Big-time professional golf, anchored by the PGA Tour, is an intricately constructed mosaic designed to bring the best players to the best courses for the right tournaments without upending the international circuits that produce an increasing supply of the world’s elite. It’s a marvel of coordination, painstakingly fine-tuned. Somehow, it usually works.
But not perfectly, which is why the whole megillah is under constant assessment and adjustment.
Over the years, some of the biggest tweaks have included the all-exempt tour in 1983, the Official World Golf Ranking in 1986, the World Golf Championships in 1999, the FedEx Cup in 2007 and the wraparound season in 2013-’14.
But for all the improvements, there’s an underlying consensus that the golf season is too long, too crowded, too much the same from event…