Huge Changes to PGA Tour Schedule and Q-School

[mvmac]

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem announced today sweeping changes to the PGA TOUR Schedule and the way players will qualify for the tour.

Quote:

The policy board on Tuesday approved two significant components to the overhaul: The PGA Tour season will start in October, and the developmental Nationwide Tour will be the primary path to get a PGA Tour card, ending nearly 50 years of Q-school as a way to get to golf's biggest tour.

Cards would be awarded at a three-tournament series blending Nationwide Tour and PGA Tour players.

The board approved the concept, which has been talked about for several months.

What remains are the details -- a lot of them.

"Any time you make a change, human nature is, 'Why are we changing? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.' There's another way to look at things," Finchem said. "When things are going pretty well, that's the time to get better."

But while the tour wants to make sure players are better equipped when they reach the PGA Tour, money is behind the change, too.

The tour wants to make the Nationwide Tour more appealing as it searches for a new title sponsor -- this is the final year of sponsorship for the Ohio-based insurance company. Finchem said the tour is talking with several companies, though "close might not be the right word."

By starting the official season in October -- shortly after the FedEx Cup season ends -- it allows the tour to give more value to the tournaments now part of the Fall Series. If they are not treated like other tournaments, odds are they would not renew their sponsorship, which would eliminate some $25 million in prize money.

Starting the season in October means Q-school no longer can be an avenue to the PGA Tour. Instead, Q-school will award cards for only the Nationwide Tour.

Finchem offered only a skeleton of the plan:

•  After the FedEx Cup regular season ends in August 2013, the tour will take the top 75 players from the Nationwide Tour money list, along with the players who finished No. 126 through 200 on the PGA Tour money list, and have them play three tournaments. The top 50 will receive PGA Tour cards for the following season.

•  The biggest problem for the board is blending two very different tours. Finchem said his staff has discussed seeding the players in such a way that the top 25 from the Nationwide Tour are assured of being among the top 50. The only thing that would suffer if they played badly in the three-tournament series is their ranking for the next season.

•  For the past several years, the top 25 players from the Nationwide Tour received tour cards. Another 25 cards or so were handed out at Q-school, which often produced a few heartwarming stories of a long shot who achieved his dream of reaching the tour.

•  Finchem said research shows that players who spent a year on the Nationwide Tour are more equipped for the rigors of travel than someone who gets hot for six rounds and gets a card. He also said an average 1.4 players go from college to Q-school and get their cards. Among them are Dustin Johnson and J.B. Holmes , both of whom won in their rookie season.

•  This year, 21-year-old John Huh made it through all three stages of Q-school and won last month in Mexico against a weak field. Under the change, however, the Mexico event would be held in the fall as part of the new season.

•  The change in earning cards begins in 2013. That means the 50 players who earn their cards will only have eight months to finish among the top 125 on the PGA Tour, instead of having six extra events in the fall to make up ground.

•  The fall events will be the start of the new season in October 2013. Still to be determined is whether those tournaments will offer the same number of FedEx Cup points as tournaments held from January until the FedEx Cup playoffs begin in August.

Not awarding similar points could be a problem.

Golf World magazine, in a story for its digital edition Monday, obtained a letter from the Frys.com Open in which it expressed "concern about continuing our sponsorship" if the fall events are only given half the points.

Fry's has the greatest potential of a large purse and is geared toward being a big event.

Finchem said offering full points for every tournament remains a possibility. It was one of the details still to be discussed, and he said he would go back to the 16-member Player Advisory Council for comments.

The notion of abandoning the traditional means of PGA Tour access -- Q-school -- first was brought up one year ago. It took this long to get the concept approved. The hard work figures to be in the details, but by announcing that it has approved the plan, the tour has left itself a little more than a year to get that sorted out.

"I think the player directors felt ... a lot of times, it's easier to get everybody focused when you know it's going to happen," Finchem said. "So this is going to happen. And now we've got a couple of things that we have got to make sure we do right."

One thing Finchem made clear is everything revolves around the FedEx Cup, which last month renewed its deal through 2017.

"It means that the PGA TOUR competition is the FedEx Cup," Finchem said. "We like that. And we like what it does for those tournaments involved and for the sponsors involved."

Other elements:

•  The HSBC Champions in China will be considered a full-fledged World Golf Championship starting in 2013. Until then, it counts only as an official win on the PGA Tour if one of its members were to win.

•  College players can get into the three-tournament qualifying series if they earn enough money equivalent to being within the top 200 on the PGA Tour money list or the top 75 on the Nationwide Tour.

[mchepp]

I am a fan of qualifying more guys from the Nationwide tour. Guys can learn the ropes, get their games in shape to play week in week out, and learn to travel well. I think it is a great place to learn. So from that aspect I am very happy to hear this.

Now I think the FedEx Cup does not work. It is confusing, and a guy can win not being the best player that year. I also did not like that they keep changing it. I am worried that this mini-tournament at the end of the season will wind up in the same situation. It might be confusing or need to be revamped after a year or so. These guys are playing for jobs and their lives it should not be toyed it. The millionaires of the FedEx can be without a few million here or there, these guys cannot.

