Padraig Harrington, who is in Phoenix this week for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, appeared on Golf Channel’s Golf Today on Wednesday to discuss current happenings in professional golf.
One pertinent topic is the PGA Tour’s proposed changes for the 2026 season, which would diminish field sizes at almost every event, eliminate nearly all Monday qualifiers, and lower the number of PGA Tour members from 125 to 100 in a given season.
So, when Golf Channel’s Eamon Lynch asked Harrington about this development, the Irishman shook his head in disgust and immediately voiced his displeasure with the measure.
“Terrible. Just terrible,” Harrington said.
“It really is. I can’t think about how bad it is. At the end of the day, the people on the inside are voting to keep the thing tighter and more closed… The tour was running just fine. I know there’s a little bit of pressure to finish on time when fields go to 156 at certain times of the season or 144, but players will deal with it. They will handle that. They prepare for that. They know at the start of the year [that they] might miss out on a few tournament [rounds] because of light.”
When the PGA Tour sent this memo to its membership last week, it cited the slow pace of play—an issue that has plagued the tour for years—as the reason for these changes. Dozens of rounds finish after dark every year, leading many players to finish their final few holes early the following morning. That leads to challenging and tiresome situations, which seem to happen more often than not.
Harrington understands that and has experienced it firsthand. However, he does not understand why the PGA Tour proposed these changes. He feels for the underdog—the journeyman who has fought tooth and nail to have a chance at achieving his dream—a story that hundreds of pros like Harrington can resonate with.
“Slow play is like driving in rush hour traffic. It’s just too many people on the golf course, and the tee times are too tight, so yes, this is a way of solving one of the big issues in golf, the pace of play, but you want to give everybody the opportunity,” Harrington said while releasing a massive, disappointing sigh.
“If this was like the [English Premier League], or the [English] Championship [League], and there was a really, really good second tour, maybe the European Tour can be that. Maybe it works out. But to me, it definitely looks like the people on the inside are keeping it tighter.”
The Irishman also knows the importance of Monday qualifiers, as these mini 18-hole tournaments are held almost every Monday before a PGA Tour event. Those who gain entry into these qualifiers are either young professionals looking to make it, those without status, or individuals who rank below a certain threshold in the standings. Think of those players outside the FedEx Cup Top 150, for instance.
“Not having a Monday qualifier, c’mon, that’s one of the most exciting things on the tour,” Harrington added.
“The cut-line is also one of the most exciting things on the tour. It’s a horrible thing… cutting your exemption to 100 players. But I know no-cut fields suit the sponsors. They want the leading names guaranteed to be there on the weekend.”
But the PGA Tour seems to want its big-name players, too, much to Harrington’s dismay. His assessment of the situation aligns with former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, who called the proposal “complete crap” on Sirius XM earlier in the week. Glover went 10 years without a PGA Tour victory, so he knows all too well about what it feels like to be on the outside.
Harrington does, too. He also believes that the tour had no reason to make any changes.
“I have to say tightening up fields is good for the TV and dependability, but I thought the system wasn’t broken,” Harrington said.
“Honestly, I really don’t think the system was broken. Maybe if I were in the top 60, I would be saying, ‘Hey, this is great,’ but if you are on the outside, it seems that this isn’t a good move.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
