2018–19 PGA Tour

The 2019 PGA Tour was the 104th season of the PGA Tour, and the 52nd since separating from the PGA of America. The season began on October 4, 2018. The 2019 FedEx Cup Playoffs begun on August 8, and concluded on August 25, 2019, with Rory McIlroy winning his second FedEx Cup title.

2018–19 PGA Tour season
DurationOctober 4, 2018 (2018-10-04) – August 25, 2019 (2019-08-25)
Number of official events46
Most wins3 (tie):
Brooks Koepka
Rory McIlroy
FedEx Cup winner Rory McIlroy
Money leader Brooks Koepka
Player of the Year Rory McIlroy
Rookie of the Year Im Sung-jae

Changes from the previous season

Schedule

The schedule contains 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 are not included in the shortened season, but they return in autumn of 2019 as part of the 2020 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. Firestone Country Club no longer hosts a PGA Tour event, but the Senior Players Championship is now contested there, with Bridgestone taking over as that event's title sponsor.[6]

Cancelled: The FedEx St. Jude Classic ceased now that the relocated WGC event, WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, is played at the Classic's former location in Memphis. Quicken Loans National, played in the Washington, D.C. area, no longer appears on the PGA Tour schedule. The FedEx Cup playoff event, Dell Technologies Championship, has also been removed from the schedule with the number of playoff events reducing to three. The Northern Trust will now alternate 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 will no longer have its own separate prize fund.

In addition, the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 is 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

Official events

The following table lists official events for 2018–19.[11]

