The secret message in the PGA Tour’s new changes

Golf Digest

It’s easy to get bogged down in the intricacies of the PGA Tour’s new membership model for 2028, and admittedly some of Tuesday’s announcement is inside baseball. But don’t let the administrative details obscure the imagination and intent behind them. The tour’s overhauled membership criteria is technically an offshoot of the seismic changes new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp introduced in March and June, but really it’s evidence that those changes represent something larger. A tour that is reconsidering how it does business, respectful of its past without allowing history to dictate its future, and willing to prioritize the product and its fans over the (at times) competing demands of sponsors and membership.

If there is a throughline to the tour’s membership criteria, it’s that each element feels considered, designed to restore a meritocracy that had gradually been sanded down by time and further distorted by the pressures of LIV Golf. That may prove more significant than any individual provision. Rolapp arrived promising the tour would think differently, and these changes give those words action and intent. For the first time in a long time, fans are being given something more convincing than blind hope that professional golf might, finally, have its act together.

PGA Tour reveals eligibility guidelines for the new-look tour in 2028

Here’s how it will work (and who'll play where).

By Dave Shedloski

What You Need to Know

Alex Myers

Tiger Woods is back. On a practice range, at least. The 15-time major champ was videoed hitting an iron on the range at Liberty National on Tuesday.

Woods was at the course to host the NEXUS Cup, one of the annual fundraisers for his TGR Foundation. This is the first time he's been seen publicly hitting golf balls since his crash and arrest in March. Woods had his driver's license suspended for five years earlier this month, but he's still allowed to operate golf carts on the course.

Coleman Bentley

Sorry, America. The Euros just got a huge jump start on the 2027 Ryder Cup. We know the 2026 Presidents Cup doesn't happen until next week, but we're here to let you know the Euros just got a huge jump start on the 2027 Ryder Cup. Last week, a large group of Euro Ryder Cuppers gathered at Adare Manor for a scouting trip as they began their quest for a third consecutive Ryder Cup victory. Watch it and wince.

As Jamie Kennedy reports, most of the heavy hitters were in attendance, including Jon Rahm, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton and Viktor Hovland, as well as captain Luke Donald and his contingent of vice-captains. Fitzpatrick was seen walking in match-winning putts while Rahm called the trip "very enjoyable" and said it was "great for all of us to see each other and just in a way remember why we do what we do."

There's a long way to go between now and next September, of course, but from the looks of things, the U.S. squad is set to start the Ryder Cup on its heels once again.

Luke Kerr-Dineen

What's the first thing you should do during your warm-up? Well, if you want a true pro-style warm-up, you should probably hit the gym first to do an hour of active stretching and light lifting. But if you're skipping straight to the range, start with five shots that average about 95 yards.

That's what data from tour players' warm-up sessions reveals.

Only a handful of players start with shots either short or long of that number. 95-ish yards seems to be the sweet spot: A three-quarter style shot that is long enough to get the body moving, but still easy enough that you can focus on making crisp contact above all else.

More insights here.