PGA Tour shows no lessons learned after Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy’s calls in 2025

Following the launch of LIV Golf in 2022, the PGA Tour was pushed into action, leading to some notable adjustments.

One of the first steps taken was the introduction of Designated Events, designed to boost prize money across the calendar.

Those have since been rebranded as Signature Events, but there is a problem with that structure that is hard to ignore.

The Signature Events were meant to create more opportunities for fans to see top players going head-to-head on a regular basis.

The events also helped attract bigger sponsorship deals, with companies expecting greater consistency in star participation – or at least that was the idea behind them.

But it has not played out as planned. McIlroy skipped three Signature Events in 2025, while Scheffler missed two – though only one by choice, as he sat out the Hawaii opener due to injury.

The current system for PGA Tour players, who operate as independent contractors and set their own schedules, appears flawed.

What is even more disappointing is that nothing seems to have changed since then. The PGA Tour still appears unwilling or unable to adapt.

PGA Tour’s 2026 schedule repeats the same scheduling mistakes

Last month, the PGA Tour revealed its 2026 schedule, which now features a ninth Signature Event at Trump National Doral in Miami.

But once again, the events are packed into a tightly scheduled stretch of the season, with the last Signature Event set for June at the Travelers Championship.

This time around, two events fall immediately after majors. Another is slotted just before the PGA Championship, and one more lands right before The Players.

Between mid-April and late June, there will be five Signature Events and two major championships.

The demands of this setup are clear. Many top players prefer not to play more than two weeks in a row these days, even though it is a lucrative profession.

The 2026 line-up has almost certainly guaranteed that some of these big-money events will be missing star power once again – including McIlroy and Scheffler at times throughout the year.