2018–19 PGA Tour explained

Year:2018–19
Tour:PGA Tour
Regular Season:
No Of Events:46
Most Wins: Brooks Koepka (3)
Rory McIlroy (3)
Honor1:FedEx Cup
Honoree1: Rory McIlroy
Honor2:Money list
Honoree2: Brooks Koepka
Honor3:PGA Tour Player of the Year
Honoree3: Rory McIlroy
Honor4:PGA Player of the Year
Honoree4: Brooks Koepka
Honor5:Rookie of the Year
Honoree5: Im Sung-jae
Prevseason:2017–18
Nextseason:2019–20

The 2018–19 PGA Tour was the 104th season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was also the 51st season since separating from the PGA of America, and the 13th edition of the FedEx Cup.

Changes for 2018–19

Schedule

The schedule contained 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 were not included in the shortened season, but they did return in the autumn of 2019 as part of the 2019–20 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.[6]

Canceled: The FedEx St. Jude Classic ceased due to the WGC event; the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, was played at the Classic's former location in Memphis. The Quicken Loans National; played in the Washington, D.C. area, no longer appeared on the PGA Tour schedule. The FedEx Cup playoff event; the Dell Technologies Championship, was also removed from the schedule with the number of playoff events reducing to three. The Northern Trust alternated 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 no longer have its own separate prize fund.

In addition, the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 was 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

The following table lists official events during the 2018–19 season.[11] [12]

DateTournamentLocationPurse
(US$)
Winner(s)OWGR
points
Other
tours
Notes
Oct 7Safeway OpenCalifornia6,400,000 Kevin Tway (1)28
Oct 14CIMB ClassicMalaysia7,000,000 Marc Leishman (4)48ASALimited-field event
Oct 21CJ CupSouth Korea9,500,000 Brooks Koepka (5)54Limited-field event
Oct 28WGC-HSBC ChampionsChina10,000,000 Xander Schauffele (3)66World Golf Championship
Oct 28Sanderson Farms ChampionshipMississippi4,400,000 Cameron Champ (1)24Alternate event
Nov 4Shriners Hospitals for Children OpenNevada7,000,000 Bryson DeChambeau (5)40
Nov 11Mayakoba Golf ClassicMexico7,200,000 Matt Kuchar (8)40
Nov 18RSM ClassicGeorgia6,400,000 Charles Howell III (3)24
Jan 6Sentry Tournament of ChampionsHawaii6,500,000 Xander Schauffele (4)56Winners-only event
Jan 13Sony Open in HawaiiHawaii6,400,000 Matt Kuchar (9)50
Jan 20Desert ClassicCalifornia5,900,000 Adam Long (1)42Pro-Am
Jan 27Farmers Insurance OpenCalifornia7,100,000 Justin Rose (10)60
Feb 3Waste Management Phoenix OpenArizona7,100,000 Rickie Fowler (5)56
Feb 11AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AmCalifornia7,600,000 Phil Mickelson (44) 46Pro-Am
Feb 17Genesis OpenCalifornia7,400,000 J. B. Holmes (5)64
Feb 24WGC-Mexico ChampionshipMexico10,250,000 Dustin Johnson (20)72World Golf Championship
Feb 24Puerto Rico OpenPuerto Rico3,000,000 Martin Trainer (1)24Alternate event
Mar 3The Honda ClassicFlorida6,800,000 Keith Mitchell (1)48
Mar 10Arnold Palmer InvitationalFlorida9,100,000 Francesco Molinari (3)64Invitational
Mar 17The Players ChampionshipFlorida12,500,000 Rory McIlroy (15)80Flagship event
Mar 24Valspar ChampionshipFlorida6,700,000 Paul Casey (3)50
Mar 31WGC-Dell Technologies Match PlayTexas10,250,000 Kevin Kisner (3)76World Golf Championship
Mar 31Corales Puntacana Resort and Club ChampionshipDominican Republic3,000,000 Graeme McDowell (4)24Alternate event
Apr 7Valero Texas OpenTexas7,500,000 Corey Conners (1)40
Apr 14Masters TournamentGeorgia11,500,000 Tiger Woods (81)100Major championship
Apr 21RBC HeritageSouth Carolina6,900,000 Pan Cheng-tsung (1)58Invitational
Apr 28Zurich Classic of New OrleansLouisiana7,300,000 Ryan Palmer (4) and
Jon Rahm (3)
n/aTeam event
May 5Wells Fargo ChampionshipNorth Carolina7,900,000 Max Homa (1)50
May 12AT&T Byron NelsonTexas7,900,000 Kang Sung-hoon (1)40
May 19PGA ChampionshipNew York11,000,000 Brooks Koepka (6)100Major championship
May 26Charles Schwab ChallengeTexas7,300,000 Kevin Na (3)54Invitational
Jun 2Memorial TournamentOhio9,100,000 Patrick Cantlay (2)68Invitational
Jun 9RBC Canadian OpenCanada7,600,000 Rory McIlroy (16)48
Jun 16U.S. OpenCalifornia12,500,000 Gary Woodland (4)100Major championship
Jun 23Travelers ChampionshipConnecticut7,200,000 Chez Reavie (2)58
Jun 30Rocket Mortgage ClassicMichigan7,300,000 Nate Lashley (1)46New tournament
Jul 73M OpenMinnesota6,400,000 Matthew Wolff (1)44New tournament
Jul 14John Deere ClassicIllinois6,000,000 Dylan Frittelli (1)24
Jul 21The Open ChampionshipNorthern Ireland10,750,000 Shane Lowry (2)100Major championship
Jul 21Barbasol ChampionshipKentucky3,500,000 Jim Herman (2)24Alternate event
Jul 28WGC-FedEx St. Jude InvitationalTennessee10,250,000 Brooks Koepka (7)72World Golf Championship
Jul 28Barracuda ChampionshipNevada3,500,000 Collin Morikawa (1)24Alternate event
Aug 4Wyndham ChampionshipNorth Carolina6,200,000 J. T. Poston (1)44
Aug 11The Northern TrustNew Jersey9,250,000 Patrick Reed (7)76FedEx Cup playoff event
Aug 18BMW ChampionshipIllinois9,250,000 Justin Thomas (10)72FedEx Cup playoff event
Aug 25Tour ChampionshipGeorgian/a Rory McIlroy (17)60FedEx Cup playoff event

