Changes Abound for 2013 PGA TOUR Schedule, Cards

The PGA TOUR released the 2013 schedule today. There are many changes in store, both for tournaments and the start of a new season as well as end of season “playoffs”.

Here’s a few notes on the changes that will occur for 2013:

The ulitmate goal will be the same for Brandt Snedeker in 2013. For others, the path will be a little different. (Kevin Liles-US PRESSWIRE)

– The season will end immediately following the TOUR Championship. This was a move that had previously be determined. The first tournament of the Fall Schedule will commence the new season, the 2013-2014 season. Fall events will now carry an allotment of FedEx Cup points.
– Earnings will no longer be a factor for exempt status as you will see in the following points.
– The Web.com Tour will still carry their “Top 25”, but will also have its own playoffs )of sorts) in order to determine the final 25 cards, providing a total of 50 PGA TOUR cards, in a sense. Those that finish in the Top 25 during the regular season will still garner a PGA TOUR card. The remaining 25 cards will be awarded through a newly created “playoff” format. These playoffs will involve four events with cumulative earnings being the determining factor for those cards. That field will be comprised of the top 75 from the Web.com Tour money list, PGA TOUR players who are 126-200 on the FedExCup points list, and non-members who would have earned enough FedExCup points from their performance on TOUR to place them 126-200 on the official FedExCup points list. Those 50 cards will carry second priority only to those that finish the season in the top 125 of FedEx Cup points and other eligibility as determined by the TOUR. These events will coincide with the FedEx Cup playoffs.
– The final tournament for the Web.com finals will be TPC Sawgrass.
– Q-school was no longer provide cards directly to the PGA TOUR. Instead, those cards will be for the Web.com Tour.
– There will be no PGA TOUR sponsored event opposite the WGC-Accenture Match Play. The Mayakoba Classic, which was that event, will move to a date in the fall series. Those tournaments that fall opposite majors or WGC events will see an increase in FedEx Cup points, going from the current 250 for the winner, to 300. These are the Puerto Rico Open (opposite the WGC-Cadillac Championships at Doral), the True South Classic (opposite the Open Championship), and the Reno-Tahoe Open (opposite the WGC-Bridgestone).
– The Valero Texas Open will be the week immediately prior to The Masters instead of two weeks after.
– The off-week for the FedEx Cup playoffs will be moved to after the second tournament, the Deutsche Bank Championship.
– Two of the four FedEx Cup playoff events will sport new venues for the year. The Barclays, this past season held at Bethpage Black, will be held at Liberty National while the BMW Championships is moving from Crooked Stick in Indiana, to Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Ill.
– The three rotating major venues will be: US Open at Merion Golf Club; the Open Championship at Muirfield in East Lothian, Scotland; the PGA Championship at Oak Hill.

The major change comes in the way of earning your PGA TOUR card. With Q-School no longer being a part of that process, players must now look at the Web.com Tour “Finals” as one means of gaining status. That tour will still hold their Top 25 (as previously mentioned), but how the remainder of the 25 cards will be determined resembles something drastically different.

If we were under those qualifications for this year, Justin Bolli is not a Top 25 guy. Prior to winning the Web.com Tour’s Championship this past weekend, he was 44th on the money list. No card under these conditions which means that Bolli would have to duke it out with other players in order to gain a card.

Those that qualify for the PGA Playoffs (the top 125 in FedEx Cup points) will hold their status over to the following season regardless of monies earned. Players will no longer sweat being the top 125 earnings list come the end of the Fall Series. Instead, they will now strive to make The Playoffs in order to secure their standing.

Of course you can scour the FedEx Cup points list and money list and dig to players that would benefit under these new conditions for status. Same holds true the other way.

Like anything that is new, it may take a tweak here and a tweak there in order for this process to completely grab us and run smoothly. For example, the Top 25 from the Web.com Tour’s regular season money list will receive PGA TOUR cards, yet, in looking at everything I have read about these changes, they will still be permitted to take part in the Web.com Finals (top 75 on Web.com’s money list). Keep ’em fresh for the start of the 2013-2014 season, I guess. Still seems odd as those 25 could prevent someone from grabbing a card due to finishing position leading to a reduction in monies earned during The Finals.

I would like to think a stipulation has already been addressed, but I have yet to read such.

With the changes to how a player can secure his card, the pressure should increase more rapidly as the year progresses. There will be less opportunities to improve or even stabilize your position within the FedEx Cup rankings. That could lead to a few big names playing in various tournaments in which they may not ordinarily play. That, in turn, could lead to increased interest in certain events and, more importantly, increased attendance at those events.

For at least the 2013 season, business should pick up a more than in the past years.

Here’s the complete 2013 PGA TOUR schedule.