The PGA Tour unveiled its reimagined fall schedule on Wednesday with many of the same stops but a dramatically adjusted focus.
The fall will feature seven events, down from nine last year, beginning two weeks after the Tour Championship:
- Sept. 14-17: Fortinet Championship
- Oct. 5-8: Sanderson Farms Championship
- Oct. 12-15: Shriners Children’s Open
- Oct. 19-22: Zozo Championship (Japan)
- Nov. 2-5: World Wide Technology Championship
- Nov. 9-12: Butterfield Bermuda Championship
- Nov. 16-19: RSM Classic
Gone from the fall schedule are the CJ Cup and the Houston Open, the latter of which, according to various reports, is moving to the regular Tour schedule.
The fall will primarily provide players who finish 51st and beyond on the previous season’s FedExCup points list a chance to improve their status for the next year and provide a pathway into designated events. Points earned through the regular season and playoff events will carry over into what is being called FedExCup Fall.
Players who finish Nos. 51-70 in points upon the conclusion of the previous season – after the regular season and playoffs – will have full status for the next season. But their play in the fall could lead to extra opportunities. Nos. 51-60 in FedExCup points after the fall series concludes will earn spots into the first two designated events (following the Sentry TOC) of the new season.
Those who finish between Nos. 71-125 in the previous season will need to play the fall events to maintain their status for the next season. Nos. 126 and above can also play their ways in during the fall, with 125 still being the fully exempt cutoff.
Players who finish the season in the top 50 can play in the fall as well. They will not earn any FedExCup points, because their positions are already locked for the upcoming year, but can still claim everything else – money, OWGR points, exemptions, improved eligibility through a win.
A victory in the fall will be worth 500 FedExCup points and will earn a player a spot in Maui the following year, as well as an invitation to the Masters. But, unlike in wraparound seasons, fall points will not carry over into the new year.
Starting next year, the designated events will be limited-field (70-80 players), no-cut tournaments. Those events (not counting the four majors and The Players) are the three “player-hosted” invitationals (Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational and Memorial), the Sentry Tournament of Champions and four other events still to be determined.
The fields for each of those eight events will include:
- Top 50 from the prior season’s FEC points list
- Top 10 from the current year’s FEC points list (not otherwise eligible)
- Top 5 from the current year’s FEC points list through each “swing” (not otherwise eligible)
- Additional qualifiers (tournament winners, top 30 OWGR, four sponsor exemptions; top 10 from fall get into the first two post-Sentry designated events)
A “swing” is what the Tour considers consecutive full-field events between designated events. The Tour anticipates two to three full-field events to be contested in a row, in which the top 5 FEC points earners (not otherwise eligible) during that section would qualify for the next designated event.
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