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the PGA Tour, but did not carry FedEx Cup points or official money, nor were wins official.

DateTournamentLocationPurse
($)
Winner(s)OWGR
points
Notes
Nov 23Nevada9,000,000 Phil Mickelsonn/a2-man match[13]
Nov 25ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of GolfAustralia7,000,000 Thomas Detry and
Thomas Pieters
n/aTeam event
Dec 2Hero World ChallengeBahamas3,500,000 Jon Rahm48Limited-field event
Dec 9QBE ShootoutFlorida3,300,000 Brian Harman and
Patton Kizzire
n/aTeam event

FedEx Cup

Points distribution

See main article: List of point distributions of the FedEx Cup. The distribution of points for 2018–19 PGA Tour events were as follows:

Finishing position1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th20th30th40th50th60th
Majors & Players Championship600330210150120110100948882513218106
55031520014011510595898378513218106
Other PGA Tour events500300190135110100908580754528168.55
Team event (each player)40016310588786859545046175200
Alternate events3001651058065605550454028171053
Playoff events20001200760540440400360340320300180112643420

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

Final standings

For full rankings, see 2019 FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Final FedEx Cup standings of the 30 qualifiers for the Tour Championship:[14] [15]

PlayerMajors & The PlayersWGCsTop 10s in other PGA Tour eventsRegular
season
points
PlayoffsTotal
points
Money ($m)
Name1234567StartFinalBasic
Top10
FedEx
Bonus
1McIlroy1stT21 T8 T9 CUTT54 2nd T9 T4T4T5T4T6T91st2,315T6 T192,842−5−18197.791.50 15.00
2SchauffeleCUT T2 T16 T3 T411stT14 T24 T271stT101,858CUTT162,030−4−14215.611.105.00
T3KoepkaT56 T2 1st2nd T4T16 T27 T56 1st1stT24th2,887T30T243,119−7−13219.682.003.50
ThomasT35 T12 CUT T119th T24 T12T53rd3rd2nd1,247T121st3,475−10205.01
5CaseyCUT CUT T29 T21 T57T16 T3 T9 T272nd1stT4T51,629T241,768−2−9224.260.602.50
6ScottT12 T18 T8 T7 CUTT18 T40T102ndT72nd1,1245thT91,874−3−8184.081.90
7FinauT22 T5 T64 CUT 3rd2nd T25 T40 T272nd1,279T304th1,911−3−7254.341.30
8ReavieCUT T14 T3 CUTT35 T65 T56 T27T7T3T41st1,309T38T571,394−1−6283.661.10
T9KisnerT22 T21 CUT T49 T30T27 1stT27T7T51,098T12T91,639−2−5253.490.84
MatsuyamaT8 T32 T16 T21 CUTT30 T19 T24 T43T3T96thT7969T593rd1,821−3243.34
ReedT47 T36 CUT T32 10thT7 T14 T24 T12T57741stT192,946−6253.59
T12DeChambeauT20 T29 CUT T35 CUTT56 T40 T481st7thT10T8T21,203T24T481,371E−4213.190.68
RahmT12 T9 CUT T3 T11T22 T45 T24 7thT86thT5T10T9T61st1,447T3T52,517−4204.990.50
14KokrakT47 T23 T32T9T10T2T7T6721T12 T191,254E−3242.330.62
15WoodlandT30 T32 T8 1stCUTT17 T17 T55T52ndT102ndT9T71,795T52T311,912−3−2245.691.000.60
T16FleetwoodT5 T36 T48 T65 2ndT7 T19 T24 T4T32nd1,193T43T111,479−1−1183.850.55
KucharT26 T12 T8 T16 T4150th 2nd T431st1stT4T72ndT42,313CUT T522,339−4226.291.20
SimpsonT16 T5 T29 T16 T30T39 T56 2nd3rdT8T22nd1,619T18T241,946−4214.690.55
T19FowlerT47 T9 T36 T43 T6T36 T41stT2T41,391CUTT111,637−2E203.950.51
ImCUT CUT CUTT4T7T3T4T77thT61,097T38T111,407−1352.85
T21AncerT12 T16 T49 CUTT39 T17 T5T4T86222ndT281,940−4+1272.690.48
CantlayCUT T9 T3 T21 T41T7T6T24 T122ndT9T31st1,730T122nd3,157−8216.120.85
OosthuizenT56 T29 T60 T7 T20T25 T5 T20T5T2754T6T111,355E192.94
T24LeishmanCUT T49 CUT T35 CUTT62 T9 3rd1stT4T3T45th1,415CUTT191,587−1+2213.890.45
SnedekerT5 CUT T16 77th CUTT30 T24 T27T2T4T5934T6T51,709−2273.12
T26ConnersT41 T46 T64 CUTT272ndT31st962T21T71,476−1+3282.920.43
RoseT8 CUT T29 T3 T203rd T9 11th1st3rd1,423T10T521,739−2174.36
28Howell IIIT35 T32 T41 T52 T14 T24 T51stT86thT61,279CUTT371,345E+4273.040.43
T29GloverCUT T16 CUT T20944T43 T71,337E+10262.610.40
D. JohnsonT5 T2 2nd T35 T51T30 1stT40 T20T4T9T61,686T24T571,840−3195.530.70

