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The PGA Tour has announced a new two-tier system that will take effect in 2028. When divided into the Championship Series and the Challenger Series, the system creates a schedule where some destinations will grab the spotlight, while others quietly slide into the margins. Golf analysts Andy Johnson and Brendan Porath discussed events that could become track two, even though they deserve a place in track one.

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Porath posed the question in the Friday, June 3, episode of the Fried Egg Golf and The Shotgun Start, and Johnson’s reply was Bermuda.

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Acknowledging his point, Porath said, “Well, the whole fall is a real sort of fertile ground to mess around and make these guys. Bermuda would be great. Port Royale in the wind.”

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“The sheer potential for game-changing elements should not be ignored in my opinion,” Johnson replied.

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Bermuda entered the PGA Tour in 2019 as the Bermuda Championship, with Port Royal Golf Course hosting the event, later rebranded as the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. It was originally slotted in as an alternate event. However, Port Royal is now a regular FedExCup Fall stop.

The Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) sponsors the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

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But it’s game-changing for more than that. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and opened in 1970, the course underwent a revamp in 2008–2009 under Roger Rulewich. Many elements make the course unpredictable and challenging. For instance, the course sits above the Atlantic. And with tree removal and open corridors, the wind can be volatile. This can turn comfortable birdie stretches into survival tests, which is exactly what track-one destinations should deliver.

Another destination that Andy Johnson pointed out is Fort Worth. He discussed two courses: the TPC Craig Ranch and the Colonial Country Club. According to him, one of these events that should be a track one is Colonial.

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“We’re going to have a Dallas event. Dallas Fort Worth event. It’s going to be TPC Craig Ranch, and we’re going to have Colonial, not like Colonial is so much better than Craig Ranch. It’s the same freaking market. Like, what are we doing? Kind and they’re like, ‘Oh, the salesmanship club’s such a good, like just have them hosted Colonial.'”

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Porath agreed, noting that Colonial’s track-one status makes it the obvious choice.

TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley for the RBC Canadian Open is another event that both golf analysts felt should be a track one, though they also acknowledged it might not be.

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“Canada might go to the fall. I don’t know. The Travelers, I think, more of it is about what is track one that should be track two, right? I think like some of these events, like a CJ Cup, that kind of thing. The Florida events, I don’t know if we have Florida really figured out,” Porath added.

The Cognizant Classic, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Players Championship, the Valspar Championship, and the Cadillac Championship are events in Florida. Three of the five are Signature Events, protecting them from demotion to track two. Also, another host who chimed in during the ongoing conversation said he doesn’t want PGA National to go away. So, with the Cognizant Classic out of the picture, the focus remains on the Valspar Championship hosted at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club.

On the other hand, the Texas events of the regular PGA Tour season are the Texas Children’s Houston Open, the Valero Texas Open, the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, and the Charles Schwab Challenge. None are Signature Events.

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As the 2028 deadline approaches, venues like Colonial and Bermuda will lobby for track-one status.

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Written by

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Kailash Bhimji Vaviya

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Kailash Vaviya is a Golf Journalist at EssentiallySports, covering both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. His reporting spans major championship contention, player performance, and the ongoing tensions between the two circuits, from the financial pressures LIV players face to the tour politics shaping where careers go. He has followed golf closely since his college years, and that long-running familiarity informs how he covers the game, placing week-to-week results within the bigger structural stories around them. Before joining EssentiallySports, Kailash wrote for Comic Book Resources (CBR) and Forbes, where he developed a research-driven approach to sports and media reporting. He brings that same attention to accuracy and structure to his golf work, with particular depth on the business and political side of the professional game alongside the competitive storylines that define each tournament week.

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Abhimanyu Gupta

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