PGA Tour Changes (2022 Onward)

[sjduffers]

6 hours ago, iacas said:

There are no FedExCup points in the fall. The FedExCup is January to August.

That is a very significant change. Without those Fedex points, the top 70 players have zero incentive to play in the fall other than "working on things", or not get rusty sitting at home for 3 months.

Previously, every event, even in the fall season, was 500 pts to the winner, except majors, Players, and WGC tournaments (I think), which were worth 600 pts./

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, sjduffers said:

That is a very significant change. Without those Fedex points, the top 70 players have zero incentive to play in the fall other than "working on things", or not get rusty sitting at home for 3 months.

That's the point. They get an off-season. And the three high-profile, high-$ events if they want.

[sjduffers]

1 minute ago, iacas said:

That's the point. They get an off-season. And the three high-profile, high-$ events if they want.

Yes, but the viewers get sort of a prolonged off-season too. There was obviously a bit less interest in the fall season before but it's going to be even more pronounced now. Is that a good thing? I think not.

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, sjduffers said:

Yes, but the viewers get sort of a prolonged off-season too. There was obviously a bit less interest in the fall season before but it's going to be even more pronounced now. Is that a good thing? I think not.

Nobody watched golf in the fall anyway. And now if they do, they'll have the 50-player events to watch.

At least now the big names will play more events together January to August.

Good trade-off.

[Friz]

26 minutes ago, sjduffers said:

Yes, but the viewers get sort of a prolonged off-season too. There was obviously a bit less interest in the fall season before but it's going to be even more pronounced now. Is that a good thing? I think not.

The fall events are going to be more meaningful now, as players will be fighting to keep their tour card for next season rather than it being a standard early season event.  There will still be golf to watch, and arguably more interesting.

They're never going to compete with the NCAA or NFL  but there should still be events happening for people that want to watch

 

[sjduffers]

15 hours ago, iacas said:

Nobody watched golf in the fall anyway. And now if they do, they'll have the 50-player events to watch.

At least now the big names will play more events together January to August.

Good trade-off.

Hey, I was watching (some of it)!  Are you calling me nobody, lol?

I DVR all PGA Tour events (adding an extra hour on Sundays) and watch some or very little or none of it from Thursdays to Sundays, always fast forwarding through the commercials, otherwise it's impossible to watch at all.

I'll have to add the 50 players events to my schedule. Ha!  I agree that the main season (Jan-Aug) is likely to be more interesting. Overall, it may be a good thing: we'll see.

14 hours ago, Friz said:

The fall events are going to be more meaningful now, as players will be fighting to keep their tour card for next season rather than it being a standard early season event.  There will still be golf to watch, and arguably more interesting.

I don't watch the Korn Ferry Tour and those fall events may feel more like that. True the fall events will still be there to watch, but I am not sure they will be more interesting. We'll see. 

[Friz]

1 hour ago, sjduffers said:

I don't watch the Korn Ferry Tour and those fall events may feel more like that. True the fall events will still be there to watch, but I am not sure they will be more interesting. We'll see. 

It might be with the bigger names missing, but i was thinking of it more like the Wyndham Championship, as a last opportunity to get on the right side of FedEx Cup cutline.  That tournament is always interesting, and I tend to watch certain guys that are around that 125 mark more than the top of the leaderboard that week, interesting for a whole different reason

[SG11118]

On 6/23/2022 at 10:09 AM, Friz said:

Every year is going to start with a clean slate, so anyone, including guys that were not Top 70 the previous year, should be able to play good golf and make the top 70 the current year.  Mediocre golf isn't going to guarantee anyone a free ride, especially for a cutoff at 70 instead of 125.  I personally hope the Top 50 events are not considered part of the season, but if it so happens that the 3 Top 50 events they referenced are part of the season, I'd fully expect there to be an alternate field event like they currently have.

I also hope the top 50 events are just a free money grab for the players who played well the previous year and not part of the season points race.  If you are a top 70 player, you are going to get to play in any tournament that you want, giving you a huge leg up on 71-250.  If you are a top 50 player and you are awarded exclusive points for three more events, that would make those top 50 almost have a cake walk to a top 70 spot the following year.  I am fine with the TOC exclusive field awarding exclusive points to winners from the past year in one single event.  

[iacas]

37 minutes ago, SG11118 said:

I also hope the top 50 events are just a free money grab for the players who played well the previous year and not part of the season points race.  

I feel like we have said several times that they aren’t. There are no FedExCup points after August.

[cutchemist42]

On 6/23/2022 at 7:09 PM, sjduffers said:

Yes, but the viewers get sort of a prolonged off-season too. There was obviously a bit less interest in the fall season before but it's going to be even more pronounced now. Is that a good thing? I think not.

Every sport has off seasons though and it works just fine. 

[Vinsk]

1 minute ago, cutchemist42 said:

Every sport has off seasons though and it works just fine. 

 Not youth baseball in Florida. 😕

[Friz]

DP World Tour, PGA TOUR expand and strengthen alliance

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* Move is a significant boost to a global pathway for competitive golf

Some key items pulled from the article:

Partnership between PGA Tour and DP World Tour through 2035

As part of the new joint venture, the PGA TOUR will increase its existing stake in European Tour Productions from 15 percent to 40 percent, while utilising the DP World Tour’s recognised international credentials and global footprint to continue to coordinate a worldwide schedule.

from 2023, the leading ten players on the end of season DP World Tour Rankings [in addition to those already exempt] will earn PGA TOUR cards for the following season.

the DP World Tour will work closely on the development and implementation of the new international events announced by PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan last week at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut, and DP World members will gain access to those events.

