The PGA Tour Should Keep Iconic Winter Events, Including Torrey Pines

The new 2027 Tour schedule is a mystery, but the early start to the current season is worth preserving, Bob Harig writes. Also: LIV Golf’s changes, Patrick Reed and where it all began for Scottie Scheffler.

Would the PGA Tour really abandon the Pacific Ocean views from Torrey Pines in San Diego? | Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

SAN DIEGO — For those locked up indoors due to snow and ice and frigid temperatures, the Farmers Insurance Open may have been a welcome diversion.

Torrey Pines always offers scenic views of the Pacific Ocean, but it can’t beam warm, sunny temperatures directly into the living rooms of golf-starved audiences. Fans stuck in fidgid weather can only hope for better days.

It is one of the reasons why the West Coast PGA Tour events—Hawaii, California, Arizona—typically have succeeded in the eyes of golf fans. And on a weekend where there was no pro or college football for the first time since August, those stops land in a sweet spot on the schedule.

That is why Marty Gorsich didn’t seem too concerned about the chatter surrounding a potential upheaval to the future PGA Tour schedule that could put some iconic tournaments and venues on ice.

Gorsich is the CEO of the Century Club, the non-profit organization that has run the Farmers Insurance Open for years. Farmers Insurance is now out as a title sponsor, and the PGA Tour, under new CEO Brian Rolapp, is looking at a schedule reset that could see contraction, including events at the beginning of the year.

Does that put Torrey Pines in peril?

“The younger me would probably be bouncing all over the place,” said Gorsich, who previously worked for the San Diego Padres and has been with the Century Club since 2012 and its CEO since 2019. “We’ve come out of a pandemic, had a tournament with no fans, had a date change to end on Saturday for a few years, last year deal with wildfires and spent this time also planning for the Genesis [which moved to Torrey Pines from Los Angeles].

“The new me is more calm and able to step back and just look at the facts here. This is a great golf course, players love to play here. We think we operate well. The tour’s goal is to make it better, more compelling, with the best players at the best places. You look at the history of the course, the [U.S.] Opens ... I don’t have any inside information other than at the very top line the Tour is saying ‘best players, best places’ and this is known as an iconic place.”

So … would the PGA Tour really want to leave here?

It’s a valid question since Rolapp has hinted that the PGA Tour will move toward a more condensed schedule with a “less is more” mantra.

While the idea on paper may make sense—competing against the NFL playoffs the first two weekends of the year is probably not a solid business strategy—the Tour’s early schedule includes some of the most popular and traditional venues in golf.

Kapalua and Waialae in Hawaii. The desert courses near Palm Springs. Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach, Riviera. How do they all fit into a condensed schedule?

Pebble Beach is another early-season venue that could be in jeopardy in a condensed schedule. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Even talk of starting the season after the Super Bowl comes with a pause. This week’s WM Phoenix Open has occupied the Super Bowl week for years and thrives in this slot. It ends on Sunday prior to kickoff, and its crowds are among the largest in golf.

As for the event we just concluded, none other than CBS’s Jim Nantz believes it would be an odd choice for the Tour to skip the NFL’s off week prior to the Super Bowl.

“Torrey Pines with all its gorgeous views is one of the great pieces of real estate in American golf,” said Nantz in a conference call last week. “This weekend between Championship weekend and the Super Bowl is pure gold when it comes to real estate in television.

“I have no idea where the schedule is going. As long as the NFL has an open weekend ... this would be the No. 1 piece of real estate you can have on the West Coast for television. You’re not competing against football.”

Last week, Sports Business Journal floated the idea that Torrey Pines could be a home in the future for one of the three FedEx Cup playoff events. That makes sense if the event in Memphis—home of FedEx—is replaced or moved into some sort of rotation with the BMW Championship or even the Tour Championship.

“That’s a completely different product and price tag,” Gorsich said. “Obviously our weather at different times of the year works. But there’s a lot that goes into that, too. How does it change your parking, your access to school, the hotels we rely on? So there’s a lot of other factors that go into that and those are things you have to figure out.”

The PGA Tour’s changes are clearly a work in progress. There’s an effort to make the competitive model stronger, and there’s no question that players earning FedEx Cup points in February hardly registers with fans. Figuring out a way to make all events more meaningful—and getting players to play a big percentage of the overall schedule—is desired.

But there is still a lot to unpack as far as venues and how the schedule looks in the future.

“The golf course stands up to any golf course I think we play on Tour,” Justin Rose said after his victory Sunday, speaking of the South course used for three of the four rounds. “And the North course is such a great complement to the South course, too. The views are spectacular. It's the kind of place you play on a week like this and you're like, you do stop to smell the roses. Sorry to throw that one in there. But you kind of do look around and go wow, this place is special.”

LIV Golf’s many changes

The Official World Golf Ranking board met last week, but so far there’s been no word on whether it will accredit the LIV Golf League with points, a full allotment or otherwise.

But as LIV begins its 2026 season on Wednesday—playing 72 holes through Saturday—in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, it has put in place several changes in an attempt to appease the OWGR.

