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

Duration	October 4, 2018 – August 25, 2019
Number of official events	46
Most wins	3 (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
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

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]

Date	Tournament	Location	Winner	OWGR 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.

Date	Tournament	Location	Winner(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

(&) Location of official tournaments of the 2019 PGA Tour in the continental United States and Canada. 600-point event (Players & Majors) 550-point event (World Golf Championships) 500-point event (Regular events) 400-point event (Official team event) 300-point event (Alternate events) FedEx Cup playoff event

Location of official tournaments of the 2019 PGA Tour outside the continental United States and Canada. 600-point event (Players & Majors) 550-point event (World Golf Championships) 500-point event (Regular events) 300-point event (Alternate events)

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		1st	T21	T8	T9	CUT	T54	2nd	T9	T4	T4	T5	T4	T6	T9	1st		2,315		T6	T19	2,842	−5	−18		19		7.79	1.50	15.00
2		Schauffele		CUT	T2	T16	T3	T41	1st	T14	T24	T27	1st	T10						1,858		CUT	T16	2,030	−4	−14		21		5.61	1.10	5.00
T3		Koepka		T56	T2	1st	2nd	T4	T16	T27	T56	1st	1st	T2	4th					2,887		T30	T24	3,119	−7	−13		21		9.68	2.00[lower-alpha 4]	3.50
T3		Thomas		T35	T12	•	CUT	T11	•	9th	T24	T12	T5	3rd	3rd	2nd				1,247		T12	1st	3,475	−10	−13		20		5.01		3.50
5		Casey		CUT	CUT	T29	T21	T57	T16	T3	T9	T27	2nd	1st	T4	T5				1,629		•	T24	1,768	−2	−9		22		4.26	0.60	2.50
6		Scott		T12	T18	T8	T7	CUT	T18	•	•	T40	T10	2nd	T7	2nd				1,124		5th	T9	1,874	−3	−8		18		4.08		1.90
7		Finau		T22	T5	T64	CUT	3rd	2nd	T25	T40	T27	2nd							1,279		T30	4th	1,911	−3	−7		25		4.34		1.30
8		Reavie		CUT	•	T14	T3	CUT	T35	T65	T56	T27	T7	T3	T4	1st				1,309		T38	T57	1,394	−1	−6		28		3.66		1.10
T9		Kisner		T22	T21	CUT	T49	T30	•	T27	1st	T27	T7	T5						1,098		T12	T9	1,639	−2	−5		25		3.49		0.84
T9		Matsuyama		T8	T32	T16	T21	CUT	T30	T19	T24	T43	T3	T9	6th	T7				969		T59	3rd	1,821	−3	−5		24		3.34		0.84
T9		Reed		T47	T36	CUT	T32	10th	T7	T14	T24	T12	T5							774		1st	T19	2,946	−6	−5		25		3.59		0.84
T12		DeChambeau		T20	T29	CUT	T35	CUT	•	T56	T40	T48	1st	7th	T10	T8	T2			1,203		T24	T48	1,371	Even	−4		21		3.19		0.68
T12		Rahm		T12	T9	CUT	T3	T11	T22	T45	T24	7th	T8	6th	T5	T10	T9	T6	1st	1,447		T3	T5	2,517	−4	−4		20		4.99	0.50	0.68
14		Kokrak		T47	•	T23	•	T32	•	•	•	•	T9	T10	T2	T7	T6			721		T12	T19	1,254	Even	−3		24		2.33		0.62
15		Woodland		T30	T32	T8	1st	CUT	•	T17	T17	T55	T5	2nd	T10	2nd	T9	T7		1,795		T52	T31	1,912	−3	−2		24		5.69	1.00	0.60
T16		Fleetwood		T5	T36	T48	T65	2nd	T7	T19	T24	T4	T3	2nd						1,193		T43	T11	1,479	−1	−1		18		3.85		0.55
T16		Kuchar		T26	T12	T8	T16	T41	•	50th	2nd	T43	1st	1st	T4	T7	2nd	T4		2,313		CUT	T52	2,339	−4	−1		22		6.29	1.20	0.55
T16		Simpson		T16	T5	T29	T16	T30	•	T39	T56	2nd	3rd	T8	T2	2nd				1,619		T18	T24	1,946	−4	−1		21		4.69	0.55	0.55
T19		Fowler		T47	T9	T36	T43	T6	•	T36	•	•	T4	1st	T2	T4				1,391		CUT	T11	1,637	−2	Even		20		3.95		0.51
T19		Im		CUT	•	CUT	•	CUT	•	•	•	•	T4	T7	T3	T4	T7	7th	T6	1,097		T38	T11	1,407	−1	Even		35		2.85		0.51
T21		Ancer		T12	•	T16	T49	CUT	•	T39	T17	•	T5	T4	T8					622		2nd	T28	1,940	−4	+1		27		2.69		0.48
T21		Cantlay		CUT	T9	T3	T21	T41	T7	T6	T24	T12	2nd	T9	T3	1st				1,730		T12	2nd	3,157	−8	+1		21		6.12	0.85	0.48
T21		Oosthuizen		T56	T29	T60	T7	T20	•	T25	T5	T20	T5	T2						754		T6	T11	1,355	Even	+1		19		2.94		0.48
T24		Leishman		CUT	T49	CUT	T35	CUT	•	T62	T9	3rd	1st	T4	T3	T4	5th			1,415		CUT	T19	1,587	−1	+2		21		3.89		0.45
T24		Snedeker		T5	CUT	T16	77th	CUT	T30	•	T24	T27	T2	T4	T5					934		T6	T5	1,709	−2	+2		27		3.12		0.45
T26		Conners		T41	T46	T64	•	CUT	•	•	•	T27	2nd	T3	1st					962		T21	T7	1,476	−1	+3		28		2.92		0.43
T26		Rose		T8	CUT	T29	T3	T20	3rd	•	T9	11th	1st	3rd						1,423		T10	T52	1,739	−2	+3		17		4.36		0.43
28		Howell III		T35	T32	T41	T52	•	•	T14	T24	•	T5	1st	T8	6th	T6			1,279		CUT	T37	1,345	Even	+4		27		3.04		0.43
T29		Glover		CUT	•	T16	CUT	T20	•	•	•	•	T7	T7	T4	T10	T7	T10		944		T43	T7	1,337	Even	+10		26		2.61		0.40
T29		D Johnson		T5	T2	2nd	T35	T51	T30	1st	T40	T20	T4	T9	T6					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

Award	Winner	Country
PGA Tour Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Trophy)	Rory McIlroy	Northern Ireland
PGA Player of the Year	Brooks Koepka	United States
Money winner	Brooks 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 Cup	Rory McIlroy	Northern Ireland

See also

• List of 2019 PGA Tour card holders
• 2018 in golf
• 2019 in golf
• 2019 Korn Ferry Tour
• 2019 PGA Tour Champions season
• 2019 European Tour
• 2019 FedEx Cup Playoffs

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.

External links

• Official site