PGA Tour pro fiercely defends seismic changes: "Once the dust settles..."

PGA Tour member Peter Malnati has fiercely defended the proposed changes that are likely to come into place in 2026. 

Malnati, who sits on the PGA Tour's Player Advisory Council, will be one of six golfers who will vote on the proposals next month. 

The changes, which were explained in an email to members that was subsequently leaked to the media earlier in the week, include:

• Reducing the maximum number of players in full-field events
• Decreasing the number of players who retain their cards
• Decreasing the number of Korn Ferry Tour graduates from 30 to 20
• The elimination of several Monday qualifiers

There has also been a review of the pace of play policy. 

"I think the direction that they're going is towards magnifying the value of having a PGA Tour card," Malnati told SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio. 

"That's exactly in the discussions of what we've talked about.

"We're going to have a rocky transition as you always do in times of change. 

"But if you can fast forward two or three years into the future here when … the dust settles, if you're a rookie on tour who just earned his PGA Tour card, you're going to know what that means. 

"It's going to mean that you're going to get to play 17 or 18 full-field events, four or five opposite-field events, and if you play well in those, you will have the opportunity to earn your way into signature events.

"As of right now, the membership of the tour is too big, our events are too big, and there are people at the bottom who are supposed to be fully exempt players on tour who don't know the value of their tour card because they don't know what they're going to get in.

"So this changed about making the product of the PGA Tour better and it's about making the quality of a PGA Tour card mean more for the athletes who earn one. That's as simply as I can say it."

Listen here:

Malnati explained that the Tour is set for a 'tumultuous' transition period. 

But he is steadfast in his belief that the changes are a step in the right direction.

He continued: "I think what we're going to see as we move forward, once we get through obviously everything in professional golf has been tumultuous for a couple years now, this is the step in the right direction.

"There will be growing pains after, but we're going to see a better product – first and foremost for the players and members of the PGA Tour, but also for every single fan who tunes in to watch, for all the sponsors that have stayed loyal and supportive through this. 

"We're going to see a better product on the course, and that's the whole point of this."

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