Tag: signature event

PGA Tour A/PGA Tour B: An in-depth look at the regular events the top 30 played in 2024 and what it means

“I felt like it forced me to put all my eggs in the signature and major basket this year.”

ATLANTA, Ga. — There’s a PGA Tour A and a PGA Tour B schedule these days and it is evident in looking at where the pros who qualified for the Tour Championship by finishing in the top 30 on the FedEx Cup season-long standings teed it up this season.

There’s always been certain tournaments that attracted the best fields – that’s nothing new – but it has never been more pronounced than it is in the era of the signature events, which feature eight limited-field events with jacked up purses and inflated FedEx Cup points and often no cuts. Former longtime Wells Fargo Championship tournament director Kym Hougham once compared how players fill their schedule to college.

“You have your requirements and your electives. For years, there used to be four requirements – the majors – and the rest of the events were electives. You had four that were a given and then had 14 others to choose from.”

Now there’s eight signature events, the Players and three playoff events. That makes 16 requirements.

“The electives are vying for four or five spots,” Hougham said.

Some are electing to play even fewer than that. Viktor Hovland only played one non-major or signature event this season, the Genesis Scottish Open, which counts as a DP World Tour event for his Ryder Cup qualification. Asked if he may play more regular events next season, Hovland explained that this season he didn’t feel confident in his game and preferred to practice at home.

“I might,” Hovland said. “There are plenty of other tournaments I like to play. If I feel like my game is in a good spot I might just keep playing and add some non-Signature events. I’d love to do that, it just didn’t work out that way this year.”

2024 BMW Championship
Viktor Hovland hits his tee shot on the eighth hole during the final round of the 2024 BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club. (Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports)

Rory McIlroy, who said he expects to finish with 27 worldwide starts by the end of the year, said he’ll play fewer events next season.

“I’m going to try to cut it back to like 18 or 20 a year going forward, I think,” he said on Sunday after his round at the Tour Championship.

There are myriad reasons why players skipped tournaments, ranging from births to deaths to just being plain tired. Some players added starts to enhance their chances of making the Olympics, qualifying for a major, making the Aon Swing 5 to get into a signature event or helping their FedEx Cup chances. Sometimes a player has a sponsorship commitment. Some honored a commitment as defending champion. Others like Tom Hoge just like to play a lot of golf.

“Early in the year I played the entire West Coast chasing the top 50 so I could get in the Masters,” said Hoge, who played 11. “If I take a few weeks off, it usually takes me a week or two to get back in the groove so I like to play ahead of big events.”

But others found that the cadence of the schedule limited the number of times they played outside of the biggest tournaments. Justin Thomas, who wasn’t in the top 50 but ended up playing his way in or getting a sponsor exemption into all of the signature events, didn’t play a single tournament outside the majors and signature events after March.

“The way the schedule worked out we had signature event, major, signature event,” said Russell Henley, who played only three regular events. (He would’ve played the Wyndham Championship, where he has a great track record, but was dealing with the passing of his father.) “Just the way it was set up, I felt like it forced me to put all my eggs in the signature and major basket this year.”

The players who competed in the most regular events typically weren’t in the signature events to start the season. Billy Horschel needed to play 13 regular tournaments, including an opposite-field event (which he won), to make his way back to East Lake. Horschel said he would still play many of the regular events next season even though he’s in the signature events.

“It’s hard to get to Atlanta,” Horschel said. “With my record at events like the Wyndham Championship, I’d be crazy not to go there. Guys are going to realize that they need points and there are other places to get them.”

Matthieu Pavon and Robert MacIntyre both earned cards for finishing in the DP World top 10. Pavon played three regular events right out of the gate but after winning the Farmers Insurance Open in late January in his third start, he played just two more the rest of the season as he gained admission to the signature events. In contrast, MacIntyre didn’t notch his first win until June at the RBC Canadian Open (and then skipped his first signature event at the Travelers Championship to fly home to Scotland).

2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship
Robert MacIntyre tees off on the first hole during the third round of the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis. (Chris Day/The Memphis Commercial Appeal)

Before that, he even played two opposite-field events. In all, he played 17 regular events, the second most of any player to make the FedEx Cup finale, behind only Aaron Rai, who didn’t win until the regular-season finale at the Wyndham Championship and missed all the signature events.

“I think it will be pretty different,” said Rai, who also is in all the majors next season as well as the signature events. “You can’t really miss the signature events.”

He guessed he’d likely play 18 tournaments before the playoffs next season, which would mean dropping from 18 regular events down to six.