DateTournamentLocationWinnerOWGR
points
Purse ($)Winner's
share ($)
Notes
Oct 7 Safeway Open California Kevin Tway (1) 28 6,400,000 1,152,000
Oct 14 CIMB Classic Malaysia Marc Leishman (4) 48 7,000,000 1,260,000 Co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour
Oct 21 CJ Cup South Korea Brooks Koepka (5) 54 9,500,000 1,710,000
Oct 28 WGC-HSBC Champions China Xander Schauffele (3) 66 10,000,000 1,700,000 World Golf Championships
Oct 28 Sanderson Farms Championship Mississippi Cameron Champ (1) 24 4,400,000 792,000 Alternate event
Nov 4 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open Nevada Bryson DeChambeau (5) 40 7,000,000 1,260,000
Nov 11 Mayakoba Golf Classic Mexico Matt Kuchar (8) 40 7,200,000 1,296,000
Nov 18 RSM Classic Georgia Charles Howell III (3) 24 6,400,000 1,152,000
Jan 6 Sentry Tournament of Champions Hawaii Xander Schauffele (4) 56 6,500,000 1,300,000 Winners-only event
Jan 13 Sony Open in Hawaii Hawaii Matt Kuchar (9) 50 6,400,000 1,152,000
Jan 20 Desert Classic California Adam Long (1) 42 5,900,000 1,062,000 Pro-am
Jan 27 Farmers Insurance Open California Justin Rose (10) 60 7,100,000 1,278,000
Feb 3 Waste Management Phoenix Open Arizona Rickie Fowler (5) 56 7,100,000 1,278,000
Feb 11[n 1] AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am California Phil Mickelson (44) 46 7,600,000 1,368,000 Celebrity pro-am
Feb 17 Genesis Open California J. B. Holmes (5) 64 7,400,000 1,332,000
Feb 24 WGC-Mexico Championship Mexico Dustin Johnson (20) 72 10,250,000 1,745,000 World Golf Championships
Feb 24 Puerto Rico Open Puerto Rico Martin Trainer (1) 24 3,000,000 540,000 Alternate event
Mar 3 The Honda Classic Florida Keith Mitchell (1) 48 6,800,000 1,224,000
Mar 10 Arnold Palmer Invitational Florida Francesco Molinari (3) 64 9,100,000 1,638,000 Invitational
Mar 17 The Players Championship Florida Rory McIlroy (15) 80 12,500,000 2,250,000 Flagship event
Mar 24 Valspar Championship Florida Paul Casey (3) 50 6,700,000 1,206,000
Mar 31 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Texas Kevin Kisner (3) 76 10,250,000 1,745,000 World Golf Championships
Mar 31 Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship Dominican Republic Graeme McDowell (4) 24 3,000,000 540,000 Alternate event
Apr 7 Valero Texas Open Texas Corey Conners (1) 40 7,500,000 1,350,000 Won as a Monday qualifier
Apr 14 Masters Tournament Georgia Tiger Woods (81) 100 11,500,000 2,070,000 Major championship
Apr 21 RBC Heritage South Carolina Pan Cheng-tsung (1) 58 6,900,000 1,242,000 Invitational
Apr 28 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Louisiana Ryan Palmer (4) &
Jon Rahm (3)
n/a 7,300,000 1,051,200
(each)
Team event
May 5 Wells Fargo Championship North Carolina Max Homa (1) 50 7,900,000 1,422,000
May 12 AT&T Byron Nelson Texas Kang Sung-hoon (1) 40 7,900,000 1,422,000
May 19 PGA Championship New York Brooks Koepka (6) 100 11,000,000 1,980,000 Major championship
May 26 Charles Schwab Challenge Texas Kevin Na (3) 54 7,300,000 1,314,000 Invitational
Jun 2 The Memorial Tournament Ohio Patrick Cantlay (2) 68 9,100,000 1,638,000 Invitational
Jun 9 RBC Canadian Open Ontario Rory McIlroy (16) 48 7,600,000 1,368,000
Jun 16 U.S. Open California Gary Woodland (4) 100 12,500,000 2,250,000 Major championship
Jun 23 Travelers Championship Connecticut Chez Reavie (2) 58 7,200,000 1,296,000
Jun 30 Rocket Mortgage Classic Michigan Nate Lashley (1) 46 7,300,000 1,314,000 New tournament
Final player in the field
Jul 7 3M Open Minnesota Matthew Wolff (1) 44 6,400,000 1,152,000 New tournament
Won on sponsor exemption
Jul 14 John Deere Classic Illinois Dylan Frittelli (1) 24 6,000,000 1,080,000
Jul 21 The Open Championship Northern Ireland Shane Lowry (2) 100 10,750,000 1,935,000 Major championship
Jul 21 Barbasol Championship Kentucky Jim Herman (2) 24 3,500,000 630,000 Alternate event
Jul 28 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational Tennessee Brooks Koepka (7) 72 10,250,000 1,745,000 World Golf Championships
Jul 28 Barracuda Championship Nevada Collin Morikawa (1) 24 3,500,000 630,000 Alternate event
Aug 4 Wyndham Championship North Carolina J. T. Poston (1) 44 6,200,000 1,116,000
Aug 11 The Northern Trust New Jersey Patrick Reed (7) 76 9,250,000 1,665,000 FedEx Cup Playoffs
Aug 18 BMW Championship Illinois Justin Thomas (10) 72 9,250,000 1,665,000 FedEx Cup Playoffs
Aug 25 Tour Championship Georgia Rory McIlroy (17) 60[n 2] n/a[n 3] FedEx Cup Playoffs
  1. Finished on Monday due to darkness.
  2. The handicap system based on FedEx Cup points as of the last tournament, similar to the modern pentathlon and Nordic skiing's Gundersen method, is ignored when awarding OWGR points. Points will be awarded based on the golfer's score over the four rounds, discarding the handicap score awarded before the first round. [12]
  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 $15,000,000 to the winner.[13]

Unofficial events

The following events do not carry FedEx Cup points or official money.

DateTournamentLocationWinner(s)OWGR
points
Purse ($)Winner's
share ($)
Notes
Nov 23 The Match: Tiger vs. Phil[14] Nevada Phil Mickelson n/a 9,000,000 9,000,000
2 man event
Nov 25 World Cup of Golf Australia  Belgium
Thomas Pieters & Thomas Detry
n/a 7,000,000 1,120,000
(each)
28 two-man teams
Dec 2 Hero World Challenge Bahamas Jon Rahm 48 3,500,000 1,000,000 18-player field
Dec 9 QBE Shootout Florida Patton Kizzire &
Brian Harman
n/a 3,300,000 410,000
(each)
12 two-player teams
Dec 16 PNC Father-Son Challenge Florida Davis Love III
& Dru Love
n/a 1,085,000 200,000 20 two-player teams