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.[16] [17]

Position Player Prize money ($)
1 9,684,006
2 7,785,286
3 6,294,690
4 6,121,488
5 5,690,965
6 5,609,456
7 5,534,619
8 5,013,084
9 4,990,110
10 4,690,572

Awards

AwardWinner
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: PGA Championship to move from August date to May in 2019 . ESPN . Harig . Bob . August 10, 2017 . August 12, 2017.
  2. The PGA Championship is moving to May and players are on board . Shedloski . Dave . August 7, 2017 . Golf Digest . August 8, 2017.
  3. News: P.G.A. Championship Will Move from August to May in 2019 . Reuters . August 8, 2017 . The New York Times . August 9, 2017 . 0362-4331.
  4. The PGA Championship will be moving to May, sources say . Herrington . Ryan . Golf Digest . August 7, 2017 . August 9, 2017.
  5. Web site: 2018-19 PGA Tour golf schedule sees major changes, including big events being moved . CBS Sports . July 10, 2018.
  6. Web site: Senior Players Champ. replacing WGC at Firestone . Golf Channel . April 12, 2018 . 23 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180920235112/https://www.golfchannel.com/article/golf-central-blog/senior-players-champ-replacing-wgc-firestone/ . 20 September 2018.
  7. Web site: The Northern Trust to call New York/New Jersey home in 2019, Boston home in 2020 . PGA Tour . July 10, 2018 . December 20, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181220230617/https://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/the-northern-trust/news/2018/07/10/the-northern-trust-golf-tournament-new-york-new-jersey-boston-2019.html . 20 December 2018.
  8. Nine changes in the new Rules of Golf you absolutely need to know for 2019 . Herrington . Ryan . 3 December 2018 . Golf Digest . 4 February 2019.
  9. FedEx Cup Purse Rises to $70 Million, Winner to Take Home $15 Million . 18 September 2018 . Sports Illustrated . 4 February 2019.
  10. Web site: Understand the risk. Realise the reward . Aon . March 20, 2019.
  11. Web site: 2018–19 Tournament schedule . PGA Tour . 23 October 2023.
  12. Web site: PGA Tour unveils significantly revamped 2018-19 Season schedule . PGA Tour . July 10, 2018 . August 19, 2019.
  13. News: Woods v Mickelson is a $9m vulgar marketing exercise . The Guardian . Ewan . Murray . November 22, 2018 . December 18, 2018.
  14. Web site: 2019 FedEx Cup . PGA Tour . 24 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190902030325/https://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.02671.html . 2 September 2019.
  15. News: Rory McIlroy pockets richest prize of £12m in winning FedEx Cup title . The Guardian . Ewan . Murray . 25 August 2019 . 23 October 2023.
  16. Web site: 2018–19 Official money . PGA Tour . 23 October 2023.
  17. See how much money the top 20 golfers made during PGA Tour 2018-19 season . Golfweek . Todd . Kelly . 21 August 2019 . 23 October 2023.
  18. Rory McIlroy voted PGA Tour Player of the Year, Sungjae Im named Rookie of the Year . Golfweek . Adam . Woodard . 11 September 2019 . 23 October 2023.
  19. Brooks Koepka Named PGA Player Of The Year . Golf Monthly . Elliott . Heath . 27 August 2019 . 23 October 2023.
  20. Web site: 2022–23 PGA Tour Media guide Awards . PGA Tour . 22 October 2023.
  21. News: McIlroy passes Cantlay for PGA Tour’s Vardon Trophy . NBC Sports . Rex . Hoggard . 26 August 2019 . 23 October 2023.