Matt Fitzpatrick reveals key concern among PGA Tour players at Pebble Beach

US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick shared a significant concern that PGA Tour players have while speaking to the media at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Wednesday.

The Englishman would prefer to play less golf in 2023, describing "53 tournaments in a 52-a-year cycle" as "ridiculous."

He came eighth in the 2022 Player Impact Program, so he will be one player expected to appear in at least 20 events in America, while also needing to fulfil European commitments to be eligible for the Ryder Cup.

In August, commissioner Jay Monahan announced "unprecedented" changes to the Tour schedule which supposedly nailed down the "top 20" players to regular appearances in events with average purses of $20 million. 

Fitzpatrick has only played in the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale and the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands once each in his career, so there are two examples of how much busier he will need to be as a cost of being one of the Tour's best players.

"In terms of myself playing certain events I'm not really worried about that. If I have to go and play events that I've not really played before, that's not really an issue," Fitzpatrick said.

"I think the big thing that has been talked about a lot with the players is we kind of want to play less. I do think there's too much golf, regardless of what level you're at.

"I just think people probably need a break from it. They could watch golf every week from January to December. I think that's why I think having less, but having, getting the best players together more is obviously the way to go."

This is another example of how the expectations of the Tour don't exactly match the thoughts of its players. Jon Rahm described the requirements of the top players as "a bit of an ask" at the 2022 Tour Championship, which was his 17th event of the year at that stage.

There is a rule that allows players to skip one Elevated Event. Rory McIlroy took advantage of this and didn't play in the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January.

The events in Phoenix and Connecticut, along with the RBC Heritage and the Wells Fargo Championship, were given newfound Elevated status in 2023.

Players such as Fitzpatrick will likely skip one of the "designated events" to give themselves more time off, or perhaps use the spare week to play on the DP World Tour.

The drastic changes were made by the Tour to combat the rise of LIV Golf which dished out $25 million per event last season. The PGA Tour has closed the gap in terms of prize money, but also seems to have confirmed the futures of its biggest stars.