2011 PGA Tour

The 2011 PGA Tour, the 44th season since the Tour became independent from the PGA of America, will consist of a total of 49 sanctioned events running from early January to late November.[1] The schedule, announced on December 2, 2010,[2] has four phases:

  • Regular season — Consisting of 37 events (one less than in 2010), starting on January 6 with the limited-field Hyundai Tournament of Champions (known as the SBS Championship in 2010) and ending with the Wyndham Championship on August 21.
  • FedEx Cup Playoffs — As in previous seasons, this will be a series of four tournaments, starting with The Barclays on August 25–28 and ending with The Tour Championship on September 22–25.
  • Fall Series — After The Tour Championship, the principal portion of the season ends with a series of four tournaments (down from five last season).[2] These tournaments, generally passed on by elite players, offer an additional opportunity for players to secure their tour cards for the following season by finishing in the top 125 on the money list, or to gain a two-year exemption by winning a tournament with a slightly weaker field than usual.
  • After the main season, the 2011 tour will go on an Asia-Pacific swing consisting of four events, none of which offers official prize money.

The regular season will include all four major championships and three of the World Golf Championships events. All four majors and all four WGC events are also sanctioned by the European Tour.

Comparison between 2010 and 2011

In late 2009, after the 2010 schedule had been announced, it was noted by golf media that most of the Tour's contracts for sponsorship of individual tournaments were locked in through that season. However, it was speculated that the expiration of those sponsorship contracts in 2011 would see substantial changes in the PGA Tour landscape.[3]

As it turned out, the 2011 schedule was largely the same as in 2010. The number of official money events was reduced by one with the demise of the Turning Stone Resort Championship, but the tour's total prize money will remain virtually the same. Seventeen tournaments will increase their prize money by a total of $3.8 million, almost completely offsetting the loss of the $4 million prize fund at Turning Stone. Assuming that the majors maintain their 2010 prize funds, the tour will offer a total of $288 million in purses.[4]

Changes for 2011

The Tour announced several changes from the 2010 schedule. Apart from the aforementioned demise of the Turning Stone Resort Championship, switches in scheduling of existing tournaments, and changes in sponsorships, the most important changes are:[2]

FedEx Cup off week

The off week for the FedEx Cup playoffs, which had previously been the week prior to The Tour Championship, will move to the week before the BMW Championship. This alleviates concerns about a short turnaround after the second playoff event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, which is the only tournament on the schedule that normally ends on Monday (specifically on Labor Day).

Match Play Championship final

The final of the Accenture Match Play Championship will be reduced from 36 holes to 18.

Fall Series

With the move of the Viking Classic into the regular season, specifically opposite The Open Championship, the Fall Series has been reduced to four events.

Schedule

The following table lists the main season events for 2011. "Date" is the ending date of each event. The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names are the number of wins they had on tour up to and including that event.

