Nearly 10 weeks have passed since the last PGA Tour Champions event, the Hoag Classic played at Newport Beach (California) Country Club. Since that time, coronavirus precautions have caused eight events on the 27-event senior tour schedule not to be played, including the U.S. Senior Open. Many other events have been postponed to later in 2020.
The tour announced on Thursday that it will blend this shortened 2020 season with the 2021 season to create one complete season. That means, among other things, that no end-of-year awards will be awarded in 2020 and no qualifying tournament will be conducted either. Players will retain their 2020 eligibility in 2021, except for five players in the Q-School category, who will play their guaranteed events.
The next Charles Schwab Cup champion will be crowned in November 2021 at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
“While we won’t have a Charles Schwab Cup champion in 2020, we feel that the combined schedule for 2020-21 is the best solution for everyone associated with PGA TOUR Champions,” said PGA Tour Champions President Miller Brady. “The wonderful support from the tournaments, title sponsors, Charles Schwab and the Player Advisory Council has helped us address some of the schedule complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result we have created solutions that best serve our members and our tournament communities.”
The tour has announced additional measures intended to “uphold the competitive integrity of the Charles Schwab Cup” and offset some of the impact made by the cancellation of tournaments, according to a release issued Thursday. Those adjustments include increasing tournament field sizes from 78 to 81 players for the remaining 2020 events, converting the three 2020 Charles Schwab Cup playoff events to 81-player fields and reducing the Charles Schwab Cup Championship from 72 to 54 holes.
Only five tournaments have been completed so far this season, and 13 tournaments remain on the 2020 calendar. As it stands, the tour is scheduled to return July 31 at the Ally Challenge at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
Tour events in 2021 that will go into the combined schedule will be announced later in the year, according to the tour.
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