The 3M Open’s Fairytale Finish Faces a Hurdle from the Upcoming Tour Schedule Split

BLAINE, Minn. — Shortly after claiming his maiden PGA Tour victory at the 3M Open on Sunday, a reporter asked Jackson Koivun a simple question: what would he remember most about the weekend?

“I’ll be forever indebted to the 3M Open for helping me secure my first PGA Tour win,” the 21-year-old newly turned professional replied.

While it made for a gracious response, the sentiment carries an inherent irony.

It was a dream week for the tournament. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler made his debut, ticket sales surged, and the two battled fiercely down the stretch. One of the sport’s brightest rising stars defeating its preeminent talent ensures the 3M Open will hold a permanent place in Koivun’s heart, regardless of future successes.

Even phrases like “forever indebted” sound sweet to a sponsor’s ears. Will Koivun return? Might Scheffler as well?

However, the situation presents a complex hurdle: they might not be permitted to do so.

Officially announced last month, the PGA Tour will undergo a dramatic restructuring in 2028, essentially dividing the schedule into two distinct tracks. The top roughly 130 players will compete on a Championship Series, while the next 150 will compete on a Challenger Series.

If this is unfamiliar information, details on the structure are available, but one critical stipulation stands out: PGA Tour Championship Series members will not be eligible to play PGA Tour Challenger Series events.

This means someone like Scheffler, who will be on the Championship Series, cannot simply add a stop in Minnesota if the 3M Open lands in the Challenger Series. Similarly, Koivun, who is likely destined for the top track, would be unable to return to a Challenger event to repay the tournament that gave him his first win.

Naturally, this is entirely irrelevant if the 3M Open secures a spot on the Championship Series. That outcome may ultimately hinge on 3M’s willingness to pay a significantly higher sponsorship price and the Tour’s commitment to a schedule slot. Regardless, the issue will impact a number of regular Tour events.

“That is probably one of the stranger parts of the whole situation because most of the time guys go back to try to defend their titles,” Jordan Spieth said earlier this month from the John Deere Classic, a tournament facing a similar predicament. “It’s definitely something that’s almost like an unofficial job that you have in a way. I would say, for the most part, if you do win, you’re most likely not going to be back at a Track 2 event. If it was a Track 2 event the year before, you probably earned your way, maybe, on a Track 1.”

“I don’t know what events are going to fall where. I think they’re still working on that. That would be probably the strangest part of the whole deal.”

The new Championship Series will feature 23 to 24 tournaments. Among those are the four majors, the Players Championship, and either the Ryder Cup or the Presidents Cup, in addition to at least two FedEx Cup Playoffs events.

This leaves around 15 regular-season Championship Series events. The Tour has already aligned 10 of them for 2028, even if the formal announcements haven’t been made yet. Many of these are fan-predicted staples: the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Genesis Invitational, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and the Memorial Tournament. The remaining five will come from existing events or new, larger markets such as Boston, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. The final decisions will likely rest on the difference in purses between Championship Series events ($20 million) and Challenger alternatives ($4 million).

Hollis Cavner, executive director of the 3M Open and CEO of Pro Links Sports, is among the most plugged-in figures in the sport. At the 3M Open media day last month, Cavner told reporters that 3M executives will discuss the event’s future with the Tour at the end of this season, adding, “but it’s got to make business sense.”

The Tour plans to reveal the full Championship Series schedule early next year, a move players on both tracks will appreciate for schedule predictability. However, what about schedule flexibility? It’s a double-edged sword.

Lucas Glover, chairman of the Player Advisory Council, also addressed this while at the John Deere Classic.

“People a lot smarter than me are making those decisions, but that was a huge, huge point of contention and discussion [with the new schedule] but it’s just going to have to be the way it is,” he said. “Change is hard, but it’s sometimes necessary.”

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