2018–19_PGA_Tour

2018–19 PGA Tour

2018–19 PGA Tour

Golf tour season


The 2018–19 PGA Tour was the 104th season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was also the 51st season since separating from the PGA of America, and the 13th edition of the FedEx Cup.

Quick Facts Duration, Number of official events ...

Changes for 2018–19

Schedule

The schedule contained 46 events, two fewer than the previous season. The schedule was shortened in an effort to complete the FedEx Cup Playoffs by the end of August.

As announced in 2017, the PGA Championship was moved from August to May on the weekend before Memorial Day, starting in 2019. The PGA of America cited the addition of golf to the Summer Olympics, as well as cooler weather enabling a wider array of options for host courses, as reasoning for the change. It was also believed that the PGA Tour wished to re-align its season so that the FedEx Cup Playoffs would not have to compete with the start of football season in late-August. Consequently, The Players Championship was moved from May back to March for the first time since 2006.[1][2][3][4]

New exemption

The PGA Tour added a one-time exemption for those who made 300 career cuts. J. J. Henry was the first to take advantage.

Events

On hiatus: The Houston Open and Greenbrier Classic were not included in the shortened season, but they did return in the autumn of 2019 as part of the 2019–20 PGA Tour schedule.[5]

New: Two new events were added to the schedule: the Rocket Mortgage Classic, played at Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Michigan, and the 3M Open, played at the TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota.

Relocations: The WGC Invitational was relocated from Akron, Ohio to Memphis, Tennessee when FedEx took over sponsorship of the event.[6]

Canceled: The FedEx St. Jude Classic ceased due to the WGC event; the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, was played at the Classic's former location in Memphis. The Quicken Loans National; played in the Washington, D.C. area, no longer appeared on the PGA Tour schedule. The FedEx Cup playoff event; the Dell Technologies Championship, was also removed from the schedule with the number of playoff events reducing to three. The Northern Trust alternated between New Jersey, and Boston (the site of the Dell Technologies Championship).[7]

Rules

From January 1, 2019 onwards, tournaments followed the new rules released by the USGA and The R&A which were designed to speed up the pace of play. The most noticeable changes included golfers being able to putt on the green with the flag remaining in, and drops being made from knee rather than shoulder height.[8]

Prize money

As well as changes to individual tournament prize funds, the FedEx Cup postseason bonus money increased by $25 million to $60 million, with the FedEx Cup champion getting $15 million. The winner of the Tour Championship will be the FedEx Cup champion. The Tour Championship begins with each player having an adjusted score relative to par which relates to the amount of FedEx Cup points accumulated (previously the Tour Championship was structured similar to other tournaments, and awarded FedEx Cup points). The Tour Championship no longer have its own separate prize fund.

In addition, the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 was introduced, a $10 million bonus to be divided among the FedEx Cup top 10 regular season finishers.[9]

The tour also introduced the Aon Risk Reward Challenge. In most tournaments, a single hole is allocated to contribute to the challenge. A player's best two scores from every participating event a player competes in throughout the season is used. The player with the lowest average to par score wins $1m. The initiative is replicated on the LPGA Tour.[10]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2018–19 season.[11][12]

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Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the PGA Tour, but did not carry FedEx Cup points or official money, nor were wins official.

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Location of tournaments

FedEx Cup

Points distribution

The distribution of points for 2018–19 PGA Tour events were as follows:

More information Finishing position, 1st ...

Tour Championship starting score (to par), based on position in the FedEx Cup rankings after the BMW Championship:

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Final standings

For full rankings, see 2019 FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Final FedEx Cup standings of the 30 qualifiers for the Tour Championship:[17][18]

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  Win
  Top 10
  Made cut
  Missed cut
 Did not play

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.[20][21]

More information Position, Player ...

Awards

See also

Notes

  1. The number in parentheses after each winner's name is the number of PGA Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for PGA Tour members.
  2. ASA − Asian Tour.
  3. The Tour Championship has no stand-alone purse and does not carry official money; the tournament directly determines the assignment of the FedEx Cup bonus pool money, including US$15,000,000 to the winner.[13]
  4. OWGR points at the Tour Championship were awarded based on aggregate scores only (see Tour Championship format).[14] McIlroy had the lowest aggregate score and was awarded with the 60 points.[15]
  5. The top 125 point scorers in the regular season retain their tour card for the following season, and qualify for The Northern Trust. The top 70 points scorers after The Northern Trust qualify for the BMW Championship.
  6. The top 30 point scorers after the BMW Championship qualify for the Tour Championship. Each player begins with a score adjustment to par determined by their point ranking, the lowest scorers in the Tour Championship in addition to this adjustment win the FedEx Cup.
  7. In addition to tournament prize money, the top ten regular season point scorers receive a share of a US$15,000,000 bonus, and the US$60,000,000 FedEx Cup postseason bonus money is distributed based upon standings after the Tour Championship.
  8. Koepka also won a further US$1,000,000 by topping the Aon Risk Reward Challenge standings.[19]

References

  1. Harig, Bob (August 10, 2017). "PGA Championship to move from August date to May in 2019". ESPN. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  2. Shedloski, Dave (August 7, 2017). "The PGA Championship is moving to May and players are on board". Golf Digest. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  3. "P.G.A. Championship Will Move from August to May in 2019". The New York Times. Reuters. August 8, 2017. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  4. Herrington, Ryan (August 7, 2017). "The PGA Championship will be moving to May, sources say". Golf Digest. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  5. "Senior Players Champ. replacing WGC at Firestone". Golf Channel. April 12, 2018. Archived from the original on September 20, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  6. "The Northern Trust to call New York/New Jersey home in 2019, Boston home in 2020". PGA Tour. July 10, 2018. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  7. Herrington, Ryan (December 3, 2018). "Nine changes in the new Rules of Golf you absolutely need to know for 2019". Golf Digest. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  8. "FedEx Cup Purse Rises to $70 Million, Winner to Take Home $15 Million". Sports Illustrated. September 18, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  9. "Understand the risk. Realise the reward". Aon. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  10. "2018–19 Tournament schedule". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  11. "PGA Tour unveils significantly revamped 2018-19 Season schedule". PGA Tour. July 10, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  12. "How it works: Tour Championship". PGA Tour. August 18, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  13. Smith, Jeff (August 19, 2019). "10 FAQs: Tour Championship, FedExCup Format". Pro Golf Weekly. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  14. "Tour Championship - 72 Hole Scores". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  15. Murray, Ewan (November 22, 2018). "Woods v Mickelson is a $9m vulgar marketing exercise". The Guardian. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  16. "2019 FedEx Cup". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  17. Murray, Ewan (August 25, 2019). "Rory McIlroy pockets richest prize of £12m in winning FedEx Cup title". The Guardian. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  18. "PGA Tour's Brooks Koepka wins Aon Risk Reward Challenge and $1 million". PR Newswire. August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  19. "2018–19 Official money". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  20. Kelly, Todd (August 21, 2019). "See how much money the top 20 golfers made during PGA Tour 2018-19 season". Golfweek. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  21. Woodard, Adam (September 11, 2019). "Rory McIlroy voted PGA Tour Player of the Year, Sungjae Im named Rookie of the Year". Golfweek. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  22. Heath, Elliott (August 27, 2019). "Brooks Koepka Named PGA Player Of The Year". Golf Monthly. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  23. "2022–23 PGA Tour Media guide | Awards". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  24. Hoggard, Rex (August 26, 2019). "McIlroy passes Cantlay for PGA Tour's Vardon Trophy". NBC Sports. Retrieved October 23, 2023.

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