2020 PGA Tour Schedule Will Start Sooner & Add Events
The PGA Tour Schedule for 2020 has been a long time coming, no doubt because of the gyrations of the Olympics and to add some new events in the fall.
In a statement revealing the new 2019-2020 schedule, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan stated,
"“After a very successful first year with our new schedule, we are thrilled to expand the number of events to 49 while maintaining a great flow from start-to-finish, allowing our fans to better engage and follow the Tour throughout the season”"
The Tour is now calling the period starting with The Players and ending with the Tour Championship, the Season of Championships. They are also emphasizing the fall.
"“As for the early-season portion of the schedule, our players grasp the importance of a strong start in the Race for the FedExCup and this has translated into growth and momentum for the events played in the fall,” the commissioner added."
That makes sense as there are now 10 tournaments between September 1st and Thanksgiving, including one WGC event. Six are in the U.S.
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New to the PGA Tour calendar next year are the ZOZO Championship in Japan, October 21-27, and the Bermuda Championship, an opposite-field event for the WGC-HSBC in China October 28- November 2.
Two tournaments will return, including the Greenbrier event, which is being called A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier, September 9-15, and the Houston Open, which will be played on October 7-13. Both were off the calendar in 2019.
In the case of Greenbrier, the area was recovering from floods. In the case of the Houston Open, their sponsor withdrew. The Houston tournament is now underwritten by Astros Golf Foundation and the PGA Tour through 2023.
To accommodate the Olympics, three tournaments have changed places in the schedule.
They include the Rocket Mortgage Classic, which will move to the end of May and the WGC-FedEx St. Jude and opposite field Barracuda Championship which will move up to the first week of July, including July 4th. Meanwhile, the 3M Open in Minnesota will follow the British Open and conclude just before the Olympics.
Because of the Olympics in 2020, there will be an off week for the Tour during the men’s competition, which is July 27-August 2. Many top PGA Tour players will participate in Olympic golf.
Overall a few tournaments have changed locations in the schedule, particularly in the fall.
A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier will kick off the new 2020 year, which begins the week after the Tour Championship. It is followed by Sanderson Farms. The third is the Safeway, followed by the Shriners’ Hospitals for Children and the Houston Open. Then tournaments swing to the far east with the CJ Cup, the Zozo Championship, followed by WGC-HSBC.
Mayakoba and the RSM Classic conclude the fall portion of the schedule, being played just before Thanksgiving. The Presidents Cup is December 9-15 in Australia.
There are four “off” weeks: November 4-10, which is just after the Asian swing, November 25-December 8, which includes Thanksgiving, and the Olympic week.
However, there are events played during some of those times. The Tiger Woods Hero World Challenge will be played December 1-7, according to the tournament web site, it is a limited field invitational, not an opportunity for the entire PGA Tour.
The QBE Shark Shootout and PNC Father/ Son – technically a PGA Tour Champions event – are ordinarily played in the month of December. This year the PNC Father-Son is December 5-8, and the QBE Shark Shootout is December 11-15.
The Presidents Cup is played December 9-15 in Australia.
Then there is a short Christmas break, from December 15 to the beginning of the Sentry Tournament of Champions, for winners, and until January 6 for those who enter the Sony Open.
To squeeze in all this, the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Hawaii starts a week earlier than normal, December 30th. So, New Year’s Eve in Hawaii for the PGA Tour.
Next. Rory McIlroy Rebounding and Learning from British Open Missed Cut. dark
Of note: The Players, March 9-15; The Masters, April 6-12, the PGA, May 11-17; the U.S. Open, June 15-21; the British Open, July 13-19; the Olympics, men’s competition, July 27-August 3 (in Japan).