McIlroy concern for Scottish Open under Tour revamp

McIlroy concern for Scottish Open under Tour revampImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Rory McIlroy won the Scottish Open in 2023ByIain CarterGolf correspondentPublished4 minutes agoCommentsRory McIlroy has urged the PGA Tour to "be careful" with the future of the Scottish Open when it introduces its two-tier format in 2028.Under the new system, the schedules for the Championship - which will contain the PGA Tour's leading players - and the second-tier Challenger series will run concurrently.Championship players will not be able to feature in Challenger events and vice versa, although anyone who wins two Challenger events in the same season will gain immediate promotion to the Championship.The Scottish Open would not qualify for Championship status so, while 14 of the world's top 20 are competing at this week's tournament at Renaissance Club, those players would be ineligible to play in the tournament from 2028 under the new rules.Bob MacIntyre, Scotland's leading player, called for "exceptions" to be made for his home Open when the new schedule is implemented.Promotion and relegation in revamped 2028 PGA TourPublished23 June"We've got to be careful with that because then these national opens lose the fabric of what they are," said McIlroy, a two-time Masters champion."You can't call yourself a national open any more if it's a closed-off tournament and there's a certain number of guys."These events need to be treated differently than the Travelers Championship or RBC Heritage or whatever else is going to be in the Championship series."The Scottish Open has been co-sanctioned by the PGA and DP World Tours since 2022.That means it can be played by members of either tour if they are ranked high enough to be eligible for the 156-man field.PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp's approved plan is for the Championship tier to feature fields of about 120 players competing for prize funds of a...