Two seasons ago, when the PGA Tour launched its billion-dollar Player Equity Program, it felt like “Christmas in April” for many. But not everyone, as it failed to reward the latest performances of golfers who have been grinding hard on the Tour and have consistently posted good results. Well, this was until now. A January 8 update tells of a major shift in PEP.

As per the latest memo sent to Tour membership, the PGA Tour will now reward the top 50 players in the 2026 FedExCup standings through the BMW Championship, and they will earn recurring equity grants from PGA TOUR Enterprises. The distribution will be scheduled for April 2027. Rolapp reportedly conceived of the change after a players’ meeting at the Rocket Classic encounter.

“By broadening the Player Equity Program, we are reaffirming our commitment to recognizing competitive performance and ensuring more of our members have the opportunity to share in the PGA Tour’s long-term success,” Rolapp wrote in the memo.

This isn’t a minor adjustment, as the expansion roughly doubles the number of players receiving recurring grants this year. Nearly 200 PGA Tour members currently hold equity stakes, with over $1 billion granted. This step shows that the Tour is moving from a system that heavily favored career accomplishments and star power to one that rewards what you do right now, on the course, when it counts.

In January 2024, PEP began when Strategic Sports Group, a group chaired by Fenway Sports Group, put an initial $1.5 billion of a $3 billion deal into PGA TOUR Enterprises. The idea was revolutionary: grow the PGA Tour in many different ways and have the alignment of players as player-owners with the organization. This was a historic program, as this was the first time in professional sports history that a sports organization had made its players owners.

Initially, there were four primary categories into which players would receive equity grants from PGA Tour Enterprises:

• Group 1: This is the elite group that has $750 million in aggregate equity based on career performance, last 5-year performance, and Player Impact Program results based on social media presence and fan engagement. A total of 36 players were in this group, including Tiger Woods, who got $100 million in equity. and Rory McIlroy, who got $50 million in equity.
• Group 2: This group had 64 golfers who got a total of $75 million in aggregate equity based on the last 3-year performance.
• Group 3: This group of 57 golfers received $30 million in aggregate equity, based on career earnings and how many times they finished inside the top 125 in FedExCup points.
• Group 4: The final category had $75 million in aggregate equity granted to 36 players who were instrumental in building the modern PGA Tour based on career performance. Basically, the past legends like Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson.

See the issue with this criterion? Career points, PIP rankings, and past contributions. Good for established stars, but not so much for the golfers who are playing well in the preceding season.

Perhaps most important of all to golfers will be PEP’s eight-year vesting period. The grants will be worth 50% of their value after four years, 75% after six, and 100% after eight years, when a player will be able to sell their equity in PGA Tour Enterprises, the for-profit arm of the Tour created for the program. At each vesting benchmark, golfers will pay taxes on the grants.

The original PEP was met with criticism from golfers.

“Some people deserve more, some people didn’t get any that probably should have, but it’s not a perfect system,” said Chesson Hadley in 2024.

Player Director Adam Scott heard similar complaints. He said, “Of course, you’d be disappointed if you thought you were going to get some equity or a grant and you didn’t.”

“I think they could have done a better job. Some people have to vest for eight years, and some guys don’t. You have to play 15 events, but there are other guys like Tiger who aren’t going to play 15 events; he’s going to vest in other ways. That option isn’t going to be available for others. To me, there are so many questions and loopholes,” Mackenzie Hughes said.

“I was a full-status guy at one point, do I get any? Even if it is half of a half of a percent,” said Austin Smotherman. “I guess I’ve got to check my spam.”

Nick Faldo couldn’t believe he wasn’t in the 4th group. If the Tour thinks he brought no value, there’s not a lot he can do about it, he noted.

The timing matters for this major shift. With the season starting on January 15 with the Sony Open at the iconic Waialae Country Club on the island of Oahu, players enter the year knowing competitive results.

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What does this new PGA Tour move mean for the 2026 season?

Now, every tournament has new stakes. In addition to FedExCup points, top-50 players compete for long-term ownership of a billion-dollar PGA Tour Enterprises. The modification addresses fairness concerns raised in player meetings. Younger competitors and persistent achievers without star power or extensive careers feel left out of a reward system. Now, performance in competition matters more than popularity or rewards.

Rolapp’s memo also hinted at changes that the Competition Committee, which Tiger Woods leads, will make in the future. Some of the topics are an “iconic start” to the season, moving into big cities like New York and Chicago, and making the system more meritocratic. He made it clear that “scarcity” doesn’t mean fewer events; it means making each one more important.

There are currently more than 213 PGA Tour members in the program, and they are sharing around $1.3 billion in equity grants. Recent career points and PIP rankings were used to determine who would receive the 2025 recurring grants, which were awarded to more than 20 players in April.

But in 2026, the formula changes completely.