Location of tournaments

FedEx Cup

Points distribution

The distribution of points for 2019 PGA Tour events is:

Finishing position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 20th 30th 40th 50th 60th
Majors & Players Championship 600 330 210 150 120 110 100 94 88 82 51 32 18 10 6
World Golf Championships 550 315 200 140 115 105 95 89 83 78 51 32 18 10 6
Other PGA Tour events 500 300 190 135 110 100 90 85 80 75 45 28 16 8.5 5
Team event (each player) 400 163 105 88 78 68 59 54 50 46 17 5 2 0 0
Alternate events 300 165 105 80 65 60 55 50 45 40 28 17 10 5 3
Playoff events 2000 1200 760 540 440 400 360 340 320 300 180 112 64 34 20

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

Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th–10th 11th–15th 16th–20th 21st–25th 26th–30th
Starting score −10 −8 −7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 Even

Leaders

FedEx Cup standing of the 30 qualifiers for the Tour Championship:

Pos. Player Players & Majors World Golf Champ. Top 10s in other PGA Tour events Regular
season
points
Playoffs[lower-alpha 1] Total
points
Tour Champ.[lower-alpha 2] Tmts Money ($m)[lower-alpha 3]
Nat. Name Ply Mas PGA USO Opn Cha Mex MP Inv 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NTrst BMW Start Final Basic Wynd.
Top10
FedEx
Bonus
1 McIlroy 1stT21T8T9CUT T542ndT9T4 T4T5T4T6T91st 2,315 T6T19 2,842 −5 −18 19 7.79 1.5015.00
2 Schauffele CUTT2T16T3T41 1stT14T24T27 1stT10 1,858 CUT T16 2,030 −4 −14 21 5.61 1.10 5.00
T3 Koepka T56T21st2ndT4 T16T27T561st 1stT24th 2,887 T30 T24 3,119 −7 −13 21 9.68 2.00[lower-alpha 4]3.50
T3 Thomas T35T12CUTT11 9thT24T12 T53rd3rd2nd 1,247 T12 1st 3,475 −10 −13 20 5.01 3.50
5 Casey CUTCUTT29T21T57 T16T3T9T27 2nd1stT4T5 1,629 T24 1,768 −2 −9 22 4.26 0.60 2.50
6 Scott T12T18T8T7CUT T18T40 T102ndT72nd 1,124 5th T9 1,874 −3 −8 18 4.08 1.90
7 Finau T22T5T64CUT3rd 2ndT25T40T27 2nd 1,279 T30 4th 1,911 −3 −7 25 4.34 1.30
8 Reavie CUTT14T3CUT T35T65T56T27 T7T3T41st 1,309 T38 T57 1,394 −1 −6 28 3.66 1.10
T9 Kisner T22T21CUTT49T30 T271stT27 T7T5 1,098 T12 T9 1,639 −2 −5 25 3.49 0.84
T9 Matsuyama T8T32T16T21CUT T30T19T24T43 T3T96thT7 969 T59 3rd 1,821 −3 −5 24 3.34 0.84
T9 Reed T47T36CUTT3210th T7T14T24T12 T5 774 1st T19 2,946 −6 −5 25 3.59 0.84
T12 DeChambeau T20T29CUTT35CUT T56T40T48 1st7thT10T8T2 1,203 T24 T48 1,371 Even −4 21 3.19 0.68
T12 Rahm T12T9CUTT3T11 T22T45T247th T86thT5T10T9T61st 1,447 T3 T5 2,517 −4 −4 20 4.99 0.50 0.68
14 Kokrak T47T23T32 T9T10T2T7T6 721 T12T19 1,254 Even −3 24 2.33 0.62
15 Woodland T30T32T81stCUT T17T17T55 T52ndT102ndT9T7 1,795 T52 T31 1,912 −3 −2 24 5.69 1.00 0.60
T16 Fleetwood T5T36T48T652nd T7T19T24T4 T32nd 1,193 T43 T11 1,479 −1 −1 18 3.85 0.55
T16 Kuchar T26T12T8T16T41 50th2ndT43 1st1stT4T72ndT4 2,313 CUTT52 2,339 −4 −1 22 6.29 1.200.55
T16 Simpson T16T5T29T16T30 T39T562nd 3rdT8T22nd 1,619 T18 T24 1,946 −4 −1 21 4.69 0.550.55
T19 Fowler T47T9T36T43T6 T36 T41stT2T4 1,391 CUT T11 1,637 −2 Even 20 3.95 0.51
T19 Im CUTCUTCUT T4T7T3T4 T77thT6 1,097 T38 T11 1,407 −1 Even 35 2.85 0.51
T21 Ancer T12T16T49CUT T39T17 T5T4T8 622 2nd T28 1,940 −4 +1 27 2.69 0.48
T21 Cantlay CUTT9T3T21T41 T7T6T24T12 2ndT9T31st 1,730 T12 2nd 3,157 −8 +1 21 6.12 0.85 0.48
T21 Oosthuizen T56T29T60T7T20 T25T5T20 T5T2 754 T6 T11 1,355 Even +1 19 2.94 0.48
T24 Leishman CUTT49CUTT35CUT T62T93rd 1stT4T3T45th 1,415 CUT T19 1,587 −1 +2 21 3.89 0.45
T24 Snedeker T5CUTT1677thCUT T30T24T27 T2T4T5 934 T6 T5 1,709 −2 +2 27 3.12 0.45
T26 Conners T41T46T64CUT T27 2ndT31st 962 T21 T7 1,476 −1 +3 28 2.92 0.43
T26 Rose T8CUTT29T3T20 3rdT911th 1st3rd 1,423 T10 T52 1,739 −2 +3 17 4.36 0.43
28 Howell III T35T32T41T52 T14T24 T51stT86thT6 1,279 CUT T37 1,345 Even +4 27 3.04 0.43
T29 Glover CUTT16CUTT20 T7T7T4T10T7T10 944 T43T7 1,337 Even +10 26 2.61 0.40
T29 D Johnson T5T22ndT35T51 T301stT40T20 T4T9T6 1,686 T24 T57 1,840 −3 +10 19 5.53 0.70 0.40
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. In addition to tournament prize money, the top ten regular season point scorers receive a share of a $10m bonus, and the $60m FedEx Cup postseason bonus money is distributed based upon standings after the Tour Championship.
  4. Koepka also won a further $1m by topping the Aon Risk Reward Challenge standings.