Specific to DP World Tour - guarantees increased annual prize funds for the next 5 years and a formal pathway from the Sunshine Tour and ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia to the DP World Tour

Korn Ferry Tour to award an unprecedented 30 TOUR cards in 2023

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The Korn Ferry Tour season has never been more important.

Beginning next year, an unprecedented 30 PGA TOUR cards will be awarded to the top players on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List at season’s end, reaffirming the quality of the competition on the circuit and the importance of rewarding season-long performance.  

The additional five PGA TOUR cards available via the Korn Ferry Tour were announced Tuesday in concert with widespread changes to the PGA TOUR’s qualification process. It was also announced that 10 TOUR cards would be awarded to the top performers on the DP World Tour and Q-School would award PGA TOUR cards to the top five finishers and ties. It will mark the first time in a decade that Q-School will offer PGA TOUR status. 

It was also announced Tuesday that the Korn Ferry Tour Finals will no longer be a competition for TOUR cards between the top 75 on the Korn Ferry Tour and Nos. 126-200 in the FedExCup standings. The Finals will now refer to the final four events of the season, where members will compete for increased purses and points allocations. The four Finals events will feature $1.5 million purses and award 600 points to each winner. The preceding 22 events on the schedule will have a minimum purse of $1 million – a 67% increase from 2021 to 2023 – and award 500 points to winners. The 2023 Korn Ferry Tour season is scheduled to run from January to October.

 

 

Overall Summary, how to get a PGA Tour Card starting end of next season:

Presumably, tournament champions will continue to receive 2 year exemptions, or more for the bigger tournaments, consistent with current practice

Top 70 FedEx beginning of playoffs will retain a card for next season

71-125 after the fall events will retain a card for next season

Top 10 in DP World Tour's Race for Dubai will get a PGA Tour card for next season

Top 30 in Korn Ferry season standings will get a PGA Tour card for next season

Top 5 and ties in Q School will get a PGA Tour card for next season

Edited June 28, 2022 by Friz

[Shindig]

3 hours ago, Friz said:

 

The additional five PGA TOUR cards available via the Korn Ferry Tour were announced Tuesday in concert with widespread changes to the PGA TOUR’s qualification process. It was also announced that 10 TOUR cards would be awarded to the top performers on the DP World Tour and Q-School would award PGA TOUR cards to the top five finishers and ties. It will mark the first time in a decade that Q-School will offer PGA TOUR status. 

It was also announced Tuesday that the Korn Ferry Tour Finals will no longer be a competition for TOUR cards between the top 75 on the Korn Ferry Tour and Nos. 126-200 in the FedExCup standings. The Finals will now refer to the final four events of the season, where members will compete for increased purses and points allocations. The four Finals events will feature $1.5 million purses and award 600 points to each winner. The preceding 22 events on the schedule will have a minimum purse of $1 million – a 67% increase from 2021 to 2023 – and award 500 points to winners. The 2023 Korn Ferry Tour season is scheduled to run from January to October.

Q-School awarding TOUR cards again is a bit of a surprise, especially coupled with KF giving more.  I thought it was well established (or, at least, was ten years ago) that those getting their cards through Q-School were keeping them at a much lower rate than KF graduates, and so they adjusted. 

Similar with KF Finals not including (I guess?) the lower-finishing PGA Tour pros and instead allowing KF players to maneuver for position.

So... what happens to 126-200 in the FedEx Cup?  Do they not have a chance (beyond Q-School) to get their card back for the next year and are relegated? 

[Friz]

22 minutes ago, Shindig said:

Q-School awarding TOUR cards again is a bit of a surprise, especially coupled with KF giving more.  I thought it was well established (or, at least, was ten years ago) that those getting their cards through Q-School were keeping them at a much lower rate than KF graduates, and so they adjusted. 

Similar with KF Finals not including (I guess?) the lower-finishing PGA Tour pros and instead allowing KF players to maneuver for position.

So... what happens to 126-200 in the FedEx Cup?  Do they not have a chance (beyond Q-School) to get their card back for the next year and are relegated? 

I'd guess that 126-150 still will have conditional status to fill fields like they do now, but likely won't be many opportunities.  Elimination of KF Tour Finals is certainly going to make that fall race for 71-125 even more interesting.  126 is might have a few starts the next season but is a virtual instant demotion, and 151+ would be completely SOL.  At the same time, they can say they're giving KF more, but an increase to 30 coupled with elimination of KF Tour Finals is going to lead to fewer KF guys moving up.  I'm going to assume more than 5 KF guys on average advanced to the PGA Tour through the 25 spots available in Tour Finals, but clearly they had to pull the DP World Tour spots from somewhere to guarantee those guys starts.

The Q School piece is interesting too, I was originally thinking guys that finished in the top 5 of Q School must be frequently finishing in the Top 25 the following year, so they were just cutting out the middle stop.  But I took a quick look at last year's Q School Top 10, and as of right now only 1 of those guys is in the top 25.  A few guys who would've gone straight to the PGA Tour are sitting around 150 in Korn Ferry.  Went back another year and 2 of the Top 10 (1 of the top 5) is currently in the PGA Tour.  So this does seem like an odd choice

[Shindig]

It looks like the schedule is out!  

PGA Tour announces schedule, purse sizes and location changes for 2023

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The PGA Tour has finalized a schedule for 2023, which includes massive purse increases and changes to the FedEx Cup

I really do need to get to the AmEx and/or the Farmers this upcoming season.  They're both really convenient, and I've been to the AmEx once about seven years ago and went to the first Open at Torrey but never the Farmers.  

I don't think I noticed in an earlier announcement that we're down to one WGC.  

[iacas]