If Jon Drago, longtime tournament director of the PGA Tour’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson, were to write a book about the current status of his Dallas-area event, he might call it “A Tale of Two Tournaments.”
On the one hand, Drago has a venue — TPC Craig Ranch — that’s coming off a multimillion-dollar renovation by Hall of Famer Lanny Wadkins and a reigning champion — Scottie Scheffler — who is not only the world No. 1, but also a hometown hero.
Yes, the best of times.
On the other hand, Drago and his main sponsor, the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, do not have a 2027 date for the event and now, in the tour’s seventh decade, could be in question of a pending schedule reduction by the PGA Tour. If Nelson didn’t survive PGA Tour CEO Brian RolappIts comprehensive upgrade would mark the end of an event that has raised more money for charity, nearly $200 million, than any other PGA Tour stop over its lifetime. Today, the Momentous Institute, a local mental health nonprofit, is Nelson’s sole beneficiary.
Worst times? We will see.
Drago is attuned to the questions revolving around the upcoming changes to the tournament schedule. He knows some stops on the tour could be in trouble. But he is not jumping to any conclusions.
“It can be frustrating, of course,” he said. “We would like to know the future and we don’t. If you had told me five years ago that we would have video golf on TV (TGL) and a Saudi golf league (LIV), I might not have believed it. We will not believe in speculation or follow rumors. We will only deal with facts.”
Drago said that’s exactly the message he gave to CJ Group executives who were in town from South Korea recently for pre-tournament planning sessions. CJ renewed its title sponsor deal last year, and Nelson has a Tour contact to run the event this year from May 21-24.
Drago’s first meeting with Rolapp will come in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., this week, but he already knows the new CEO is pushing for more “rareness” on the schedule. If moving dates would help Nelson’s prospects, Drago said he would be open to it. “We would prefer to be in May because it allows the Zoysia grass to grow on the course,” he said. “But we’ve been in April and May and we could move earlier if we had to.”
According to a Salesmanship Club committee member, Tour officials told the club that, with the goal of recouping money for their equity partners, the Tour is looking to take over the management of more Tour events, as it did with the PGA National’s stop, the Cognizant Classic, in 2023. (The Tour declined to comment for this story.)
Nelson isn’t the only Texas Tour event facing questions about its future. The same goes for the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth. Schwab, in history Colonial Country Clubis professional golf’s longest-running single-site event outside of the Masters at Augusta National. The course recently underwent a renovation by Gil Hanseand has long been one of the most revered events on the tournament schedule, with 2026 marking its 80th game.
Schwab tournament director Michael Tothe doesn’t have a 2027 date, but said he expects to know more this month, perhaps later this week when Rolapp gives his state of the tournament speech at Players Championship.
“I’ve talked to Brian a few times and I think he’s a really sharp guy, very impressive,” Tothe said. “Change will get everyone excited or, in some cases, not excited. Change can be fun or scary because there’s a lot of it.”
Still, Tothe said, he’s confident Nelson and Colonial will continue as two North Texas staples.
“I’d be shocked, shocked if there wasn’t a Byron Nelson tour next year,” he said. “I mean they have a new (revamped) course and a new title sponsor for just a few years at CJ. What are you going to do, just tell them to go away?”
Further complicating matters for Texas events in 2027 is that year’s PGA Championship, which is scheduled for PGA FriscoEast Course. If the Nelson and Schwab dates remain unchanged in 2027, that would mean the PGA Championship, Nelson and Colonial would fall in consecutive weeks. Three tours in just a 40-mile radius is a geographic barrier that has never happened before on the Tour.
“We can make it,” Tothe said.
Tothe and Drago live five miles apart in Mansfield, Texas and often talk about the future of their tours.
“I think we both feel the same way,” Tothe said. “We have great historic events, great title sponsors and lots of fans, volunteers and money raised for charity in one of the biggest areas in the country. How many people can say that?”
Not much, but the news Tothe and Drago will receive in the coming weeks (or months) will speak volumes for the new era of the PGA Tour.
;)
