Koivun vs. Scheffler was a dream finisher at the 3M Open. Now comes the catch
BLAINE, Minn. – About an hour after winning the 3M Open on Sunday, a reporter asked Jackson Koivun an innocent question: What will you miss most about the weekend?
“I will always be indebted to the 3M Open for helping me get my first PGA Tour win,” he said.
It was a great response from a 21-year-old, newly reformed, but also ironic.
It was a dream week for the 3M Open. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler entered for the first time, ticket sales skyrocketed and Scheffler and Koivun fought on the floor. One of the sport’s brightest stars has defeated his best player, meaning the 3M Open will always hold a special place in his heart, no matter how many wins he accumulates.
Even those words — “staying in credit” — are music to the ears of donors. Maybe Koivun will return? Maybe Scottie will too?
But here’s the tricky part: they might not be allowed.
Officially announced last month, the PGA Tour schedule will look very different in 2028, with the Tour split into two separate tracks. The top 130 players will compete in the Championship Series, with the next 150 or so in the Challenger Series.
If this is news to you, you can read all about how it works here, but there is one important sentence to point out: Members of the PGA Tour Championship Series will not be eligible to play in PGA Tour Challenger Series events.
That means someone like Scheffler, for example, who will be in the Championship Series, can’t just add a post-championship stop in Minnesota if the 3M Open is part of the Challenger Series. The same goes for someone like Koivun, who seems destined for the top spot. If the 3M Open is not on the top track and Koivun is there, he will not be able to come back and return the favor of the tournament where he got his first win.
Of course, this is all a moot point if the 3M Open was to remain in the Championship Series. That may ultimately come down to 3M’s willingness to pay a hefty sponsorship price (and the Tour cements its place in the program). Regardless, it’s a problem that will affect a few common travel stops.
“That’s probably one of the rare things in a lot of situations because a lot of times guys go back and try to defend their titles,” Jordan Spieth said earlier this month coming out of the John Deere Classic, a tournament in a similar setting. “It’s definitely something that’s almost like an illegal job that you have in some way. I would say, for the most part, if you win, you probably won’t come back to a Track 2 event. If it was a Track 2 event last year, you might have earned your way, maybe, to Track 1.
“I don’t know what events will fall in there. I think they’re still working that out. That would be the weirdest part of the whole deal.”
The new Championship Series will consist of 23 to 24 tournaments. Four of those are majors, one is the Players Championship and the other is the Ryder Cup or President’s Cup. Then there are at least two FedEx Cup Playoffs events.
That leaves 15 or so regular-season Championship Series events, and the Tour has already lined up 10 of them for 2028 (yet to be officially announced), most of which fans can easily predict: the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Genesis Invitational, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial Tournament. The other five will be filled by events in existing or new (read: large) markets, such as Boston, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, DC.
Hollis Cavner is the executive director of the 3M Open and, as CEO of Pro Links Sports, is involved in running other PGA Tour events. Few are more connected. At the 3M Open media day last month, Cavner told reporters that 3M executives would hold discussions with the Tour about the future of the event at the end of this season, adding “but it has to make business sense.”
The Tour plans to announce the full schedule for the Championship Series early next year, and players at both tracks will love the schedule’s predictability. But what about the principle flexibility? It is a double-edged sword.
Lucas Glover, chairman of the Players Advisory Council, also addressed the issue during his time at John Deere.
“People smarter than me made those decisions, but that was a big point of contention and discussion. [with the new schedule]but it will have to be as it is.” “Change is hard, but sometimes it’s necessary.”
You can reach the author at joshua.berhow@golf.com.
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