PGA Tour set to announce 2024 schedule; major changes ahead for designated events
ORLANDO, Fla. – The PGA Tour is poised to unveil the long-awaited 2024 schedule, following approval by the circuit’s policy board Tuesday.
According to various sources, the new schedule will include fewer designated events with limited fields of between 70 to 78 players and no 36-hole cuts. The majors and Players Championship will remain “full-field” events with cuts, but the circuit plans to reduce the fields for the other designated events, which were created this year in response to LIV Golf’s challenge to the status quo as a way to better compensate the top players.
Starting next year, designated events will include the top 50 players from the previous year’s FedExCup regular season list along with the top 10 players from the current points list, according to Golfweek.com. There will also be five spots available via non-designated events.
According to Golfweek.com, the Tour plans to create a schedule that staggers designated events along with non-designated events, which would allow players a chance to play their way into the bigger tournaments. The world golf ranking and sponsor exemptions would fill out the fields at designated events.
It remains to be seen how the new schedule, which will be sent to players Wednesday, will be embraced by the Tour’s middle class, who may not be qualified for the designated events and are increasingly seeing the changes as heavy-handed.
“This will lead to the shop being closed even more,” said one Tour player who requested anonymity because he hadn’t seen the details of the new schedule. “This is not what fans want to see, not in any way, shape or form.”
This year’s designated events include the four majors, The Players, WGC-Match Play and three post-season events, along with the Sentry Tournament of Champions, WM Phoenix Open, Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational, Wells Fargo Championship, RBC Heritage, Memorial and Travelers Championship.
That number is expected to drop in 2024 and, according to various sources, will include the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Excluding the majors and Players Championship, two of the remaining 12 designated events already have limited fields (Tournament of Champions and WGC Match Play, which is expected to be replaced by the Houston Open starting next year) and Jack Nicklaus, the host of the Memorial, has publicly resisted a smaller field at Muirfield Village.