The tournament and the tour made a joint announcement Monday afternoon that the Travelers Championship would be one of the top-level events on the tour when it changes its scheduling format in 2028. The Travelers Championship has been a Signature Event on the tour for the past few years and an elevated event in 2023.
“Our goal every year is for the Travelers Championship to be one of the best tournaments on the PGA Tour, so being part of the upcoming PGA Tour Championship Series is validation of the collective effort that Travelers, the tournament team, fans and volunteers have invested over the past two decades,” said Andy Bessette, the executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Travelers, said in the announcement. “We thank the tour for this opportunity and are excited to partner with them on working hard to deliver a world-class experience.”
Bessette said he had been talking with the tour “the last four or five days” to finalize the details of the move but was somewhat surprised it all came together less than a month after the final putt dropped for the 2026 tournament.
“I didn’t know it was coming this soon. I think this had to happen faster because the tour playoffs begin in a couple weeks, then the Tour Championship,” Bessette said. “You have to get this stuff out sooner than later for players to understand what tournaments will be in it (the Championship Series).”
Brian Rolapp, the CEO of the PGA Tour and soon to be the commissioner replacing Jay Monahan, announced the new format while at the TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell on June 23. He said there would be 23-24 events on the Championship Series with the others events being relegated to the Challenger Series.
Rolapp said in June there were 10 other PGA Tour events that would make up part of the Championship Series and would be announced soon. The Travelers Championship is the first of the 10 to be officially announced.
“The brightest years of the tournament are ahead of us,” Travelers tournament director Nathan Grube said. “There is not one of us who doesn’t believe we can’t get better.”
After one more year as a 72-player, no-cut field, the Travelers Championship field will grow to approximately 120 players in 2028 with the return of the traditional Friday cut. The dates beyond 2027 have yet to be determined but Travelers has had the week after the U.S. Open for almost every one of its first 20 years as title sponsor. The current deal runs through 2030.
Bessette noted that the tournament staff was getting together on Tuesday for “our annual debrief meeting” to go over needed improvements for the 2027 event. Bessette already has an eye on 2028.
“I’ve got 39 things that have to be fixed for 2027 and I’ve got four or five things we need to get done by 2028,” Bessette said.
Bessette said he and Grube will begin its tournament visits for 2027 — and 2028 — at the Tour Championship in late August, then maybe go to a fall event to be determined. The first event for the duo next year will either be at the Genesis Invitational or the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The 2027 Travelers Championship will be held June 24-27 next year. Viktor Hovland won this year’s Travelers Championship in June, defeating Scottie Scheffler on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.