2019 Florida Swing

[iacas]

February 28-March 3: Honda Classic
March 7-10: Arnold Palmer Invitational
March 14-17: The Players Championship
March 21-24: Valspar Championship
March 28-31: WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play
April 4-7: Valero Texas Open
April 11-14: The Masters

Slight shuffling of some events, and the Valspar and/or Arnold Palmer look to be a bit screwed - players who play the Honda may not want to play three weeks in a row (skipping the AP), and players who play the AP and the Players may want to miss the Valspar.

What will Tiger do? Play AP and Players, and skip the Honda and the Valspar? This assumes he's top 64 and qualifies for the Match Play next year.

[onthehunt526]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

February 28-March 3: Honda Classic
March 7-10: Arnold Palmer Invitational
March 14-17: The Players Championship
March 21-24: Valspar Championship
March 28-31: WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play
April 4-7: Valero Texas Open
April 11-14: The Masters

Slight shuffling of some events, and the Valspar and/or Arnold Palmer look to be a bit screwed - players who play the Honda may not want to play three weeks in a row (skipping the AP), and players who play the AP and the Players may want to miss the Valspar.

What will Tiger do? Play AP and Players, and skip the Honda and the Valspar? This assumes he's top 64 and qualifies for the Match Play next year.

That schedule looks a little on the shitty side for the better players. If Tiger continues this form throughout 2018, he should qualify for all 4 WGC Events and not have to sectional qualify for the U.S. Open at Pebble. I think he plays API, The Player's, and Match Play... Unless he needs World Ranking points for some reason. The Valspar will probably be a much weaker field next year.

All of this is necessary because of the PGA Championship moving to May (I believe in the Players spot). It's not a terrible idea, but it takes great courses like Oak Hill and Hazeltine almost out of the rotation, especially if Minnesota and Upstate NY see a harsh winter. (Sorry Erik, I know it's only partially related). 

Is the WGC-Mexico Championship going bye bye, or moving to the fall?

[Dr. Manhattan]

1 hour ago, onthehunt526 said:

That schedule looks a little on the shitty side for the better players. If Tiger continues this form throughout 2018, he should qualify for all 4 WGC Events and not have to sectional qualify for the U.S. Open at Pebble.

 

Tiger will not be forced to sectional qualify for any U.S. Open. They have given special exemptions to the likes of Furyk, Els, and Goosen recently. They gave special exemptions repeatedly to Arnold and Jack. Woods has 9 USGA championships. If anyone was ever locked for a special exemption, it's Tiger. 

[skydog]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

 

What will Tiger do? Play AP and Players, and skip the Honda and the Valspar? This assumes he's top 64 and qualifies for the Match Play next year.

This would be my guess. It looks to me like the Valspar will be the biggest casualty of this schedule. Hard to say what the net effect on the API will be. My guess would be Tiger consistently chooses the API over the Honda and this in turn could re-elevate the API a bit and get other players to follow suit. Hard to say.

[Frank-0-Sport]

Greetings ...

Not for sure, but somewhere I read that the WGC-Mexico event would be shifted over to the West Coast Segment. If that is indeed the case,then the first eight weeks of 2019 would look this ....

Jan 3-6 ... Sentry Tournament of Champions // Jan 10-13 ... Sony-Hawaii

Jan 17-20 ... Career Builder Challenge of Hope // Jan 24-27 ... Farmers-SanDiego

Jan 31-Feb 3 ... WM - Phoenix // Feb 7-10 ... AT&T-Pebble Beach

Feb 14-17 ... Genesis-Los Angeles  // Feb 21-24 ... WGC-Mexico and (I presume) Puerto Rico

[onthehunt526]

9 minutes ago, Frank-0-Sport said:

Greetings ...

Not for sure, but somewhere I read that the WGC-Mexico event would be shifted over to the West Coast Segment. If that is indeed the case,then the first eight weeks of 2019 would look this ....

