Jack Nicklaus Is Not Happy With The Current PGA Tour Schedule

Jack Nicklaus won 73 PGA Tour events during his legendary golf career and might have won far more if there were as many tournaments in his heyday as there are now. But Nicklaus believes that the number of tournaments that the PGA Tour puts on every year are becoming a bit of a problem.

In a recent interview at The Memorial Tournament, Nicklaus lamented how bunched together so many big tournaments are now. He warned that it could even be a problem in the future.

"I mean, I hate to see tournaments bunched too much together with too many big tournaments too close together. That's a problem, I think. And I think that's going to be a problem for the TOUR in the future," Nicklaus said.

The Looming Problem

The 18-time major winner explained that with so many big tournaments all being played at around the same time, smaller tournaments are going to suffer greatly from being unable to match the hype of the others. The schedule congestion also makes it hard for golfer to "recharge their batteries" when they're constantly competing.

"I probably shouldn't have brought it up here. I'll get chastised for that later. Anyway, I think it's harder for your tournaments to stand out. I mean, if you looked at the schedule, we're involved in the Cognizant down in Florida, and, you know, we have Pebble Beach and Los Angeles, Tiger's event, and then Cognizant, and then we had Bay Hill and The Players. I mean, what chance does that tournament have? I mean, it sits right in the middle of those. They don't have a chance.

"The other tournaments also say, you know, I got four out of five. It's hard for guys to play that. See, the problem is not so much from the standpoint of players, it's hard for the players to really be focused to play that much and be on top of their game. And that, to me, is -- I look at it from the way I was as a player. I could play a couple weeks in a row, maybe three weeks in a row, but I needed some time off to be able to recharge the batteries. And I think everybody needs to recharge their batteries."

Golf fans largely agreed with Jack, believing that the big tournaments in particular are just too close together to keep up with:

"Memorial is my favorite tournament of the year. I like The Masters and The Open, but waning interest in the US Open and PGA. Tired of the circus setups in those two," one user remarked.

"I agree. The pga needs to review the overall schedule and cut the mediocre events. They also need to move the pga championship back to August, players championship back to May. The PR event should be cancelled and Doral should go back to its March date. That would be a good start," another suggested.

"Jack is no fool. Whether it's about the distance issue or the proposed PGA Tour schedule, ignoring his take would be a mistake," a third pointed out.

"Way too many events are concentrated to Fla, Tx, socal, and the area between NJ and SC. Maybe some events in the Midwest, the Rockies, NorCal, Pacific Northwest? Perhaps some geographic diversity could drive some interest?"

Do you think the PGA Tour should take Jack's words to heart?

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This story was originally published June 4, 2026 at 8:36 AM.