Date Tournament Location Winner OWGR
points[lower-alpha 1]
Purse ($) Winner's
share ($)
Notes
Jan 9 Hyundai Tournament of Champions Hawaii Jonathan Byrd (5) 50 5,600,000 1,120,000 Winners-only event
Jan 16 Sony Open in Hawaii Hawaii Mark Wilson (3) 48 5,500,000 990,000
Jan 23 Bob Hope Classic California Jhonattan Vegas (1) 32 5,000,000 900,000 Celebrity pro-am
Jan 30 Farmers Insurance Open California Bubba Watson (2) 48 5,800,000 1,044,000
Feb 7[N 1] Waste Management Phoenix Open Arizona Mark Wilson (4) 50 6,100,000 1,098,000
Feb 13 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am California D. A. Points (1) 42 6,300,000 1,134,000 Celebrity pro-am
Feb 20 Northern Trust Open California Aaron Baddeley (3) 62 6,500,000 1,170,000
Feb 27 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship Arizona Luke Donald (3) 76 8,500,000 1,400,000 World Golf Championships
Feb 27 Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun Mexico Johnson Wagner (2) 24 3,700,000 666,000 Alternate event
Mar 6 The Honda Classic Florida Rory Sabbatini (6) 54 5,700,000 1,026,000
Mar 13 WGC-Cadillac Championship Florida Nick Watney (3) 74 8,500,000 1,400,000 World Golf Championships
Mar 13 Puerto Rico Open Puerto Rico Michael Bradley (4) 24 3,500,000 630,000 Alternate event
Mar 20 Transitions Championship Florida Gary Woodland (1) 52 5,500,000 990,000
Mar 27 Arnold Palmer Invitational Florida Martin Laird (2) 58 6,000,000 1,080,000 Invitational
Apr 3 Shell Houston Open Texas Phil Mickelson (39) 52 5,900,000 1,062,000
Apr 10 Masters Tournament Georgia Charl Schwartzel (1) 100 8,000,000 1,440,000 Major championship
Apr 17 Valero Texas Open Texas Brendan Steele (1) 28 6,200,000 1,116,000
Apr 24 The Heritage South Carolina Brandt Snedeker (2) 50 5,700,000 1,026,000 Invitational
May 1 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Louisiana Bubba Watson (3) 46 6,400,000 1,152,000
May 8 Wells Fargo Championship North Carolina Lucas Glover (3) 58 6,500,000 1,170,000
May 15 The Players Championship Florida K. J. Choi (8) 80 9,500,000 1,710,000 Flagship event
May 22 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Texas David Toms (13) 46 6,200,000 1,116,000 Invitational
May 29 HP Byron Nelson Championship Texas Keegan Bradley (1) 38 6,500,000 1,170,000
Jun 5 The Memorial Tournament Ohio Steve Stricker (10) 62 6,200,000 1,116,000 Invitational
Jun 12 FedEx St. Jude Classic Tennessee Harrison Frazar (1) 38 5,600,000 1,008,000
Jun 19 U.S. Open Maryland Rory McIlroy (2) 100 8,000,000 1,440,000 Major championship
Jun 26 Travelers Championship Connecticut Freddie Jacobson (1) 44 6,000,000 1,080,000
Jul 3 AT&T National Pennsylvania Nick Watney (4) 44 6,200,000 1,116,000 Invitational
Jul 10 John Deere Classic Illinois Steve Stricker (11) 30 4,500,000 810,000
Jul 17 The Open Championship (British Open) England Darren Clarke (3) 100 8,067,100 1,452,078 Major championship
Jul 17 Viking Classic Mississippi Chris Kirk (1) 24 3,600,000 648,000 Alternate event
Jul 24 RBC Canadian Open British Columbia Sean O'Hair (4) 46 5,200,000 936,000
Jul 31 Greenbrier Classic West Virginia Scott Stallings (1) 32 6,000,000 1,080,000
Aug 7 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Ohio Adam Scott (8) 76 8,500,000 1,400,000 World Golf Championships
Aug 7 Reno-Tahoe Open Nevada Scott Piercy (1) 24 3,000,000 540,000 Alternate event
Aug 14 PGA Championship Georgia Keegan Bradley (2) 100 8,000,000 1,445,000 Major championship
Aug 21 Wyndham Championship North Carolina Webb Simpson (1) 38 5,200,000 936,000
Aug 27[N 2] The Barclays New Jersey Dustin Johnson (5) 70 8,000,000 1,440,000 FedEx Cup Playoffs
Sep 5 Deutsche Bank Championship Massachusetts Webb Simpson (2) 70 8,000,000 1,440,000 FedEx Cup Playoffs
Sep 18 BMW Championship Illinois Justin Rose (3) 66 8,000,000 1,440,000 FedEx Cup Playoffs
Sep 25 Tour Championship Georgia Bill Haas (3) 54 8,000,000 1,440,000 FedEx Cup Playoffs
Oct 2 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open Nevada Kevin Na (1) 24 4,400,000 792,000 Fall Series
Oct 9 Frys.com Open California Bryce Molder (1) 24 5,000,000 900,000 Fall Series
Oct 16 McGladrey Classic Georgia Ben Crane (4) 42 4,000,000 720,000 Fall Series
Oct 23 Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic Florida Luke Donald (4) 32 4,700,000 846,000 Fall Series
  1. The tournament was scheduled to end on February 6, but the end of the final round was pushed back to the following day due to delays for frost and frozen greens on three of the four scheduled days.
  2. The tournament was scheduled to end on August 28, but was shortened to 54 holes due to Hurricane Irene.

