A massive transformation is coming to the TOUR Championship, the season’s $40 million finale, and not everyone is convinced it is for the better. While Maverick McNealy remains open to the idea of a win-or-go-home format to decide the champion, he is doing so against a backdrop of growing player frustration over shrinking fields and job security.

“I think the answer is that I don’t know, and it depends on what’s going to make the best competition. At the end of the day, the goal is to present the best competition to fans, media, and television audiences,” Maverick McNealy said. “The players want to be a part of the best competition. I think you have seen the different playing options that professional golfers have. We all gravitate towards the best competition.”

To implement this, the Tour has narrowed its field sizes and eligibility significantly, increasing the competition. The Policy Board decided to cut full-time job security from the top 125 players down to the top 100. Even the path from the Korn Ferry Tour got tighter with only twenty cards. Field sizes drop from 156 to 144, with some events potentially reaching a maximum of 120 players.

Currently, the TOUR Championship is played under a format that recently eliminated the controversial ‘starting strokes’ model. In 2025 and 2026, all 30 qualifiers begin the tournament at even par and compete in a standard 72-hole stroke play competition for a massive $40 million purse, separate from the nearly $100 million in bonus money. However, the proposed system would upend this identity by introducing match play to the season finale. This shift is designed to provide television partners with ‘win-or-go-home’ moments.

That’s why Scott McNealy’s son, who is co-founder of billion-dollar business Sun Microsystems, added, “Our job is to figure out what that is, and if enough people think that match play will be the best form of way to decide our playoff champion, then that’s what we’re going to do. We haven’t gotten that far in our discussions yet, but I think it could be a lot of fun.”

But the TOUR Championship change is just a part of the major scheduled changes. In a recent letter to fans, Rolapp cleared several other areas of development, envisioning a ‘First Track’ of roughly 21 to 26 elevated events with the best players competing for higher purses. Rolapp’s plan also includes doubling the current eight Signature Events to 16, adding major markets like New York, Chicago, and Boston, and implementing a promotion and relegation system similar to English soccer.

Some players, like Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, think these significant changes are a very positive step forward. McIlroy called the proposed changes a really good direction for where the PGA Tour should be going. Other pros, such as Lucas Glover, Erik van Rooyen, Jason Day, Stewart Cink, and Tom Hoge, have criticized it.

Brian Rolapp’s changes are met with opposing views

Glover, for instance, said that these events were terrible, selfish, and a money grab. He believes that they divide the PGA Tour into two classes and unnecessarily shrink the fields.

“Sadly, our court has become too much about money, in my opinion. We’re seeing that come to an ugly head,” Glover said. “It’s just a shame that more people won’t speak out. I know many people don’t like it. I know many people who have benefited from it—myself included—who don’t like it. But there’s just so much money being given away that nobody’s going to say anything.”

Brian Harman, a member of the Player Advisory Council, also pointed out the losses.

“This is going to cause some problems. People are going to lose in this situation, and it’s going to be tough growing pains when it comes to a lot of different players,” Harman added.

South African professional Erik van Rooyen also argues that the strongest fields and events should include more golfers. Rooyen cites examples from major events like the Masters and the PGA Championship.