So I like half of it, but not the other half.

[michaeljames92]

Never rated the Fedex Cup. It 'may' produce more interesting scenarios at the end of the season, but It's a system which the best player may not win. Bill Haas last year was a perfect example. I think this new system is just going to confuse things a hell of a lot.

[sacm3bill]

Originally Posted by michaeljames92

Never rated the Fedex Cup. It 'may' produce more interesting scenarios at the end of the season, but It's a system which the best player may not win. Bill Haas last year was a perfect example. I think this new system is just going to confuse things a hell of a lot.

Originally Posted by mchepp

...Now I think the FedEx Cup does not work. It is confusing, and a guy can win not being the best player that year...

Isn't that the case with the playoff format for just about any sport you can think of? If the player or team with the best regular season record is the only one who should be able to win the playoffs, why even have playoffs?

And with respect to the FedEx Cup format being changed, change is not necessarily a bad thing. Personally I think the changes have been for the better.

[mchepp]

Originally Posted by sacm3bill

Isn't that the case with the playoff format for just about any sport you can think of? If the player or team with the best regular season record is the only one who should be able to win the playoffs, why even have playoffs?

And with respect to the FedEx Cup format being changed, change is not necessarily a bad thing. Personally I think the changes have been for the better.

There is another thread going on about the FedEx Cup so I will not comment on that in this thread. uttexas has a thought similar to yours which when I read it I agree.

As to changes, yes, I do agree that change is always good provided it is for the better, but to play devils advocate that just means you should have done it right in the first place. I just think when someone is fighting for their livelihood we should not always be moving the goalposts on them.

[GaijinGolfer]

I think its about time they used the Nationwide Tour as it was intended to be: a stepping stone to the PGA Tour.  IMO, everyone who is whining about the demise of q-school is just be nostalgic.

[k-troop]

Originally Posted by mchepp

I just think when someone is fighting for their livelihood we should not always be moving the goalposts on them.

Fair statement, but I think something tends to get lost when we're talking about what PGA Tour stars, or even wannabe cardholders, are entitled to.  The PGA Tour is a place where you can make a million dollars a year playing golf.  Granted, it's not your fun weekend round with your buddies, and it's a lot of work--but you're still making an obscene amount of money doing what I spend every second of my free time either doing or thinking about.

That dream world exists because of fans.  No fans = no merchandising, no Sponsors, no TV dollars, no 8 hours of coverage every weekend, no giant purses, no PGA Tour, and no feeder Tours.

I think these moves are great for fans.  More people watching more golf more of the year.  And meaningful golf, with real money and titles on the line in the FedEx Cup.  Real livelihood on the line, and a great intro to next year's players, in the new Fall Finish.  More fans watching more golf later in the year = more merchandising, more Sponsors, more TV dollars, more coverage, even bigger purses, and a healthier PGA Tour and feeder Tours.

IMO, this move is great for me as a fan, which means it's great for the Tour.

[brocks]

What a great job it must be, to be PGA commissioner. You get paid millions of bucks per year, and after "several months" of deliberation, you come up with a half-baked policy that doesn't even have many specifics --- they don't know whether or not the fall events will earn full points, and they haven't even talked to ANGC to ask whether, if they do decide to award full points to fall events, the winner will get a Masters invitation. My source is PGA Veep Ty Votaw, speaking on "Morning Drive" today. The whole point of the FedEx Cup was to give the players an off season. Now the new season starts a couple or three weeks after the Tour Championship. If they award full points to the fall events, which some of the event sponsors are apparently demanding, then the guys who don't play the fall events are spotting the guys who do a huge head start for the next FedEx playoffs. Not to mention the HSBC becoming a full WGC, so where is the off season? Even more wacky, if you win an event in October 2014, you get invited to the Tournament of Champions in 2016, not 2015. IMO they've made a mess of this.

[k-troop]

Not sure what this means:

College players can get into the three-tournament qualifying series if they earn enough money equivalent to being within the top 200 on the PGA Tour money list or the top 75 on the Nationwide Tour.

Does this mean amateurs playing on Sponsor's Exemptions or special invitations to Majors who might finish in the money will count that money, even if they don't collect it?  I guess it's still feasible for an amateur to get a top-10 in a couple of official money events and finish between 126-200 in "official money."  That would earn them an invite to the Fall Series, and a chance to get their cards.

It also seems to make much more sense for the season to "officially" end with the Tour Championship, and begin with the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua.  The Fall Series could be a qualifying series only, with full PGA Tour status for the top 50 finishers, and anyone who wins one of the events (I assume they're still giving a full 2-year exemption for winners, and I guess it would be difficult to win a Fall Series event and finish outside of the top-50 for the Fall Series).  Surely the Sponsors would be just as excited if the Fall Series was it's own playoff combining the best of the Nationwide Tour and the PGA Tour guys outside of the bubble.  (At first I thought that the top 25 on the Nationwide should already be exempt, but I think having them play in the Fall Series, even if they are weighted a bit, is a good intro for the following season so that we know who they are.  Also will provide better golf during the Fall Series--will be interesting to see how 1-25 from the Nationwide fare against 126-150 from the PGA Tour.)

Trying to say that the Tour season begins in Oct is a bit of a fiction, though.  Are the Fall Series events supposed to be the beginning of the season, but 1-125 on the PGA Tour aren't invited?  Or 1-125 are playing in the FedEx Cup, while everyone else is playing in the Fall Series?

The more I think about it, the Fall Series events, played after the Tour Championship, can't be counted as regular season PGA Tour events.  There's no way that 1-125 can even be invited to those events, if they've already got 150 guys in the field competing for their cards.  You can't have the top guys on Tour--the ones who played well and guaranteed their cards--being disadvantaged in FedEx Cup standings because they're not allowed to play in the Fall Series.

[uttexas]

My initial reaction: Sacrifice a great tradition for more television/advertising revenue.

[GaijinGolfer]

Originally Posted by uttexas

My initial reaction: Sacrifice a great tradition for more television/advertising revenue.

Hockey has the AHL, baseball has the minor leagues, the NFL has college, NASCAR has the nationwide series.  Why shouldnt golf have a tour that allows players to adjust to life on tour instead of just having some crazy gautlet and then just throwing them in with the best players in the world?  At this point, who really cares about the Nationwide Tour?  No one.  At least now, it will drum up interest for that tour because you will be able to see the best players of tomorrow hone their skills.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by TitleistWI

Hockey has the AHL, baseball has the minor leagues, the NFL has college, NASCAR has the nationwide series.  Why shouldnt golf have a tour that allows players to adjust to life on tour instead of just having some crazy gautlet and then just throwing them in with the best players in the world?  At this point, who really cares about the Nationwide Tour?  No one.  At least now, it will drum up interest for that tour because you will be able to see the best players of tomorrow hone their skills.

Because in all of those leagues some players can jump right to the top league right away.

That opportunity is now, for all intents and purposes, gone in golf.

[x129]

You can still  do the same in golf. Just need to qualify for the US Open and have a great finish. Or Monday qualifing. Or play well enough as an amateur to get a sponsor exemption. Obviously this is going to be a couple notches harder. Personally I don't see why they don't have a series of tournaments to qualify  for this qualification tournament. Keeping 10-20 slots open to allow the long shots in. Maybe a nationwide guy that was hurt early and just finding his swing.Or a Euro/asian tour guy that wants to come over.

Originally Posted by iacas

Because in all of those leagues some players can jump right to the top league right away.

That opportunity is now, for all intents and purposes, gone in golf.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by x129

You can still  do the same in golf. Just need to qualify for the US Open and have a great finish. Or Monday qualifing. Or play well enough as an amateur to get a sponsor exemption. Obviously this is going to be a couple notches harder. Personally I don't see why they don't have a series of tournaments to qualify  for this qualification tournament. Keeping 10-20 slots open to allow the long shots in. Maybe a nationwide guy that was hurt early and just finding his swing.Or a Euro/asian tour guy that wants to come over.

That's not the same thing. You used to be able to play well enough in Q School to get a PGA Tour card. None of the things you mentioned get you a PGA Tour card.

I think that the Tour has gone way too far in trying to make the junior tour more attractive to potential sponsors.

[Canuck]

Originally Posted by iacas

That's not the same thing. You used to be able to play well enough in Q School to get a PGA Tour card. None of the things you mentioned get you a PGA Tour card.

I think that the Tour has gone way too far in trying to make the junior tour more attractive to potential sponsors.

Totally agree. Q-school was something that gave all amateur or mini tour pros something to dream or shoot for. It was the golden ticket so to speak. By totally eliminating Q-school takes away from a great tradition. There are so many other ways that they could have tweaked it or had fewer spots available through Q-school qualifying. I am pretty disappointed with the PGA tours decision on this matter. I sure hope that Q-school will return.

[mtsalmela80]

So basically, if I was to wake up tomorrow and be able to shoot 65 all day long on championship courses, I'd have to get myself on the nationwide tour and stay there for a year before even thinking of going to the big leagues?

lame

[mchepp]

Originally Posted by mtsalmela80

So basically, if I was to wake up tomorrow and be able to shoot 65 all day long on championship courses, I'd have to get myself on the nationwide tour and stay there for a year before even thinking of going to the big leagues?

lame

Well you are not being entirely accurate, if you shot 65 all for days you would likely win the tournament, then you win 3 in a row and then you can play on the PGA Tour. Sound good?

[iacas]

Originally Posted by mchepp

Well you are not being entirely accurate, if you shot 65 all for days you would likely win the tournament, then you win 3 in a row and then you can play on the PGA Tour. Sound good?

Right. You might also Monday qualify and if you shot 65-65-65-65 you'd win, and then you'd be exempt. :)