Stephen Ames once famously said that anything could happen against Tiger Woods off the tee. Almost overlapping with his words, Woods agreed with him in the first round of the 2006 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. It was a 9 and 8 victory, the most lopsided defeat the event had ever seen. Asked afterwards if the result carried a message, the Big Cat offered two words. “9 and 8.” Now, two decades later, Woods, who built that reputation, has backed the PGA Tour’s plan to make match play the format of the reimagined Tour Championship starting in 2028.

On August 25, he reacted to the Tour Championship’s post on X.

“The conclusion of the season should be worthy of the journey it takes to get there. Today’s announcement is a result of the hard work and passion of our players. Excited to usher in a new era of match play on the @PGATOUR.”

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The 82-time PGA Tour winner has dominated match play for most of his career, and his words land after PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp used almost identical language at the press conference in Atlanta ahead of this week’s 2026 Tour Championship.

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Rolapp confirmed the new format set to take on the Tour Championship in 2028. The top 90 players on the season-long points list will contest a series finale, a 72-hole stroke play event that sets the 32-man field for the reimagined standalone Tour Championship.

“It’s a match play over two weeks, an opportunity to make this an extended moment that commands the attention of golf and sports fans,” Rolapp said.

As per the discussions, week one, out of the two, will work as the grouping stage. Eight groups of four, with the top two players from each, will advance. 16 survivors then play all four rounds of match play in week two. Head-to-head results, not a stroke total, decide the champion.

Moreover, each week moved to a different course, ending East Lake’s run as the tournament’s annual home after over two decades.

The Tour Championship’s shakeup is one piece of the broader plan Rolapp first outlined in June. As reported previously, starting in 2028, the tour will split into two series: the Championship Series, with prize purses, and the Challenger Series, which functions as a developmental circuit. Within these circuits, the players will face tough competition for promotion and relegation. The season itself shifts too. It will now run February through August, instead of opening in Hawaii each January.

The Tour has said it will name the first host venues of the new Tour Championship in February 2027, with site visits already underway. For Woods, who has spent nearly three decades measuring himself against East Lake in match play brackets alike, the new chapter of the event will be an exciting one to watch.