Jordan Spieth’s time on the PGA Tour Policy Board is now in the rearview mirror.
On Monday, the tour held a policy board meeting, a crucial session considering the future of professional golf remains in flux. But before all involved got to the focal points of the meeting, Spieth revealed that he ‘had dropped the mic’ and left the room at the beginning.
“I was on [Monday’s] meeting to get through the governance for Camilo [Villegas] essentially to roll over into the player and enterprises board,” Spieth explained.
“After that, I couldn’t tell you [what happened].”
Spieth signed off after Villegas officially replaced him.
Villegas, a five-time PGA Tour winner, has replaced Spieth on the PGA Tour Enterprises Board and will serve as a player director on the policy board. Other player directors include Adam Scott, Tiger Woods, Webb Simpson, Peter Malnati, and Patrick Cantlay.
That said, Spieth, who is making his debut at this week’s Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, opined on some critical topics related to the tour and its structure on Tuesday at PGA National.
Spieth touched on the Tour Championship, which could change its format. In January, Gabby Herzig of The Athletic first reported that the PGA Tour and tournament officials are exploring match-play formats for the regular season finale.
“I think the idea is just to make the fan experience the best, make NBC, get them very involved in what they think is going to be the best option, and ideally, you end up having the most exciting Saturday-Sunday situation that’s easy to follow with the most drama you can have that goes all the way down to the last hole,” Spieth said of the Tour Championship.
“We’ve had a couple of different iterations of it. In the first iteration, I think the push-back was, whoever it was, didn’t want two different champions; it was confusing, on the same green. Then you go to the stroke format, and although easier to follow, I think the idea is the TOUR, the networks, and from polling fans, I think that they believe there’s a possibility of a better format, whether that involves any head-to-head matches, it involves less guys on Sunday all playing for it. Everything is pretty much on the table, and I’m not sure what they’ve narrowed it down to since.”
Spieth also mentioned the changes the tour will make in 2026, a season featuring smaller fields, fewer PGA Tour cards, and the elimination of Monday Qualifiers. Critics have criticized the tour for this change, saying it favors the top stars while eliminating the journeymen and up-and-comers — the Cinderella stories that make golf great. We saw something similar play out last week at the Mexico Open, where Brian Campbell won for the first time as a professional.
“I think a lot that’s been done was reactive and appropriately so. I believe that, again, through — the Tour, ideally, is going through — I know they’re going through their process of future product model stuff, involving networks, involving fans, involving sponsors. Those are the three that need to be involved, as well as, obviously, finding the right situation for the players, being at the forefront of their mind,” Spieth added.
“I don’t know if I have a great take on it personally. I think more so, it’s just figuring out exactly what the best future product model is, and we’ll have to see what happens within future investments, what that means, and then everyone trying to — if the game comes together ideally, then you kind of figure out what is the actual market, what is the right number of events, what is the right number in the events, and whether it’s more elevated type events but more players, or it’s back to what it used to be. That, I don’t know, because I’ve taken myself out of those conversations.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