It’s difficult to make definitive statements based on one year of data of having signature events but it sure looks like the top players are taking fewer electives than ever, which makes it a tough time to be a regular tournament.

How many non-signature events and majors the top 30 played in 2024

Player Non-major, non-signature event starts Total number of 2024 starts
Scottie Scheffler (4) AmEx, WM Phoenix, Houston, Schwab 19 plus Olympics
Xander Schauffele (4) AmEx, Farmers, Valspar, Zurich 20 plus Olympics
Hideki Matsuyama (5) Sony, Farmers, WM Phoenix, Valero, Scottish 19 plus Olympics
Keegan Bradley (6) Sony, Farmers, Valspar, Schwab, 3M, Wyndham 22
Ludvig Aberg (4) Sony, Farmers, Valero, Scottish 19 plus Olympics
Rory McIlroy (5) Cognizant, Valero, Zurich, Canadian, Scottish 19 plus Olympics
Collin Morikawa (5) Farmers, Valero, Zurich, Schwab, Scottish 21 plus Olympics
Wyndham Clark (4) AmEx, WM Phoenix, Houston, Scottish 20 plus Olympics
Sam Burns (4) AmEx, WM Phoenix, Valspar, Canadian, 3M 21
Patrick Cantlay (3) AmEx, Farmers, Zurich 19
Sungjae Im (8) AmEx, Farmers, WM Phoenix, Cognizant, Schwab, John Deere, Scottish, Wyndham 25
Sahith Theegala (8) Sony, Farmers, WM Phoenix, Houston, Zurich, Canadian, Scottish, 3M 24
Shane Lowry (7) AmEx, Farmers, WM Phoenix, Cognizant, Zurich, Canadian, Wyndham 20 plus Olympics
Adam Scott (6) WM Phoenix, Valero, CJ Cup, Schwab, Canadian, Scottish 19
Tony Finau (7) AmEx, Farmers, Mexico, Valspar, Houston, Schwab, 3M 22
Ben An (6) Sony, WM Phoenix, Cognizant, Valero, CJ Cup, Scottish 22 plus Olympics
Viktor Hovland (1) Scottish 16 plus Olympics
Russell Henley (3) Sony, Cognizant, Valero 19
Akshay Bhatia (13) Sony, AmEx, Farmers, WM Phoenix, Cognizant, Valspar, Houston, Valero, Schwab, Canadian, Rocket, 3M, Wyndham 26
Robert MacIntyre (17) Sony, AmEx, Farmers, WM Phoenix, Mexico, Cognizant, Puerto Rico, Valspar, Houston, Zurich, CJ Cup, Myrtle Beach, Schwab, Canadian, Rocket, Scottish, Wyndham 25
Billy Horschel (13) Sony, AmEx, Farmers, Phoenix, Cognizant, Valspar, Houston, Valero, Puntacana, Zurich, Schwab, Scottish, Wyndham 23
Tommy Fleetwood (3) Valero, Canadian, Scottish 19 plus Olympics
Sepp Straka (7) Farmers, Cognizant, Valspar, Zurich, Schwab, John Deere, Scottish 23
Matthieu Pavon (5) Sony, AmEx, Farmers, Cognizant, Scottish 19
Taylor Pendrith (15) Sony, AmEx, Farmers, Mexico, Cognizant, Valspar, Houston, Valero, Puntacana, Zurich, CJ Cup, Canadian, Rocket, Barracuda, 3M 24
Chris Kirk (5) Sony, AmEx, Cognizant, Schwab, Rocket 21
Tom Hoge (11) Sony, AmEx, Farmers, Phoenix, Cognizant, Houston, Zurich, CJ Cup, Schwab, Scottish, 3M 26
Aaron Rai (18) Sony, AmEx, Farmers, WM Phoenix, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Valspar, Houston, Valero, Corales Puntacana, Zurich, CJ Cup, Schwab, Canadian, Rocket, John Deere, Scottish, Wyndham 25
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (8) AmEx, Farmers, WM Phoenix, Cognizant, Valspar, Valero, Schwab, Wyndham 23 plus Olympics
Justin Thomas (3) AmEx, WM Phoenix, Valspar 19

 

UPDATED: PGA Tour Player Advisory Council did not recommend eligibility changes at Tuesday meeting as ‘no details ironed out yet’

Changes in eligibility could reshape the Tour as we know it.

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media]CASTLE ROCK, Colo. – The PGA Tour Player Advisory Council met this afternoon in person at Castle Pines (and via Zoom for members of the 16-person PAC not in the field this week at the BMW Championship) at 5 p.m. ET to discuss a range of eligibility proposals that would impact field sizes and number of Tour cards beginning as early as 2026.

