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The PGA Tour’s drastic shift to a two-track model in 2028 will put a clear distinction between the circuit’s top tier of players and its middle and lower classes. That clarity is something 10-year PGA Tour veteran Joel Dahmen appreciates.
“The biggest thing I’m happy about is it’s just well-defined,” Dahmen, 38, told Front Office Sports.
Beginning in 2028, roughly the top 120 PGA Tour players will compete in the Championship Series, which will encompass around 23 to 24 events, including the four major championships, with purses of at least $20 million per tournament. The next 140 players will be on the Challenger Series, which will have at least 20 events with $4 million purses.
Dahmen, a former star of the PGA Tour’s Netflix series Full Swing and currently ranked No. 259 in the Official World Golf Ranking, said the current structure for playing status is “kind of up and down and all over the place.” Dahmen played in the $25 million Players Championship and two $20 million signature events early in the 2026 season, but “then a couple weeks later I wasn’t getting into fields that were like regular events,” he said. “I think at least going forward, you know where you’re going to play, you know what your schedule’s going to be, and you know what you need to do to get to the next level.”
At the end of each season (beginning in 2028), the top 20 players on the Challenger Series will be promoted to the Championship Series. If a player wins twice in one season on the Challenger Series, they will be immediately promoted to the Championship Series. “It’s a kind of nice goal to have starting out right up front,” Dahmen said. “You might as well go win a couple early and bump yourself up even faster.”
Ready for Takeoff
Dahmen is playing at this week’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship—a PGA Tour fall series event with a $6 million purse—with a new sponsor, private aviation company Jet Out. He’s sporting the brand’s logo on the left side of his chest—where he used to have a Good Good logo as part of an endorsement deal he signed with the content creator group in 2025. Dahmen last wore the Good Good logo in competition at the Wyndham Championship Aug. 6-9, a few weeks before the controversial driver ad from Good Good and Callaway.
Jet Out will provide Dahmen with some complimentary private jet travel to and from PGA Tour competitions as part of the deal, which Dahmen plans to take full advantage of. “The number one thing is it’s pretty expensive,” Dahmen said of flying to tournaments. “But as much as we’re on the road, 25-plus weeks, I want my family to be on the road as much as possible. And so there’s some events that are just really difficult to make travel happen.”
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