Golf has a scheduling problem of its own making

Rory McIlroy leaves the fourth tee in a cart during a practice round prior to the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club on May 12, 2026 in Newtown, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

(Emilee Chinn via Getty Images)

Four majors in that timeframe is tight enough. But throw in the PGA Tour’s newly created Signature Events and the pressure ratchets up even higher.

The Signature Events — reduced-field, higher-purse, often no-cut events — came about as a way to reward PGA Tour players who didn’t jump to LIV Golf when the Saudi-backed league was poaching players by the armload in 2021 and 2022. They’re not quite clambakes — you still do have to beat 70 or so of the best players in the world — but knocking out 50 or so potential competitors certainly helps one’s odds.

So now we have a situation where between the Masters in April and the PGA Championship in May there are three Signature Events — the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town, the Cadillac at Doral, and the Truist at Quail Hollow. Another two are wrapped around the U.S. Open in June. The Signature Events were created as a way to bring more stars into the same tournaments. But if those tournaments are taking place back-to-back-to-back, and around majors, there won’t be quite as many stars participating.

“I feel like it's a very tight window between the Masters and this tournament,” McIlroy said. “August maybe provided more of an opportunity to come to the northeast a little more often. It's a different proposition nowadays that it's in May than it was in August, and there's pros and cons to that.”

A fix won’t be easy, if it’s even possible at all. Spreading out the calendar risks losing players and fans. Downgrading Signature Events risks offending sponsors. Edging too far toward the start of the year brings weather into play; too close to the fall, and the NFL starts taking a bite.

“In terms of changing it, there's a lot more that goes into the schedule than I think people realize,” Schauffele said. “It's hard to just (go), Well, let's move this there and this there, and everything will be great.”

So unless the PGA Tour unveils a dramatic change to the schedule in the coming months, this is what the calendar will look like in the coming years. And at that point, it’s up to the players to adjust.

“I think it's just building the right schedule for yourself and not looking at it so much like, Oh, man, we've got big after big after big,” Collin Morikawa said Tuesday. “I think all events matter to some degree. They can change anyone's career, if you win an opposite-field event or win a regular-season event or if you win a Signature. They all matter. They're all big events in that situation.”