2028 structure potential issue?
Hypothetical question about the PGA Tour's proposed 2028 structure
I've been thinking about the economics of the proposed Championship Series / Challenger Series model for 2028.
Let's say there are two players:
Player A
Finishes 90th in the Championship Series (just keeps his card).
Plays 20 events.
Makes a handful of cuts.
Has one top-20 finish.
Earns roughly $1M for the season.
Retains access to the Championship Series the following year. 12
Player B
Finishes 105th in the Championship Series and gets relegated.
Goes to the Challenger Series the next season.
Wins 3 events.
Has several additional top-5s.
Finishes 1st-5th on the Challenger points list.
Earns roughly $4M+ and gets promoted back to the Championship Series. 34
In that scenario:
Would Player B actually be better off?
Obviously Player A never lost access to the top tier, but Player B:
Earned several times more money.
Won tournaments.
Returned to the Championship Series anyway.
It almost feels like there could be a "middle ground" where a player who's too good for the Challenger Series but not quite good enough to contend regularly in the Championship Series might financially benefit from dropping down for a year, dominating, and coming back.
Am I missing something, or is this an unintended consequence of the proposed promotion/relegation system? 13