The PGA Tour’s Championship Series has its first confirmed tournament.
The Tour announced Monday that the Travelers Championship, its annual post-U.S. Open stop at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, will be part of the Tour’s new elevated series, which launches in 2028.
“Our goal every year is for the Travelers Championship to be one of the best tournaments on the PGA Tour,” said Andy Bessette, Travelers’ executive vice president and chief administrative officer, “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.”
The Travelers has been part of the Tour’s schedule every year since 1952, when it was called the Insurance City Open, with TPC River Highlands hosting every edition since 1984. Travelers signed on as title sponsor in 2007, replacing Buick, and for the past four seasons has backed one of the Tour’s $20 million signature events.
Now, the Travelers will be one of 15 tournaments in the Championships Series that complement the major championships, The Players, reimagined playoff events, and Ryder and Presidents cups. Sports Business Journal reported that the Tour had already secured 10 of those title sponsors, which will reportedly each pay a $30 million price tag, and was closing in on two more earlier this month. SBJ added that many of the Championship tournaments are expected to be existing signature events along with some combination of existing stops, such as the WM Phoenix Open and CJ Cup Byron Nelson, and new markets.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp rolled out additional details of the Championship and sub-tier Challenger series ahead of this year’s Travelers. The regular Championship events will feature 120-player fields, $20 million purses and 36-hole cuts. He also was asked specifically about the Travelers potentially being included, which Rolapp responded with, “I think they do a lot of things that we’re looking for in a Championship Series event.”
The Tour is expected to announced more Championship Series events before next month’s Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.