Changes in eligibility could reshape the Tour as we know it, and would be the most significant change since the All-Exempt Tour for the top 125 was implemented in 1983.

“You have to get it done for 2026 – 2025 is baked in – but it has to be set in motion so guys know what they are playing for (next season),” said a source who asked for anonymity because of that person’s involvement in the discussions.

Another tour pro, who participated in the call, told Golfweek that they didn’t reach an agreement on a recommendation to send to the Board for a vote. (The PAC doesn’t actually vote.) “Just informational and discussion,” the player wrote in a text. “Actually a positive call and very collaborative between players and leadership.”

The idea being discussed is to shape the schedule so the best players continue to play against each other as much as possible but also allow all exempt players to have a fair shake at keeping their card and making the all-important top 50, which guarantees entry into the Signature events.

Speaking in June, Lanto Griffin, a member of the PAC, told Golfweek there’s support among the PAC for reducing tournament sizes to 120 players across the board regardless of regular or signature event. To do so, they would reduce the number of players that keep exempt status from 125 and staggering down to a lower figure – perhaps 100 – over the course of several years.

It has become a growing concern that field sizes of 144 and 156 are causing too many occurrences of failing to make a cut on Friday due to not enough daylight. Reducing field sizes brings the question of how many members can the Tour realistically have and still provide enough starts. While fewer playing opportunities may be a tough sell to the full membership, the trade-off may be increasing the field size at signature events from 70 and give more players a chance to play in the big money, elevated FedEx Cup point events.

“We want every single player who earns a full Tour card to have a fair opportunity to compete on the PGA Tour,” a player wrote.

Details still need to be ironed, but a player wrote, “good momentum.”

If the PAC approves the eligibility changes, the Policy Board could sign off for the changes to be implemented for the 2026 season at its next meeting in November at Sea Island ahead of the RSM Classic.

PGA Tour stars galore at next week’s signature event, the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational

Here’s the field for The King’s place.

The field is nearly set for the PGA Tour’s fourth signature event of the season, the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando.

Countless stars will tee off Thursday in the Tour’s second stop of the Florida Swing, including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 2 Rory McIlroy, No. 4 Viktor Hovland, No. 5 Xander Schauffele, No. 6 Patrick Cantlay, No. 7 Wyndham Clark, No. 8 Max Homa, No. 9 Matt Fitzpatrick and No. 10 Brian Harman.

Defending champion Kurt Kitayama has made the weekend in all five of his starts this year, highlighted by a tie for eighth at the WM Phoenix Open.

Fifty-four of the 55 eligible players are committed, with Tony Finau being the exception. The field will have a minimum of 69 players.

Bay Hill, the home of The King, Arnold Palmer, is a par-72 track that measures 7,466 yards.

Unlike most signature events, there will be a cut made after 36 holes.

‘Collusion,’ ‘fishy’ and ‘shady’ among PGA Tour players’ descriptions of AT&T Pebble Beach’s sponsor exemptions

Three of the four exemptions were given to player directors on the Policy Board, who will soon vote on the Tour’s future.

The PGA Tour’s rank and file are rankled again.

The latest reason? The implementation of the Aon Swing 5 and sponsor exemptions into this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which features an 80-man field, purse of $20 million, no cut and beefed up FedEx Cup points, with 700 awarded to the winner.

“The Tour rated the Swing 5 category above being a Tour winner, which makes absolutely no sense. In every other instance, winning is at the top of the food chain, the No. 1 category, and it should be. Winning on the PGA Tour is hard,” said a veteran PGA Tour player, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “It’s just another thing the Tour has done that is complete bullshit.”

Matthieu Pavon, winner last week of the Farmers Insurance Open, and Grayson Murray, winner of the Sony Open in Hawaii, were the top two finishers, followed by Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Kevin Yu and Stephan Jaeger. All five will compete at Pebble Beach Golf Links as the top five FedEx Cup point earners across the last three full-field events – the Sony Open in Hawaii, the American Express and Farmers Insurance Open – not otherwise exempt.

The 80-player field at Pebble Beach includes the top 50 on the 2023 FedEx Cup, Nos. 51-60 on the 2023 FedEx Cup Fall standings, the top finisher on the 2023 Race to Dubai not otherwise exempt (Nicolai Hojgaard), the Aon Swing 5, tournament winners not otherwise exempt (Nick Dunlap), players inside the top 30 on the Official World Golf Ranking not otherwise exempt (Justin Thomas) and four sponsor exemptions. This adds up to 72 players, leaving eight remaining spots via the “fill the field” category.

