PGA Tour Official hints at possible changes to No-Cut designated events

Officers on the PGA Tour are still unsure about the no-cut designated tournament and have hinted at probable additional alterations to their schedule.

For the upcoming season, the Tour has established no-cut designated events with a limited number of players. However, they are still in doubt about making significant adjustments.

Recently, the PGA Tour's chief tournaments and competitions officer, Andy Pazder indicated that nothing is written in stone and that changes are possible. According to Golf Channel, he said:

"We are having a further conversation about that. I’m aware that certain hosts of designated events have voiced the viewpoint that they’d like to see a cut at their event or some of the designated events."

"We’ve announced that they would be no-cut events but that’s something that if there’s support for a change there, could be that it’s some of the designated events, all of the designated events or none of the designated events [have a cut], we’ll have a conversation around that," he added.

People have conflicting feelings about the designated no-cut event. Some backed it, while others compared it to the LIV Golf event. Legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus commented on the upcoming PGA Tour scheduling adjustments, saying:

"I don't care either way. Obviously from our standpoint here it's a heck of a lot easier to take care of 70 or 80 players, whatever it might be, than it is 120. But I liked the cut before because we felt like having people play all day was nice to have on the golf course, giving some young guys an opportunity to play that might not otherwise get a chance to play.”

The 2023 Masters champion, Jon Rahm, who previously advocated for the no-cut event now changed his mind. He said at the Memorial Tournament:

"I was an advocate for no cut and the more time has gone by I've become an advocate for a cut. So I think it's a part of the game and I think it's an important part of the game, as harsh as it may be to cut out maybe only 20 players.”

What are PGA Designated events?

PGA Tour-designated events are specially designed for top-ranked golfers. The officials had announced earlier in March that there will be eight no-cut designated events in the next season with 70-80 golfers. The events will have huge purses and golfers do not need to worry about making the cut at the tournaments.

Sentry Tournament of Champions, the Genesis Invitational, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and the Memorial Tournament are four of the eight no-cut events for next season. Reportedly, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am will be another no-cut designated event.

In total, there will be 16 designated events including eight no-cut, four majors, The Players Championship, and three playoffs.

Here is a list of this year's PGA Tour's designated events:

Sentry Tournament of Champions
WM Phoenix Open
Genesis Invitational
Arnold Palmer Invitational
The Players Championship
WGC Dell Technologies Match Play
Masters Tournament
RBC Heritage
Wells Fargo Championship
PGA Championship
The Memorial Tournament
U.S. Open
Travelers Championship
Open Championship
Fed Ex St. Jude Championship
BMW Championship
Tour Championship