First, an expansion of its “lock zone” from 24 to 34 players. Players who finish among the top 34 in the season-long individual standings are assured of a place in the league in 2027.

Next, the “open zone” will include players who finish from 35 to 46, reducing that section from 24 spots to 12. Those players are still subject to losing a spot in the league if their team doesn’t want them. (That happened to four players this past year and it’s likely a sticking point with OWGR.)

And the “drop zone,” or relegation, has been expanded for players 47 and lower in the standings—or 11 players dropped, up from six. This is clearly an area of importance for the OWGR, as it means more risk for players to fall out of the league and more opportunity for others to join it.

Anthony Kim was relegated out of LIV Golf last year, but played his way back via last month's Promotions tournament. | Jeff Swinger-Imagn Images

The league has made other changes to its point system, which in the previous four years saw a player only earn points if he finished among the top 24. Now all players get points, with a greater emphasis on high finishes. This was likely in response to last year’s final results where Joaquin Niemann, who won five times, somehow lost the points title on the final weekend to Jon Rahm, who didn’t win any LIV tournaments.

As announced earlier, LIV Golf is also increasing its prize pool for the team portion of tournaments from $5 million to $10 million, with all 13 teams paid instead of just the top three. The total prize money payout for the year will be $470 million, with each individual purse worth $20 million. That $470 million figure is more than the entire PGA Tour schedule of $450 million, which does not include $100 million in FedEx bonus money.

Scottie Scheffler returns to where it all began

Scottie Scheffler returns this week to the WM Phoenix Open, the place where his run of victories began. When he got there four years ago, Scheffler had yet to win on the PGA Tour. He won that week, one of four victories in 2022 including the Masters. Since then he’s added 16 more wins, including three more majors and the American Express two weeks ago.

Scottie Scheffler's first trophy shoot: the 2022 WM Phoenix Open. | Alex Gould/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Scheffler has climbed the PGA Tour victory list at a fast pace. He has 20 wins in 151 starts, with only Tiger Woods getting to that total in fewer starts (95). At 29, he is the third-youngest to 20 wins, behind Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

With that 20th win, Scheffler surpassed some greats in the game. Nick Price has 18 PGA Tour wins and three majors. Scheffler moved past 19-time winners Ben Crenshaw, Ernie Els, Doug Ford, Hubert Green, Tom Kite and Bill Mehlhorn.

He is tied at 20 wins with Hale Irwin, Greg Norman, Johnny Revolta, Doug Sanders and Willie Macfarlane.

Next up at 21 wins are Davis Love III, Lanny Wadkins and Craig Wood—and he could get to some rarified territory achieved by players long ago.

Aside from Woods, who has 82 wins, and Phil Mickelson at 45 who is no longer playing the PGA Tour, the only active player ahead of Scheffler is Rory McIlroy at 29. Dustin Johnson has 24 and is not playing the PGA Tour. (Vijay Singh has 34 victories and just played the Sony Open at age 62, but he is not expected to compete often on the PGA Tour.)

The number 20 has become a bit of an outlier. Before McIlroy achieved his 20th victory in 2021, the last player to get to 20 wins was Johnson in 2019. Before that, it was Love in 2015.

Behind Scheffler, the list of players stalking 20 career wins is short. Justin Thomas has 16, Adam Scott 14 (he hasn’t won since 2020), Jason Day, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth are at 13, and Hideki Matsuyama has 11.

Will Patrick Reed play fall PGA Tour events?

Patrick Reed is allowed to return to the PGA Tour in a limited capacity in late August as a non-member. It means he can accept sponsor invites and Monday-qualify if he chooses. But don’t expect him to play many of those events, if any.

Reed’s main path back to the PGA Tour is going to be via the DP World Tour, which gives a full exemption to those who finish among the top 10 on the season-long Race to Dubai standings. After winning the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, Reed is already well-positioned to do so, and his playoff loss in Bahrain on Sunday solidified his position, although there is a long way to go.

Reed is second in the points standings and will play his fourth consecutive event this week at the Qatar Masters. He is now 25th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Patrick Reed is off to a good start to playing his way back to the PGA Tour via the DP World Tour. | Warren Little/Getty Images

Points earned at major championships count toward the Race to Dubai, so that will be one way for Reed to achieve the goal. But so, too, will be the back end of the schedule when many of the DP World Tour’s bigger events will coincide with PGA Tour FedEx Fall events.

For example, the first week of this year’s FedEx Fall is a new event in Asheville, N.C. It’s the same week as the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship, the circuit’s flagship tournament. The Bank of Utah Championship is the same week as the Dunhill Links in Scotland. The Baycurrent (formerly Zozo) in Japan is the same week as the Spanish Open.

The DP World Tour’s season-ending events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the same as two other fall PGA Tour events.

There is nothing opposite the PGA Tour’s Mexico Open or the RSM Classic, but unless Reed has a spot locked up or insists on an ambitious travel schedule, he’s not likely to play much PGA Tour golf until next January.