PGA Tour Championship Series: Memphis Left Out of 2028 Top Tier

"While we are disappointed the FedEx St. Jude Championship will not be part of the new Championship Series, we are encouraged by their plans to find other opportunities to bring professional golf to Memphis," FedEx said in a statement to The Commercial Appeal, which broke the story on Aug 5. The PGA Tour's playoff opener since 2022 will not be a top-tier event when the Tour splits into two circuits in 2028.

The timing is the hook. The tournament tees off Thursday at TPC Southwind with a $20 million purse, per the PGA Tour, and it returns to Memphis in 2027. After that, the opening playoff stop as we know it is gone.

What the PGA Tour Championship Series Is, and What Memphis Lost

The PGA Tour Championship Series is the top half of a two-tier structure the Tour announced in June and will launch in 2028. Below it is the Challenger Series, which will run mostly opposite the top events and function as a feeder.

Memphis loses its place in the upper tier, not necessarily its place on the schedule. A Tour spokesperson told Golf Channel the circuit remains in close conversation with FedEx and other potential sponsors about a Challenger Series event, and that officials are optimistic Memphis stays on the calendar. Golf.com and Golf Monthly both note Memphis has hosted PGA Tour golf since 1958, which is the real weight here. Forty years of FedEx sponsorship at the tournament, dating to 1986, and none of it carries over.

A second detail in Rex Hoggard's Golf Channel reporting reframes the whole thing: East Lake Golf Club, host of the Tour Championship since 2004, was also offered a top-tier event in the spring and declined. Two of the three current playoff venues are, for different reasons, out of the 2028 top tier.

The Numbers, and Where the "15" Actually Comes From

You will see two event counts in coverage of this, and both are correct. Golf Channel reports the Championship Series will feature 23 to 24 events, including the four majors, The Players Championship, the international team competitions and a reimagined postseason that will likely be two events. Golf.com, citing the Tour's June announcement, breaks that same total down as 15 regular-season events plus the majors, The Players, an annual team competition, the once-every-four-years Olympic tournament and the Tour Championship.

So the "15-event series" figure in secondary coverage is the count of Tour-run regular-season stops. The 23 to 24 is the full top-tier calendar.

Five Championship Series events have been named: the Cadillac Championship, the Travelers Championship, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Sentry at Torrey Pines, and a new event backed by insurer Sompo. Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said in June that 10 of the 15 regular-season slots were already lined up. On the second tier, golf.com reports at least 20 Challenger Series tournaments; Golf News Net puts it closer to 24, at $4 million purses.

What Happens to the FedEx Cup Playoffs

This year's postseason is three events. The 2028 version will likely be two, per Golf Channel, and the Tour Championship is moving to a match-play model on rotating courses.

The bigger question is the name on the trophy. FedEx's sponsorship of the season-long points race dates to 2007, and Golf Monthly reports both that deal and the Memphis tournament deal expire at the end of next season. Rolapp has said the Tour will honor the existing contract, but nobody has announced what replaces it. Treat "FedEx Cup" as a term with a known expiration date, not a permanent fixture.

The Tour has also signaled a new season-long prize. "We will also celebrate a regular season winner, recognizing the No. 1 finisher who distinguished himself against the best players in the world over the course of the season," Rolapp said in June.

The Betting and Futures Angle: Structural, Not a Line Move

Nothing here moves a price this week. Books are pricing Memphis on the same course and the same 72 holes they always have, and our FedEx St. Jude Championship preview has the field-level read.

What changes from 2028 is the shape of the season-long markets. Three things to file away.

First, a two-title season splits the futures menu. A regular-season crown decided over 15 elevated events with cuts rewards volume and floor, and there is no points reset to compress the field at the end. That is the market where the world No. 1 is least likely to be underpriced.

Second, match play at a rotating-venue Tour Championship raises variance sharply. Stroke play at the same course every year gives you course history and a stable model baseline. Bracket golf on a course nobody has seen strips that out. Expect longer prices to look more attractive, and expect the postseason title to say less about who actually played the best golf.

Third, a shorter postseason makes regular-season outrights matter more. Fewer catch-up weeks means position going into the playoffs carries more of the outcome. That is where our AI-driven golf and sports picks are pointed anyway, and it is why Chad weights week-to-week form over narrative.

No prices here on purpose. Any number attached to a 2028 market today is noise.

What to Watch Next

Thursday through Sunday at TPC Southwind is the immediate item, and it lands differently now. Then watch the remaining Championship Series announcements, plus whatever happens to the existing Signature events. Rolapp is expected to hold another press conference at the Tour Championship this month, the likeliest venue for postseason format detail.

The Memphis question is separate and slower. A Challenger Series event would keep TPC Southwind on the schedule, and the Tour called the venue "an important asset." Whether FedEx puts its name on it is unresolved.

FAQ

Will the FedEx St. Jude Championship be played in 2027? Yes. The Tour confirmed the tournament will be played in Memphis this year and again in 2027. It loses top-tier status in 2028.

How many events will the PGA Tour Championship Series have? Golf Channel reports 23 to 24 total, including the four majors, The Players Championship, international team competitions and a two-event postseason. Fifteen of those are Tour-run regular-season stops.

Is the FedEx Cup going away in 2028? The format is changing and the sponsorship is expiring. Golf Monthly reports FedEx's deal on the season-long points race, in place since 2007, ends after next season. No replacement sponsor or new name has been announced.

Will the Tour Championship stay at East Lake? Unclear. Golf Channel reports East Lake was offered a top-tier event in the spring and declined, and that the Tour Championship is moving to match play on rotating courses in 2028.

Structural news like this is the kind of thing that reprices a market months before the public notices. Chad tracks it so you do not have to.

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