Unofficial events

The following events did not carry official money.

DateTournamentLocationWinner(s)OWGR
points
Purse ($)Winner's
share ($)
Notes
Mar 15 Tavistock Cup Florida Team Lake Nona n/a 2,150,000 110,000 Four six-player teams
Jun 21 CVS Caremark Charity Classic Rhode Island Zach Johnson &
Matt Kuchar
n/a 1,550,000 150,000
each
10 two-player teams
Oct 19 PGA Grand Slam of Golf Bermuda Keegan Bradley n/a 1,350,000 600,000 Four-player field
Oct 30 CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia Malaysia Bo Van Pelt 30 6,100,000 1,300,000 48-player field
Nov 6 WGC-HSBC Champions China Martin Kaymer 62 7,000,000 1,200,000 World Golf Championships
Nov 7 ADT Skills Challenge Florida Zach Johnson &
Jerry Kelly
n/a 800,000 143,000
Nov 8 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge Nevada Champions Tour team n/a 1,000,000 166,666 Three three-player teams
Nov 20 Presidents Cup Australia U.S. Team n/a Two 12-man teams
Nov 27 Omega Mission Hills World Cup China Matt Kuchar
& Gary Woodland
n/a 7,500,000 2,400,000 28 two-man teams
Dec 4 Chevron World Challenge California Tiger Woods 44 5,000,000 1,200,000 18-player field
Dec 5 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament California Brendon Todd n/a 1,057,500 50,000
Dec 11 Franklin Templeton Shootout Florida Keegan Bradley &
Brendan Steele
n/a 3,000,000 375,000 12 two-player teams

Source:[5]

Location of tournaments

Money leaders

This shows the final money leaders for the 2011 PGA Tour season. These figures do not include FedEx Cup bonus money.

RankPlayerCountryEventsPrize money ($)
1Luke Donald England196,683,214
2Webb Simpson United States266,347,353
3Nick Watney United States225,290,673
4K. J. Choi South Korea224,434,691
5Dustin Johnson United States214,309,961
6Matt Kuchar United States244,233,920
7Bill Haas United States264,088,637
8Steve Stricker United States193,992,785
9Jason Day Australia213,962,647
10David Toms United States233,858,090

Source:[6]

Awards

AwardWinnerCountry
PGA Tour Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Trophy)Luke Donald England
PGA Player of the YearLuke Donald England
Money winner (Arnold Palmer Award)Luke Donald England
Scoring leader (PGA – Vardon Trophy)Luke Donald England
Scoring leader (PGA Tour – Byron Nelson Award)Luke Donald England
Rookie of the YearKeegan Bradley United States
Comeback Player of the YearNone[7]
FedEx CupBill Haas United States

See also

Notes

  1. Each tournament is allocated a certain number of Official World Golf Rankings points for its champion, and points for lower finishes are based on a sliding scale. The major championships and the Players Championship have fixed allocations, but the points of the other tournaments depend on the strength of the field so they are not available in advance.

References

  1. "2011 PGA Tour schedule" (Press release). PGA Tour. 2 December 2010. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  2. "2011 schedule includes key change during the Playoffs" (Press release). PGA Tour. 2 December 2010. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  3. Sobel, Jason; Harig, Bob (November 3, 2009). "With 2010 status quo, 2011 up in the air". ESPN. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  4. "PGA Tour releases '11 schedule". ESPN. Associated Press. December 2, 2010. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  5. "2011 Schedule". PGA Tour.
  6. "Money Leaders – 2011". PGA Tour.
  7. "No comeback player award this season". ESPN. Associated Press. November 8, 2011.
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