Open when he questioned whether the PGA Tour's two-tiered format coming in 2028 was really necessary, saying that the old tour format was "pretty good" in hindsight. In the two months that have passed since those comments, McIlroy has gotten more of an opportunity to talk with PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp about the changes and get a better sense of the details of what's to come in 2028 -- particularly with regards to the new match play format for the Tour Championship. Ahead of the 2026 Tour Championship, McIlroy met with the media on Tuesday and was asked about the new format for the tour's season finale, and had much more positive things to say.
"I think the PGA Tour, the Future Competition Committee, Brian [Rolapp] and everyone involved have really taken on board what the fans have been calling for and have wanted, which is match play," McIlroy said. "Brian took me through the plan last week for the first time. I didn't really know anything about it.
It's certainly different. Two weeks, two different venues. I think they've taken a big swing, and conceptually, I think I really like it." McIlroy noted that his lone concern is how engaged players will be in the second week playing out matches for position in the loser's bracket, but that he was generally a fan of the new format.
He was particularly pleased that the tour was separating the Tour Championship from the regular season champion, noting that the final stroke-play event will reward the season-long champion and then the Tour Championship gets to be something totally different. Aside from finally getting match play, one of the things that has fans most excited about the new Tour Championship is the PGA Tour's desire to branch out to some iconic venues. With match play, the score to par is irrelevant, and it'd be more of a made-for-TV event, which means they don't need huge buildouts for the crowds on site, which allows them to consider some of the country's most iconic, historic courses that aren't big enough to host a PGA Tour event.
When asked about what makes a venue prestigious in the minds of players, McIlroy noted that history plays a big role, but so many of those courses aren't part of the PGA Tour rotation. "History is a big part of it. Amateur last week at Merion, watching that on TV was really cool," McIlroy said.
"I'm not saying that that's what the Tour Championship is going to be like, but if you think of places like Merion, you think of some of the courses that the USGA have sort of had a monopoly on over the past 50 to 100 years, places that the PGA Tour either haven't went to or maybe sometimes can't go to, those are the sort of courses -- especially if we're going to go to a smaller footprint and a limited size of crowd, you can all of a sudden go to some of these historic venues, and especially playing match play. It doesn't matter, you can go to a 6600-yard golf course and par is irrelevant. I like that idea as well.
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