Jan 3-6 ... Sentry Tournament of Champions // Jan 10-13 ... Sony-Hawaii

Jan 17-20 ... Career Builder Challenge of Hope // Jan 24-27 ... Farmers-SanDiego

Jan 31-Feb 3 ... WM - Phoenix // Feb 7-10 ... AT&T-Pebble Beach

Feb 14-17 ... Genesis-Los Angeles  // Feb 21-24 ... WGC-Mexico and (I presume) Puerto Rico

It would make sense... But I'm not sure, because I doubt the 30 or so winners, will want to spend New Year's in Hawaii (I would). But that would make sense... Because then you'd have to move Houston to after the Masters... which moves Hilton Head and New Orleans and Wells Fargo... It's going to be an interesting schedule. But I'm guessing Wells Fargo probably would be after the PGA, then Byron Nelson, Colonial, Memorial, Memphis, U.S. Open, Travelers, John Deere, Greenbrier, Open Championship, Canadian Open, Bridgestone, The National?, Wyndham, Playoffs?

I read somewhere that the Playoffs might become 3 events, but if you have the Wyndham when the PGA was you can keep it at 4 with no byes, then the Tour Championship would end on the Sunday before Labor Day, when I'm laboring over a 3 foot putt to get to the Finals of the City Championship on Monday. 

Tiger needs to get a title sponsor for his event in D.C. or risk losing it. Then what, bring the B.C. Open back? or the old Buick just call it something else? Or do we actually get a "real" Western Open at Cog Hill... Who knows... we shall see.

[3jacker]

I'd stick to the API given relative purse size. Valspar and/or Honda would take the loss.

 

[Wally Fairway]

Looks like the Houston Open is getting the squeeze in that schedule. They had settled into the week before the Masters; with a private charter to Augusta after the event and getting their greens as close as possible to ANGC. I know they are struggling to find a sponsor for the event.

I presume the RBC Heritage keeps it spot the week after the Masters, it certainly won't make it any easier finding a sponsor if the event gets "lost" in the shuffle between the Masters and PGA Championship at Beth Page Black (moving to May 16-19 in 2019). The weather on Long Island in May should be nice for the PGA, but it could be a challenge to get the course in prime condition.

 

[onthehunt526]

More players will probably stick to API not only because of the money, but the potential 3-year TOUR exemption. Sometime in the '90s the TOUR reduced the exemption for winning The Players from 10 years to 5. (It was 10 years at least through 1992, I don't know beyond that). 

[Frank-0-Sport]

1 hour ago, onthehunt526 said:

More players will probably stick to API not only because of the money, but the potential 3-year TOUR exemption. Sometime in the '90s the TOUR reduced the exemption for winning The Players from 10 years to 5. (It was 10 years at least through 1992, I don't know beyond that). 

Ten-Year PGA Tour exemptions for winning the Players, Masters, US Open, Open Championship (British) and PGA Championship were reduced to five for winners 1998-onwards. 1997 was the last time 10-year exemptions were awarded, with Greg Norman (NEC World Series of Golf) being the last such recipient.

Beginning 2003, any player who wins a PGA Tour exemption of 3-or-more years in a given year, can increase his exempt status by winning PGA Tour events in each of the appropriate calendar years (or "wrap" tour seasons) following that in which the initial 3-or-more year (or season) exemption was earned. A maximum of five additional one-year exemptions may obtained in this manner. As an example, David Toms won the PGA Championship in 2001, and between 2002 and 2006 won at least five PGA Tour events to increase his prime exempt status to ten years thru the end of 2011.

I'm not a fan of the PGA Tour's current method of awarding additional years of victory exemptions. I would rather that they award exemptions on a fixed basis, as follows ...

5 yrs - Players, Masters, US Open, Open Ch., PGA Ch., Fed Ex Cup
3 yrs - WGCs, Palmer, Memorial and Tour Championship

3 yrs -- Any PGA Tour event, other than those listed above, on the condition that (1) it is among the Top Five such events of the current season on the basis of Official World Golf Ranking Field Strength, and that (2) the winning player is among the Final Top 20 Fed Ex Points Leaders of the season in which the win occurs

2 yrs - All other PGA Tour events.

Edited March 26, 2018 by Frank-0-Sport

[iacas]

8 hours ago, Wally Fairway said:

Looks like the Houston Open is getting the squeeze in that schedule. They had settled into the week before the Masters; with a private charter to Augusta after the event and getting their greens as close as possible to ANGC. I know they are struggling to find a sponsor for the event.

Yeah, that may be a bummer.