NAPA, Calif. – Thanks to Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy (and Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson to some extent), change is coming to the PGA Tour.
While the best players have agreed to play against one another in a minimum of 20 events between January and August starting in 2024, the Tour’s nine official fall events are about to receive a demotion.
The top 70 in the FedEx Cup regular season points race will qualify for the playoffs and retain their cards for the next season. Numbers 71-125? They will have to duke it out during the fall to retain their playing privileges in what will essentially become eligibility events. Without FedEx Cup points at stake or any punishment for not playing during the fall, the top players have been given the option of an extended vacation from September through December. It’s the off-season some of them have long been asking for, but PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and his business development team have their work cut out explaining to title sponsors why fields will be watered down.
“The Tour knows this isn’t awesome for the sponsors of the fall events to tell them that the guys who finish top 70 don’t have to play your events and probably won’t,” said Tour veteran Peter Malnati, co-chairmen of the Player Advisory Council. “They say they are going to make them stronger and I’m just taking them at their word for now.”
Malnati said he spoke to Monahan at the RBC Heritage.
“He looked me right in the eyes and said these events are going to be stronger,” Malnati said.
Fall events have always been the red-headed stepchildren, airing exclusively on Golf Channel during a time of year when college football and the NFL rule the roost. That’s baked into the sponsorship price. But current sponsors, such as Fortinet, which this week drew five of the top 30 that made it to the Tour Championship including Hideki Matsuyama, have to be wondering whether that will ever happen again. What is the future of the fall events?
“I had that same question myself,” said Stewart Cink, a former PGA Tour policy board member. “It’s hard for them to thrive if they’re not getting top players. We’ve been down this road before. There’s a reason we went to the wrap-around schedule.”
A veteran Tour pro, who asked for anonymity, didn’t mince words, saying that the fall events are going to become a glorified Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
“The Tour’s top question to us is always would you rather not have an event?…
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