New PGA Tour format means a month or more of match play on the golf calendar

ATLANTA (AP) — The PGA Tour's bold plan to end its season in 2028 with one tournament over two weeks in two cities is certain to define this part of the golf calendar as a month (or more) of match play.

The majors end in July. The regular season on the PGA Tour is done in the middle of August. And then for those fans who can't get their fill of match play, there will be plenty of options.

While the PGA Tour's schedule for 2028 is still being sorted out (including the dates), the heart of the match play season is likely to start with the consecutive weeks of the U.S. Women's Amateur (Brae Burn) and the U.S. Amateur (Whistling Straits).

For elite tour professionals, there will be two weeks of match play to end the PGA Tour season, with either a Ryder Cup or a Presidents Cup right on its heels. That won't be the case the first year of the revamped PGA Tour schedule because the Presidents Cup in 2028 is in Australia and likely won't be played until after Thanksgiving.

As much as the PGA Tour is intrigued by team play, it would not be surprising for the old Dunhill Cup — medal matches for three-man teams from 16 countries — to be revived around that time.

For the women, the Solheim Cup in 2028 is set for Valhalla the first full week of September.

For the amateur game, which is getting more attention by the year with so many top players making an immediate impact as pros, the Walker Cup (Bandon Dunes) is the same week as the Solheim Cup in 2028. The week before is the Curtis Cup (Royal Dornoch).

The Curtis Cup was in June this year at Bel-Air in Los Angeles, and it will be in June when it goes to National Golf Links in New York in 2030. It still occasionally goes to September, such as 2034 when it is scheduled for Pine Valley.

The Ryder, Solheim and Presidents Cups have occupied the early fall for years, and typically the two amateur cups. Two additional weeks of match play for the PGA Tour finale only adds to that.

Ryan Gerard first began to gain notoriety when he flew halfway around the world to a tiny island off the eastern coast of Africa to play in the Mauritius Open . At stake was a chance to move into the top 50 by the end of the year and qualify for the Masters, which he did.

And now he's in Switzerland.

Gerard, who shared the 36-hole lead at the Tour Championship and finished third, is in the field this week for the Omega European Masters in Crans Montana in the Alps. He is the top-ranked player in the field at No. 22 in the world.

“Season’s not over for me,” said Gerard, who played 33 times last year and already is at 26 this year. "Frustrated with some of the results, a lot of positives, but still work left to do.”

Why Switzerland? Gerard became a European tour member by winning the co-sanctioned Barracuda Championship in July 2025. He finished the year playing the Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, and Mauritius counts toward the 2026 season. He said he needs two more events to fulfill his membership requirements.

Plus, there's the Presidents Cup if he's a captain's pick.

“I’d love to kind of roll into there being a little bit more prepared," Gerard said. “I like to play a lot of golf. And if I don’t, I’ll probably just stay over there and play Wentworth and the France Open. Yeah, a bit of a weird stretch of the year for me.”

The first stage of Q-school for the European tour is underway, and perhaps the biggest surprise is only five players from LIV Golf are in the field.

The future of the LIV Golf League has never been more murky with the loss of Saudi Arabia funding, the push to finalize a deal with a lead investor, indications of bankruptcy for restructuring and whether LIV can keep its biggest stars.

One option is the European tour, where the leading 10 players not already exempt currently get a PGA Tour card. That's the path Patrick Reed has taken this year.

Peter Uihlein, a past European tour winner, is in an England stage with fellow U.S. Amateur champion Josele Ballester and Luis Masaveu. Michael LaSasso, who won the final LIV event, and Yosuke Asaji are the other two LIV players.

Other notable players in the first stage are former Phoenix Open champion Kyle Stanley, former NCAA champion Hiroshi Tai and Daniel Choi, the youngest son of K.J. Choi.

Brooks Koepka is all the way back on the PGA Tour. He's now part of the TGL indoor league, the first player announced for the Motor City Golf Club for the 2027 season. Motor City is the first expansion team in the tech-infused indoor league broadcast on ESPN platforms.

Koepka grew up and lives near the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where the matches are played.

“I’ve had the chance to attend TGL matches, and they bring something completely new to the game," said Koepka, formerly the captain of Smash Golf Club in the LIV Golf League.

The WTGL also is moving toward its debut season by announcing the rosters of the five teams that will start playing toward the end of this year.

The Japanese twins are split up — Chizzy Iwai plays for Boston Common, Aki Iwai for Los Angeles. True to the LPGA Tour membership, three of the teams have five players from five countries. Among them is Motor City with Jeeno Thitikul (Thailand), Albane Valenzuela (Switzerland), Brooke Henderson (Canada), Lexi Thompson (United States) and Ruoning Yin (China).

Missing from the WTGL is Nelly Korda, the No. 1 player in women's golf, who did not express interest when the women's league was announced.

Xander Schauffele tied for 14th at the Tour Championship and earned $536,250, making him the 11th player to surpass $70 million in career PGA Tour earnings. This is his 10th year on tour. ... Tim Clark of South Africa and Taylor Pendrith of Canada will be assistant captains to Geoff Ogilvy for the International team at the Presidents Cup. ... Scottie Scheffler led in 24 statistical categories this year on the PGA Tour. That includes the money list and lowest scoring average for the fourth consecutive year. ... Sankaty Head on Nantucket Island has been selected for the 2036 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur.

Nelly Korda has 23 wins worldwide. The other 11 Americans on the Solheim Cup team have combined for 18 victories.

“For me, I have a great sense of this is such a huge opportunity I've been given.” — Adam Scott, who at age 46 will be playing in his 12th straight Presidents Cup. He has yet to be on a winning team.

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