These Are the PGA Tour Schedule Changes Coming in 2024
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — There is now more clarity on what the PGA Tour schedule will look like in 2024 and beyond.
After nearly a week of conjecture following a memo sent to players, commissioner Jay Monahan had a news conference on Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass, site of this week’s Players Championship.
Several issues are now more apparent, with others still to be worked out over the coming year. Here are the highlights.
There Will Be Eight Designated Events
For the purposes of explanation, the Tour is removing the four major championships, the Players Championship and the three FedEx Cup playoff events from the discussion. They are part of the 16 events that the majority of players will compete in every year. The playoff events are all no-cut events.
The other designated events will include the season-opening Sentry Tournament of Champions, with the field expanded to the top 50 in FedEx Cup points from the previous year as well as tournament winners from the preceding year. The legacy events—Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational and Memorial are also designated events. Then there are four more to be determined.
In a switch from the original plans this year, the four other designated events are expected to be locked in for several years. They will not rotate.
Small Fields, No Cuts
The eight events will all have fields between 70 and 80 players with no cuts. That means including the playoffs, there will be 11 tournaments that do not have a cut in a 34-week schedule.
Qualifications
The top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings—or those who make it to the BMW Championship, the second playoff event—will comprise the majority of those who qualify for designated events.
Then the Tour is going to a system that rewards more recent play. The top 10 in the latest FedEx Cup standings who are not otherwise exempt will be eligible. And to further narrow it down, the top five points-earners in the most recent non-elevated events (those between designated events) will also earn spots. That brings the field to 65.
There will also be spots for the top 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking who are not otherwise exempt; current-year PGA Tour winners of full-points events (opposite-event winners do not automatically qualify) and four sponsor exemptions. With those, fields are projected to be at 70 or more. There will be no alternate list.
Minimum Requirements
There are none other than the 15-tournament minimum required for membership. This year, there are 20 events with 19 required. Next year, including the majors and Players and playoffs, there will be 16. There is no requirement to play any of them. The Tour will also scrap its requirement that players compete in three non-designated events, as is the case this year.
The Schedule Cadence
The Tour said non-designated events will no longer be isolated. For example, the Honda Classic was between two designated events on either side. The plan is have at least two non-designated events and often three between them. That allows those tournaments to attract some top players who don’t want to take so much time off. It also creates a mini-qualification system for the upcoming designated events.
FedEx Points
A final determination has not been made but designated events are going to be awarding more points. Right now, the majors and Players give 600 points to the winner, with 550 to the legacy events and 500 to regular events. It is likely that the majors and designated events will be increased while regular events will stay at 500 points. This will put more of a premium on getting into the designated events.
Player Impact Program
Next year the bonus program will pay $50 million to 10 players, with the other $50 million that was part of it this year being redirected into the FedEx Cup bonus pool and the Comcast Business Tour bonus pool. Those who partake in the bonus pool will have no requirement to play in designated events.
The Fall
Not many details have come out about how the fall events following the Tour Championship will work. The Tour is returning to a calendar-year schedule in 2024, and the fall events will largely be for players to secure their playing privileges for the following year. Only the top 70 qualify for the FedEx playoffs, so these tournaments—likely seven—will determine who finishes among the top 125 for the following year.
But they will also be a way to qualify for designated events. Points will continue on from the regular season and the Tour will enact some sort of system that uses the continuation of FedEx points to help players qualify for the early-season designated events.