PGA Tour unveils 2024 schedule with 8 ‘signature’ events

FLORIDA – The PGA Tour on Monday unveiled its 2024 schedule for the FedExCup regular season, which will return to a calendar-year programme and the play-off champion pocketing a record US$25 million (S$33.6 million) bonus.

The season, consisting of 36 events, tees off in January with the Sentry in Hawaii and concludes in August at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina with 70 players advancing to the play-offs.

Three play-off tournaments, culminating with the 30-player Tour Championship at East Lake will determine the winner of the US$25 million payout, an increase from the US$18 million that will be paid out to the 2023 champion.

The season will also feature eight “signature” events with a limited field. Those include three player-hosted invitationals – the Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational and Memorial – which will have a 36-hole cut and increased prize money. Winners will take 20 per cent of the purse, up from 18 per cent in other signature events.

The other five – the Sentry, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship, and Travelers Championship – will have no cut.

The signature events were termed designated events in the just-ended 2023 regular season. Big names like Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm were required to play in the special events or forfeit bonus money, ensuring showdowns of many of golf’s top-ranked stars throughout the season at events beyond the Majors.

Field sizes for signature events other than the season opener are expected to be between 70 and 80 players, including the top 50 from the previous season standings and 15 members who can play their way into the events.

There was no sign of LIV Golf events in the 2024 programme, despite

the controversial merger plan

announced in June.

The PGA Policy Board, now with a majority of players

after the addition of Tiger Woods,

must ratify any agreement by the end of 2023 or the deal with the Saudi-back upstart circuit could collapse.

The 2024 Majors are the Masters (April 11-14) at Augusta National, PGA Championship (May 16-19) at Valhalla, US Open (June 13-16) at Pinehurst and British Open (July 18-21) at Royal Troon.

The Paris Olympics golf programme will be in early August with the PGA Tour season ending at the Aug 8-11 Wyndham Championship, setting up the FedExCup play-offs at the St Jude Championship in Memphis, BMW Championship at Castle Pines in Colorado and Tour Championship in Atlanta.

“We are excited about the roll-out of the PGA Tour’s reimagined schedule and what the season will offer to our fans: a January start with stars competing head-to-head more often, alongside the weekly drama of life-altering moments and the emergence of new stars,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan.

The 2023 FedExCup regular season concluded on Sunday at the Wyndham Championship with Rahm atop the leaderboard heading into the play-offs, which begin on Thursday with the St Jude Championship in Memphis.

Topping that chart has earned the Spaniard a US$4 million bonus. He won four times – including the Masters – and posted 10 top-10 finishes.

Rahm’s bonus was part of a US$20 million pot divided among the 10 top finishers in the FedExCup standings.

He is No. 3 in the world, but is ahead of top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and No. 2 McIlroy in FedExCup points. The American earned a US$3 million bonus, with McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, receiving US$2.4 million.

Rahm, 28, said the first-place points finish and bonus serve as “a reminder of the season I put together and all the hard work and support the team put in to get there”. He added: “I try my hardest to win each and every time I tee it up in a tournament, and this award is a great acknowledgment of that goal.” REUTERS, AFP