The PGA Tour and DP World Tour are planning a nine-event global series that could reshape the men’s professional golf calendar as early as 2028. Sir Nick Faldo had, just a day earlier, called it “a shame” that America never let golf go truly global, pointing to the sport’s competitiveness and reluctance to expand beyond the United States.
Golf reporter James Corrigan from The Telegraph first reported, “PGA Tour working with DP World Tour to launch Global Series.”
The series is expected to run in autumn and into the new year. The two tours have identified nine locations: England, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, France, Spain, Italy, Australia, South Africa, and the Far East.
Notably, these would stay DP World Tour events rather than co-sanctioned ones, the same setup used for the Scottish Open, which is known to regularly attract top American players. Tour officials expect stars like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy to compete during what’s being called the off-season, drawn by more than just prize money.
Neither tour has commented directly on the report yet, but the appetite for this kind of expansion was already on show last month. That is when the PGA Tour announced a new multi-year partnership with the Asian Tour.
“This agreement is another example of what can be accomplished when organizations come together with a shared vision for the future of professional golf,” PGA Tour Senior Vice President of International Christian Hardy said at the time.
McIlroy welcomed the news, calling it “positive” and good for golf worldwide.
A global tour isn’t a new idea. Back in 2020, the Premier Golf League pitched an 18-event world circuit built on much the same premise, and both the PGA Tour and, later, the European Tour turned it down flat. That rejection played a real part in pushing LIV Golf into existence not long after. LIV Golf’s early momentum hasn’t held up, though, and this time it’s the PGA Tour steering the push toward a global calendar.
PGA Tour’s 2028 Overhaul Adds to the Timing
The planning for the global series lines up with the much bigger shakeup already approved for 2028. As previously reported in June, the PGA Tour board signed off on a two-tier structure that splits the season into the Championship Series and the Challenger Series with relegation and promotion between them.
CEO Brian Rolapp framed it as a fix for competitive clarity: “From day one, the focus of the Future Competition Committee has been to build the best version of the PGA Tour and to do so in a way that reflects the voice of our players and the expectations of our fans,” he said.
As many are aware, the idea of a two-tier system was floated to bring better structure to fans and a more competitive playoff on the tour. The Championship Series will run February through August, carrying 23 to 24 events, including the majors, the Players Championship, and the Ryder or Presidents Cups, with purses around $20 million. The fields are expanded roughly to 120 players. The Challenger Series sits below it, with at least 20 events, $4 million purses, and 144-player fields built to funnel talent upwards.
The Championship Series ends in August, leaving a fall gap. Neither tour has explicitly tied the Global Series to that gap, but the timing lines up.
Seen together, the two plans could work in tandem: a shorter domestic season would free the sport’s biggest names for time overseas, even if the tours haven’t confirmed the timing is intentional. The DP World Tour’s scheduling work will shape the outcome more than any statement from either tour. Whether Scheffler and McIlroy show up once the Championship Series wraps in August will be the clearest signal of how serious the plan is.