Still, there are clues.

Let’s get to them.

Why should we even assume the PGA Tour is coming back to Boston?

Because PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, who will become the commissioner on Jan. 1, included Boston among a list of cities and top-10 largest US media markets that the Tour sees as opportunities to bring into its fold. Being specific in talking about plans, especially for a new leader, is never accidental. Plus, tour and industry sources also describe Boston as being a priority.

When is the earliest it could return?

2028.

Why then?

That’s when the PGA Tour’s overhaul becomes a reality. That’s the year the tour will begin a two-tier, promotion-relegation format of a Championship and Challenger series of tournaments that include a new match-play Tour Championship.

That relates to Boston how?

There are still four up-for-grab events in the 15-event regular-season schedule of the Championship Series, the top tier where the best players play. Boston and 13 other contenders, some of them from incumbent PGA Tour event cities, are in that mix.

Tough odds. How’s the decision being made?

Lots of big-dollar back-room discussions are ongoing. Every tour stop needs a corporate sponsor, a charitable partner, and of course a top-flight venue that can host an event at the spot in the calendar the PGA Tour needs it.

And what if Boston doesn’t make the Championship cut?

Then it would be a near-lock to be a stop on the Challenger series.

Are fans supposed to get excited about that prospect knowing that the best and best-known golfers wouldn’t play here?

Never mind the fans, potential sponsors are already asking the same question. Of all the nuts to crack, whipping up enthusiasm for the Challenger Series will be the toughest task for the tour. Selling it to Bostonians who live, breathe, and die for top-flight pro athletes and teams sounds, at first blush, like wasted breath.

What about Boston being one of the rotating stops at iconic venues on the two-week Championship Series’ Tour Championship match-play format?

Could happen.

When are we going to find out about Boston making the Championship Series cut or not?

By no later than Feb. 22. That’s when the PGA Tour is staging a made-for-TV rollout extravaganza from its Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., headquarters. Some, not all, Challenger Series events will also be announced.

There’s a decent chance word will start to leak out well before then. By mid-October, the 14 cities vying for those last four Championship Series spots are expected to hear a decision about their bids.

Where would a Boston PGA Tour tournament be held?

That conversation begins and almost ends at TPC Boston. The course is owned by the PGA Tour, which gives it a large leg up over any other contending course in the greater Boston area. It’s a proven product, having hosted the Deutsche Bank and Dell Technologies Championships between 2003 and 2018, The Northern Trust in 2020, and the FM Championship the last three years, with two more FM Championships to go.

Why is it not a lock?

Unclear, but sources get a little cagey when pressed on if there are any other viable courses. Finding a course closer to Boston than TPC Boston, which is about 40 miles from downtown, would be nice. The iconic The Country Club in Brookline does not want to be an annual stop on the tour, plus it’s locked in for four future big events: the 2030 US Girls’ Junior, 2034 US Amateur, 2038 US Open, and 2045 US Women’s Open.

A view of the 18th green at The Country Club in Brookline.David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

What does TPC Boston say?

General manager Dan Waslewski said that for the last five years he has been in touch with the PGA Tour to stay on top of what the venue needs to do to be ready to host a tour stop eight years since it did it last.

“I know of a couple other courses that they have looked at, and I know my understanding is those courses have declined interest so far, so I think it would be more likely than not that it would be hosted here, based on that information,” said Waslewski recently.

What does he think about TPC Boston getting a Championship versus a Challenger Series stop?

Obviously he’d prefer the former, but he understands fully that decision is not in his control.

“All of my conversations with any of my constituents at the tour have all been related to Championship Series only,” he said. “My job as the general manager here and our team is to support the PGA Tour in any way that we can. As a host of a tournament, everybody wants the best players in the world, so the Championship would be ideal, but we’re prepared to do either.”

Could TPC Boston host both a PGA Tour event and the FM Championship?

This is under discussion, as FM’s contract at TPC Boston expires after the 2028 tournament. Extension talks have been held.

Assume they extend and TPC Boston gets the PGA Tour pick, how would that work?

Assuming both that and that FM sticks with its late-August, Labor Day calendar position, the PGA Tour stop would have to come earlier in the year because it is a far more massive event to both stage and disassemble. The PGA Tour event would have to be held at least four, preferably five, weeks before the FM Championship.

That means the second half of July at the latest.

And the earliest?

Given how cold and wet early spring can be, it’s hard to imagine the PGA Tour trusting any Boston course would be ready for tournament play before late May at the earliest.

Given that the Travelers Championship, which is already assured a Championship Series spot, is held in Connecticut every year in late June, the tour could face an interesting decision, should TPC Boston get a Championship Series spot, about whether to time it close to or as far as possible from the Travelers.

Michael Silverman can be reached at michael.silverman@globe.com.