Two adjustments approved for Signature Events in 2025

Two adjustments to the PGA TOUR’s Signature Events highlighted a PGA TOUR Policy Board/PGA TOUR Enterprises Board joint meeting in Hartford, Connecticut, on Tuesday.

The news went out to players Tuesday night as many of them prepared to play in the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, the last of eight Signature Events this season.

The changes were approved after the PGA TOUR Policy Board’s comprehensive review of the 2024 schedule and competitive framework, which has met expectations to deliver a strong product to fans and sponsors. As such, it will continue apace next season with two modifications.

The first adjustment will impose a minimum field size of 72 players for the Signature Events. Although eligible players participated in Signature Events with no mandatory participation requirement this year, the eight Signature Events saw an average of one eligible player not participate, with two events having 100 percent participation and one event having a maximum of three players not participate.

In such cases next season, tournaments will use an alternate list to fill the field to 72 players, drawing from the next available player(s) in order from the Aon Next 10 list.

The other adjustment to the Signature Events will introduce a Sponsor Exemption for Lifetime Achievement – 80 or more career victories – to recognize Tiger Woods in his own category. Among his 82 career wins, Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard eight times and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday five times. Both are Signature Events.

“It was important to our membership. It's something we talked about with the PAC. It was important to our player directors. It was important to our board. It's important to me because the man, as the exemption says, has won more than 80 events," PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan said during a media session at the Travelers Championship. "And I think being able to give him the opportunity to compete in these events, any event he's ever played in, he's made it bigger, he's made it better. He's drawn more eyeballs to it. I think just as an organization, we wanted to celebrate his exceptionalism in that manner."

Throughout this review, there was discussion around applying a cut uniformly at all Signature Events, with the perspective that it could provide consistency and more excitement for fans. While no change was made by the Board during the meeting, this subject will continue to be studied throughout the remainder of the year, and as part of this process, the TOUR will garner feedback from players, title sponsors and fans.

The Policy Board also approved a proposal to delay the first collective reshuffle of all conditional categories until players in the 126-150 category have had the chance to play in approximately 3-4 Full-Field events. After that, regular reshuffles throughout the remainder of the season will continue. Exact reshuffle dates for the 2025 season will be finalized following the release of the 2025 schedule.

Other than the two adjustments to the Signature Events, Tuesday's memo delineated how the new competitive framework has delivered on its objectives and aligned with models and projections. It reduced the number of Signature Events for a schedule cadence that allows for the most flexibility for the players; succeeded in bringing the best players together more often; and preserved access points from outside the prior year’s FedExCup top 50 thanks to the Aon Next 10 and Aon Swing 5.

According to the metrics from this season:

• Players in the top 50 of the prior season’s FedExCup have participated in an average of five Full-Field events, with the strength of field for Full-Field events (as measured by top 50 and top 125 participation) seeing an increase of 35 percent, YOY.
• In addition to the top 50 players eligible for each Signature Event, 65 unique players have accessed one Signature Event this season (projections estimated 70).
• Those 65 players are spread amongst various categories:
  • 51-70 Prior Season FEC = 20 players
  • 71-125 Prior Season FEC = 17 players
  • Other = 28 players
• Top 50 retention rate through the U.S. Open is 64 percent – 18 new players moving into the top 50 – which meets projections for the season of 64 percent.
• Top 125 retention rate is 74 percent, or 32 new players moving into the top 125 (the historical average under the old points model was 74 percent).
• No significant changes from historical values for the points needed to make the top 70, with current projections of 578 (lower), 627 (average) and 724 (upper). For comparison, it took 617 points to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs last season as a top 70.