Ref:[15][16]

Awards

AwardWinnerCountry
PGA Tour Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Trophy)Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland
PGA Player of the YearBrooks Koepka United States
Money winnerBrooks Koepka United States
Scoring leader (PGA – Vardon Trophy)Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland
Scoring leader (PGA Tour – Byron Nelson Award)Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland
Rookie of the Year (Arnold Palmer Award)Im Sung-jae South Korea
FedEx CupRory McIlroy Northern Ireland

See also

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. "2018-19 PGA Tour golf schedule sees major changes, including big events being moved". CBS Sports. July 10, 2018.
  6. "Senior Players Champ. replacing WGC at Firestone". Golf Channel. April 12, 2018.
  7. "The Northern Trust to call New York/New Jersey home in 2019, Boston home in 2020". PGA Tour. July 10, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  8. 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.
  9. "FedEx Cup Purse Rises to $70 Million, Winner to Take Home $15 Million". Sports Illustrated. September 18, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  10. "Understand the risk. Realise the reward". Aon. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  11. "PGA Tour unveils significantly revamped 2018-19 Season schedule". PGA Tour. July 10, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  12. Smith, Jeff (August 19, 2019). "10 FAQs: Tour Championship, FedExCup Format". Pro Golf Weekly. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  13. "How it works: Tour Championship". PGA Tour. August 18, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  14. Murray, Ewan (November 22, 2018). "Woods v Mickelson is a $9m vulgar marketing exercise". The Guardian. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  15. "FedExCup Standings". PGA Tour. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  16. "Official Money". PGA Tour. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
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