As the organizers and stakeholders of the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic look to determine the event’s future on the PGA Tour schedule beyond 2027, they can marvel at what their past champions and alumni are achieving.
With a modest sample size of just three winners for the fledgling tournament that was first played in May 2024 at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club, one champion has won a major and a second entered the top five in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Ryan Fox, who won the 2025 Myrtle Beach Classic with a chip-in on the first hole of a three-person playoff, won The Open Championship on July 19 at Royal Birkdale with a 10-under-par 270.
Chris Gotterup, the inaugural winner in 2024, has won four PGA Tour events in the past 13 months, including three this year. He rose to No. 5 in the world and is currently No. 7.
As an opposite field $4 million event being played simultaneously with a $20 million tournament that features the top 70 or so players on the PGA Tour, its past champions’ exploits are that much more impressive considering their standing at the time of their participation in Myrtle Beach.
Counting Aaron Rai, who finished fifth at The Dunes Club in May, two of the past three major champions played in Myrtle Beach in the past 15 months.
_ Ryan Fox: The 39-year-old New Zealand native has added a pair of victories to his inaugural PGA Tour win at The Dunes Club. He won the 2025 RBC Canadian Open in another playoff just four weeks after Myrtle Beach, and captured this season’s final major.
His 62 in the third round at Royal Birkdale matched the lowest round ever shot in a men’s major championship, and his 2-under 68 in the final round was enough to finish a stroke ahead of Cameron Young.
Fox has eight top-25 finishes in 16 starts this season and has risen to No. 23 in the world and 21st in the 2026 FedExCup standings.
_ Chris Gotterup: The 27-year-old Rutgers alum did little in 2024 following his dominating six-shot win in Myrtle Beach with a 22-under 262, missing seven of 13 cuts without a top-20 finish.
But he added a second PGA Tour win in the Genesis Scottish Open last July and followed it up a week later with a third-place finish in The Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
He has become one of the top players in the world this year, winning the season-opening Sony Open in Hawaii, Waste Management Phoenix Open in early February, and John Deere Classic on July 5, when he shot a final-round 62 to defeat Max Homa by a shot with a 20-under 264.
He has recorded top-25 finishes in three of the four majors this season and is fifth in FedExCup points.
_ Aaron Rai: The 31-year-old Englishman earned his second PGA Tour win in the PGA Championship the week after his appearance in Myrtle Beach.
He shot a 5-under 65 in the final round to defeat runners-up John Rahm and Alex Smalley by three shots with a 9-under 271 at Aronimink Golf Club outside Philadelphia.
Rai also tied for 11th in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island in June.
_ Brandt Snedeker: After winning the 2026 ONEflight in May, Snedeker recorded three top-40 finishes in his next four tournaments. He sits 83rd in the tour’s 2026 FedExCup points and 129th in the world ranking, and built his impressive career resume prior to his Myrtle Beach win, as it was the 45-year-old’s 10th on tour.
Snedeker will have a prominent role in professional golf from Sept. 24-27 as captain of the U.S. Presidents Cup Team at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago.
_ Robert MacIntyre: The 29-year-old Scot was the first Myrtle Beach Classic alumnus to quickly rise to prominence.
Playing in his first full season on the PGA Tour in 2024, MacIntyre tied for 13th in the Myrtle Beach Classic and was in contention through three rounds following an opening-round 64.
He won the 2024 RBC Canadian Open just three weeks later, and the Genesis Scottish Open just a few weeks after that on his rise to No. 5 in the world.
Though he hasn’t won on the PGA Tour in the past two seasons, in 2025 he had runner-up finishes in both the U.S. Open and BMW Championship, a PGA Tour playoff event, and has four top-four finishes on tour this season.
MacIntyre did win the 2025 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship for his fourth DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) victory.
Myrtle Beach Classic’s future
The four-year contract between the tour and co-title sponsors ONEflight International and the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce expires following the 2027 tournament.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp laid out some plans for the 2028 season in June.
As it turns out, sponsors of the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic won’t have to contribute much, if any, additional funding to host a PGA Tour event in 2028.
The question is, will they find a spot on the reimagined tour schedule?
Myrtle Beach Classic executive chairman Tracy Conner said in May that tournament organizers are planning to meet with PGA Tour officials in November to begin discussions about continuing to host an event, which the primary sponsors have said they intend to do.
According to Rolapp, the tour will have a Championship Series and a Challenger Series.
The Myrtle Beach Classic would likely fit into the Challenger Series, which will feature purses of at least $4 million – the purse for Myrtle Beach in each of its first three years, or a series of fall events.
The Championship Series will consist of 23 to 24 events running from February through August featuring 120-player fields on average and $20 million purses, according to Rolapp. Fifteen will be regular season events, while others will include the four majors and playoff events.
The Challenger Series will run concurrently with the Championship Series and feature at least 20 events with 144-player fields.
Though the funding won’t be as much as Myrtle Beach Classic organizers anticipated to continue the event beyond 2027, the Challenger Series fields will be weaker than the tournament’s current fields since the Championship Series events will feature 120 players rather than the current 70 or so in the tour’s $20 million signature events.
Rolapp said the top 90 finishers at a minimum on the Championship Series points list will retain their status for the following year, while those who finish outside that number face relegation to the Challenger Series.
Players on the Challenger Series can earn promotion to the Championship Series through either a two-win in-season promotion or by finishing the season in the top 20 on the points list.
Rolapp said the Championship Series playoffs will include match play and a redesigned Tour Championship that will annually rotate among prestigious venues, including courses the tour has never visited before.
Following the core schedule from February to August, the fall calendar will feature a limited number of elevated international events for Championship Series players that Rolapp intends to co-sponsor with the DP World Tour.
The fall will also feature a domestic series for Challenger Series players to have a final opportunity to earn Championship Series membership.
Rolapp is expected to release more details about the 2028 schedule during the Tour Championship from Aug. 27-30 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
