6 takeaways from the PGA Tour’s official schedule dump

It took almost 2,000 phrases for the PGA Tour to elucidate all the new adjustments to its 2024 schedule, launched in an official capability Monday afternoon. That’s lot of phrases for one thing that isn’t supposed to vary a lot yr over yr — however these are bizarre instances in professional golf. This was no common schedule dump. 

There are new occasions, new sponsorships and new layers of intrigue to a few of the Tour’s most essential traditions. Here are six foremost takeaways from the professional golf we’ll watch subsequent yr. 

1. Get used to “Signature Events”

The final 12 months have seen the rise of Elevated Events, a reputation change to name them Designated Events, and now another change to the moniker of “Signature Events.” In brief, they’re the fields with the finest gamers from the earlier yr and a few of the hottest gamers in the present yr, enjoying for the largest purses on the schedule. 

They start with the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January and are sprinkled all through the remainder of the calendar, with a minimum of one Signature Event per 30 days, excluding July. Toss in the Players Championship in March, the 4 majors in April, May, June and July after which the three playoff occasions in August and we will typically count on the prime gamers to fulfill 16 instances a yr. 

2. Tiger, Jack and Arnie occasions elevated additional

There are the majors, the FedEx Cup Playoffs and the Players Championship which have typically been handled as a reduce above the remainder of the occasions on the PGA Tour schedule. Now, we’ve got one other rung of occasions which are just a bit extra noteworthy than the others.

The Genesis Invitational, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial match will all be Signature Events, as anticipated, however they may also characteristic a 36-hole reduce, a controversial piece of the tournament-making puzzle in 2023. Should an occasion with 70 to 80 gamers characteristic a reduce? Should sponsors reap the advantages of the complete subject making it to the weekend? These have been the questions many golf figures have debated this summer season. With these three occasions, we stay tethered to that custom. 

Notably, bending away from custom shall be how these occasions pay out the winners. For the first time, the winner of these tournaments will take residence 20% of the purse, a rise from the regular 18%. That means your 2024 Genesis Invitational champion shall be holding a $4 million examine come Sunday night. 

3. The cash is barely getting larger

Tucked into the press launch was the proven fact that the winner of the 2024 FedEx Cup — the year-long battle for factors that culminates at the Tour Championship — will earn $25 million on their very own. That’s a $7 million (38%) enhance from 2023, that means these birdies and bogeys down at East Lake are extra worthwhile than ever earlier than. 

When that bonus cash is dolled out, we’ll inevitably ask the winner what they intend to do with these riches. And we’ll doubtless then see one other time-honored custom play out: the winner will little question wrestle to reply with any definitive plans for the dough. Why? Because I don’t actually play for cash, they’ll say. And that shall be true and false at the similar time. 

In addition to the mega monies out there at the Tour Championship, the Comcast Business Top 10 — which rewards the prime FedEx Cup gamers via the extent of the common season — will now dish out $40 million, or twice the lot from 2023. That’s $8 million to the common season champ, that means if somebody sweeps the prime spot in all the things, we might be seeing the first $50-million season in on-course earnings. 

4. Pebble Beach will look totally different in your TV

The golf course will look the similar, don’t fear. But the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am will look very totally different. For starters, will probably be a Signature Event and carry with it a $20 million purse. It shall be the first Signature Event that features the prime gamers from the fall sequence, creating an actual sweepstakes on one in every of the finest programs in the world. 

Most importantly, the really feel of the occasion will change as the “Am” a part of the Pro-am will solely happen over the first two days of the match. In years previous, the weekend rounds of the Pro-Am transpired in a little bit of a slog as tempo of play might grind to a halt with many amateurs enjoying alongside the leaders of the match. Now, these amateurs shall be swept away from the subject as we flip to the last two rounds. It’ll enhance the TV product and it would even enhance play. Who is aware of. But it’ll really feel totally different in loads of good methods.

5. New(ish) occasions, new sponsors, new locations!

The schedule could have been launched Monday nevertheless it’s nonetheless not fully finalized. The late February occasion that yearly visits PGA National in southern Florida shall be named The Classic at the Palm Beaches — a minimum of for the time being. A sponsor announcement for that occasion is predicted in the coming months. 

Held at the similar time as the Wells Fargo Championship shall be an extra occasion referred to as the Myrtle Beach Classic, providing gamers outdoors the Signature Series one other enjoying alternative. That’ll happen at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Then, later in the summer season, the same further occasion shall be performed throughout the Scottish Open. We simply don’t know the place. In previous years, PGA Tour gamers who didn’t qualify or need to commute to Scotland have been capable of compete in the Barbasol Championship. That occasion is not. What will fill its place? We shall see, however the Tour has made room for “TBA Event” on its calendar.

6. The Next 10 and The Swing 5

These names are going to be for the nerdiest of PGA Tour nerds, however shall be essential nonetheless. They’ll determine who joins the FedEx Top 50 gamers from 2023 in all the Signature Events in 2024. So you need to see, say, Joel Dahmen enjoying in the Wells Fargo Championship? Joel completed outdoors the prime 50 this yr, so he’ll must qualify by way of the Next 10 or the Swing 5.

The Next 10 is easy: the subsequent 10 gamers in the current-season FedEx Cup standings who hadn’t already certified for a spot in the Signature Events will earn their means in by way of their latest play. Players who carry out properly in January and February will earn their means into March’s signature occasions that means. And in the event that they play rather well, they could simply maintain that honor for the entirety of the summer season.

The Swing 5 checks a barely totally different field, awarding 5 spots in tournaments by way of performances from over a shorter, particular time interval: as many as 4 occasions and as little as two, between the Signature Events. Players who play properly at, say, the Myrtle Beach Classic, the Charles Schwab Challenge and the Canadian Open, might go from not enjoying the “Signature” Wells Fargo Championship proper right into a spot in the “Signature” Memorial match subject and the “Signature” Travelers Championship.