Multiple players reached out to Golfweek to argue players were originally told during a meeting at the Players Championship last March that winners would be automatically exempt into Signature events. That is still true, but the Swing 5 category, which was designed to give hot and trending players a shot to play their way into the big-money events, falls higher on the priority list than winning.

“Now it’s like, oh, no, winners are part of the Swing 5. That is allowing fewer players to qualify for these events,” a veteran player said. “It’s really disappointing that you’re under the impression that if you play well, you’re going to have the opportunity to get into one of these events and then you don’t. If there are an extra two or three players in this field, who cares at this point? There’s $20 million in the purse.”

Indeed, for the AT&T the Tour resorted to the “fill the field” category, admitting Nos. 62-69 on the 2023 FedEx Cup Fall standings to bring the field to 80 for the pro-am.

A PGA Tour spokesman said staff have been on the road and available to educate players on the makeup of the fields for the signature events and infographics were distributed to players in December. The reason why the winner category is a lower priority than the Swing 5 is to avoid fields exceeding 78 players later in the year, such as at the Travelers in June, when more winners will have become exempt. Based on projections, the Tour says that outside the top 50, an additional 70 unique players will play in at least one signature event this season.

2023 Wyndham Championship
Webb Simpson watches his shot from the 11th tee during the third round of the 2023 Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports)

The AT&T’s sponsor invites also are a hot topic of conversation among players. Sponsor invites were granted to four players. Three of the four exemptions to AT&T were handed out to members of the Tour’s independent Board of Directors – Peter Malnati, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson – as well as local product Maverick McNealy, who last week fulfilled his medical exemption.

“It seems like collusion, a political game that should never happen on Tour,” said one veteran player. “It’s very shady, if you ask me.”

Given that Malnati, Scott and Simpson are on the verge of being three of the six players to vote on the Tour’s deals with private equity groups and potentially Saudi Arabia’s PIF, it could be perceived as a kickback for their unpaid efforts on behalf of the Tour or even as a way of buying their votes.

Another veteran Tour winner said, “It doesn’t pass the smell test. The cool thing about sports is it used to be the outlet where everything was determined on the field or court. Golf has always been the ultimate meritocracy.”

Malnati, a one-time winner, currently ranks No. 245 in the world. He finished T-4 at the AT&T last year and has supported the event consistently and knows how to show his amateur partner a good time. Simpson, a former major winner, has slipped to No. 225 in the world and has resorted to playing a limited schedule in recent years to spend more time with his large family. He has played at Pebble in only two of the last 10 years.

Gary Woodland, who won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and is making a comeback from brain surgery last year, and Daniel Berger, a tournament winner at Pebble in 2021 who is making his own comeback after being sidelined for more than a year, would seem to have more box-office appeal and attract more attention but are among the players who won’t be teeing it up this week.

Tournaments are allowed to offer sponsor exemptions at their discretion – and they have run the gamut from the NFL’s Tony Romo to the LPGA’s Lexi Thompson in recent years – but those selections will be greeted with greater scrutiny given the heightened stakes. AT&T Pebble Beach tournament director Steve John didn’t respond to an email requesting an explanation for his tournament’s choices, but at least one player wasn’t interested in hearing his reasoning.

“Peter Malnati has zero business getting an invite into a signature event and Webb shouldn’t really either,” a veteran pro said. “It just seems very fishy.”

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2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is set to have one of its best fields in history

The field is loaded with the world’s best.

The 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am field was announced Friday, and it’s one of the best in the event’s history.

Sure, Pebble Beach has seen its fair share of the world’s best players to walk along the Monterey Peninsula plenty over the last century. Numerous U.S. Opens have brought stars of the game to take the famed walk.

However, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is a PGA Tour signature event this year, which means most of the big names are in the field.

Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffle and more are set to tee it up next week. All in all, 18 of the world’s top 20 are in the field, which will be fully set after the conclusion of the Farmers Insurance Open.

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Nick Dunlap, who last week became the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991, will make his professional debut at Pebble Beach. Also, players like Grayson Murray and Justin Thomas are expected to be added to the field.

Unlike in the past, amateurs will only be around for the first two rounds with 80 two-person teams. Monterey Peninsula won’t be in the rotation for play this year, either, with only Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill being used the first two days. There will be no cut, and the purse is $20 million with $3.6 million going to the winner.

Here’s a look at the full field for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: