Mac Engel: Fort Worth is poised to lose its premier PGA Tour event at Colonial Country Club

Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Nov 6, 2026

Published in Golf

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FORT WORTH, Texas — Proving again that tradition has nothing on a giant pile of money, Fort Worth’s future with the PGA Tour, if there is one, will be a tournament of seniors who appreciate the history of the game, and its celebrated courses.

This current iteration of the PGA Tour and its players may sell tradition, but that ambition is easily defeated by a bag of cash. As a result, Fort Worth’s Colonial Country Club will likely lose its spot hosting a premier PGA Tour event when the new schedule begins in 2028.

Colonial Country Club hosts the longest-running non-major PGA Tour event, a tournament that began in 1946 and has been a staple on the schedule for 80 years. Unless something dramatically changes, the event at Colonial in 2027 will be its last as a premier PGA Tour tournament.

A source confirmed the Golf Week Magazine report that the PGA Tour’s new format will likely not have Colonial and its Charles Schwab Challenge as part of its Championship Series.

Technically it’s not official, so there is still a chance that the CS Challenge could ace a shot from 180 yards into a stiff breeze, but this looks all but done.

Because money.

What led to Colonial losing its spot as a major PGA Tour event

Starting in ‘28, the PGA Tour will have two tracks of events, the Championship Series, which will be its marquee tournaments featuring the largest purses and top names; the Challenger Series will be its second track of events, and will more or less be a minor league.

The Tour wants its Championship Series to be in major metro markets, and all but four of the events are locked in. The CS Challenge was one of the tournaments going through a bid process where the only real metric that matters is money, both purse size and potential sponsorship possibilities.

CS Challenge officials hoped that the tradition of the event, as well as Charles Schwab’s relationship with the Tour, would matter in this bidding process; predictably, the ritual of playing Hogan’s Alley and the “Horrible Horseshoe,” meant nothing compared to a few more million dollars.

According to sources, the PGA Tour wants a Championship Series in DFW, and instead will go with the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, held at the TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney. This development was a fear among CS Challenge and Colonial officials when this new format was announced.

Schwab was basically outbid; it didn’t want to go over the $28 million to offer as a purse, whereas CJ Group, a South Korean-based financial services firm, was offering $35 million. Tournament officials believed Schwab was reluctant to go over that amount because it thinks it’s not worth it, because it’s not.

These title sponsor deals with PGA Tour events are usually led by golf fanatics who love the sport, and will go overboard to be affiliated with the Tour and the chance to have pro golfers visit their hospitality tents.

Sources said that Schwab and tournament officials tried to recruit other companies to serve as a co-sponsor, but they could never secure the money. Tour officials also preferred the CJ Cup Byron Nelson’s growth possibilities in terms of new revenue over the CS Challenge, which they felt were mostly maxed out.

The PGA Tour and Colonial Country Club tournament director Michael Tothe have thus far not responded to the Star-Telegram for comment.

Fort Worth’s Colonial Country Club future with the PGA Tour

During this process, club officials have shown little to no interest in hosting a Challenger Series event; most people associated with the tournament felt like it was a slap in the face to even consider such a possibility. Because it is.

Schwab’s contract with the Tour to serve as the title sponsor of the event at Colonial ends after 2027. The PGA Tour has said previously that under this new format it could add, or drop, events to its Champions or Challenger series.

There is always a chance Colonial could rejoin the PGA Tour as a prime event, but that would more than likely be in 2033, at the earliest.

Another scenario is Colonial Country Club just gets out of the business of hosting major golf tournaments all together; it’s a big process, and it can often alienate members.

The more likely scenario is Schwab and Colonial opt to host a Champions Tour tournament, and becomes the season-ending playoff finale on the PGA Tour’s seniors series. The three-day tournament would likely be held in November.

The field of players consists of guys 50 and up, all of whom are old enough to appreciate the history of Colonial and Hogan’s Alley.