McIlroy backs PGA Tour's move to matchplay for end‑of‑season play‑offs
Rory McIlroy said on Thursday that the PGA Tour's plan to introduce matchplay to its end-of-season play-offs responds to fan demand, after CEO Brian Rolapp outlined the change.
Brian Rolapp confirmed that from 2028 the Tour Championship will be staged across two weeks at two different courses and will adopt a head-to-head format.
World number two McIlroy, who won the FedEx Cup in 2016, 2019 and 2022, said the decision shows organisers have listened to supporters. "I think the PGA Tour and the Future Competition Committee and Brian and everyone involved have really taken on board what the fans have been calling for and have wanted, which is matchplay," said the Northern Irishman, 37.
McIlroy described first seeing the proposals only last week and reacted positively to the outline. "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, but it's cool. I think they've taken a big swing, and conceptually, I think I really like it."
The FedEx Cup play-offs have gone through numerous iterations across their two decades and currently consist of a three-event strokeplay series that begins with the top 70 players from the season-long points list. This week's concluding Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta will carry a $40m (£29.3m) purse, although organisers have faced persistent questions about fan engagement.
McIlroy said the current play-offs have been lucrative for players while suggesting the new format aims to increase spectator interest. "I think they've been great for players. Obviously we play for a ton of money, and it's sort of like the culmination of the entire season. "The players have been rewarded. I think what the Tour are really trying to do is listen to the fans and what they want, and I think this idea of matchplay over two weeks is something that came mostly from what the people that watch golf wanted, so I think that's a really good thing."
The play-off changes form part of a wider restructure due in 2028 that will create a Championship and Challenger series with promotion and relegation between the two, and a regular season of 15 events running from February through to August. The six-time major winner said: "I think if the PGA Tour are going to play from February through to August, DP World Tour have five months where, with the help of the PGA Tour and maybe some others, [it] can really shine a spotlight on international golf and put on some of the biggest international events in golf. "I think with what the PGA Tour has been through with changing its competitive model and its structure, I think if the DP World Tour could do something similar, where you host all of your best events in that five-month time frame, it would allow guys to take up membership, to then have something to play for at the end of the DP World Tour season - if they choose to do that."
The schedule and structural revisions are scheduled to take effect in 2028, with the Tour Championship moving to the two-week, head-to-head format and the new Championship/Challenger framework to introduce promotion and relegation.