The PGA Tour is confronting a structural challenge regarding its national open tournaments as it prepares to implement a two-track system for the 2028 season. The proposed model divides events into Track 1, known as the Championship Series, and Track 2, referred to as the Challenger series. Track 1 fields will consist of 120 players who are all exempt, eliminating sponsor invitations and open qualifiers.
Approximately 130 members will be restricted to Track 1 and barred from competing in Track 2 events, which will maintain fields of 130 to 144 players and include sponsor invites and qualifiers.
This division creates a conflict for national opens currently on the schedule, specifically the RBC Canadian Open, the Genesis Scottish Open, and the VidantaWorld Mexico Open. If these tournaments are designated as Track 1 events, they would exclude many international players who typically compete in open qualifiers.
Conversely, if they are classified as Track 2 events, they would be absent the top 130 PGA Tour members, including prominent homegrown stars such as Corey Conners and Nick Taylor for the Canadian Open.
The situation is further complicated by the Genesis Scottish Open, which is co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour. Current fields include numerous European circuit regulars alongside a small number of Scottish players. Rory McIlroy emphasized that national opens require different treatment than standard Championship Series events like the Travelers Championship or RBC Heritage.
He argued that a tournament cannot legitimately claim to be a national open if it is closed off to a significant number of players from that nation.
Robert MacIntyre, Scotland’s top-ranked golfer, suggested the Scottish Open should return to being a full-time DP World Tour event within its Rolex Series. However, he noted that if the tournament remains part of a PGA Tour international series, it must retain its current calendar position before The Open championship.
