour’s top 50 players in the FedEx Cup standings get invited to Signature Events, although there’s still room for others to qualify via the Aon Next 10 or Aon Swing 5. This year was also the first year only 100 PGA Tour cards were given out following the FedEx Cup Fall Series, and only 20 cards (10 less than last year) were given to Korn Ferry Tour grads.

Hossler said he recently met with new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp and had the opportunity to voice some of his opinions.

“Starting last year I was like 64th [in the standings], so let’s just say I’m the 70th-best player in the world, roughly, maybe I’m the 80th-best player in the world, I’m in that range. I told him, the amount of times I’m going to see a top-five player in the world at a tournament this year is like on one hand,” Hossler said. “And the amount of times I’m going to see seven of the top-10 players in the world at a tournament this year is literally only if I play in a major or elevated event, or a Players. So competitively speaking if you went to the 70th-best baseball player in the world, they are playing at the highest level every single night.

“And I think there is something to that, because that’s the type of competition you want,” Hossler continued. “And speaking from a player’s perspective, you feel like at that point you earned the right to compete against the best players in the world. Now this year I finished 104th, I’m going to get what I’m going to get. I’m totally accepting of that. I’m just talking on a broader spectrum, the No. 55 guy in the world should be playing against the best player. The way the schedule has worked out, the best players in the world, those top-50 guys play against each other a lot. But if you are literally one player out of that you almost never see them. I just don’t know that in 20 years that’s the best model.”

Hossler added his meeting with Rolapp went well. He called the new boss “exceptional” and said he is an expert in some important areas but also had the humility and awareness to know which areas he still needed to learn about. He said Rolapp created an environment where he felt he could speak freely and that he seemed to listen to the feedback.

“I really think that’s an exceptional quality in someone who is going to lead anything,” Hossler said. “To say, Hey, I know exactly what I’m doing and I know areas where I need to listen to people who live it. We had an awesome chat.”

For more from Hossler on the schedule, his coffee company and his Ayahuasca experience in Costa Rica, you can listen to the podcast here or watch it on YouTube below.

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