PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — The PGA Tour schedule is evolving, and signature events, like this week’s Genesis Invitational, continue to be redefined. What does that mean to the “other” tournaments, like the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches?
Genesis is one of eight signature events with a $20 million purse. The others are Sentry, AT&T Pebble Beach, Arnold Palmer, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo, Memorial and Travelers. All but the Genesis, Arnold Palmer and Memorial will have a cut.
The top-50 players and ties played into this weekend at the Riviera Country Club, along with any players within 10 shots of the lead after Friday’s play.
For all those reasons — no cut or a limited one, $20 million purse with winner’s shares of either $3.6 million or $4 million (LIV Golf says “you’re welcome,”) and guaranteed FedEx Cup points in the no-cut events, including 700 to the winner, 50 fewer than awarded at the majors and Players — competing in the signature events is coveted.
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While those who were in the top 50 of the previous season’s FedEx Cup points list qualify for the eight signature events, the rest of the fields are determined by how guys are playing at that time. Which means, playing in as many of the non-signature events, like Cognizant, can become a pathway for entry into the best tournaments of the year.
Like Charley Hoffman, who qualified for Genesis last Sunday when he finished runner-up at the Phoenix Open, losing in a playoff to Nick Taylor.
That finish gave him enough FedEx Cup points to play his way into the field.
“I would have like to have been in all the signature events and the Masters and the majors and all that other stuff,” said Hoffman, who shot a 69 in the Genesis opening round. “Obviously was a huge accomplishment.”
Hoffman was told following his Sunday round at TPC Scottsdale he was in the Genesis field.
“It sort of took me back, like awesome,” he said.
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Pathways into signature events for those not otherwise exempt include: Winning a PGA Tour event (that gets you into the remaining signature events that year), being in the top 10 on the current FedEx Cup point list, being in the top five on the FedEx Cup list in events between signature events, or among the top-30 players in the Official World Golf Ranking.
In addition, sponsor exemptions remain, which is how Tiger Woods got into his tournament this week. Woods, who withdrew Friday because of illness, gave himself an exemption, along with Gary Woodland, Adam Scott and Will Zalatoris.
“I feel lucky that I’ve got one of them,” Scott said. “If I didn’t, then I didn’t qualify. So that’s how it goes.”
All of this means playing in an event like the Cognizant Classic could get someone into the next signature event, the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, the following week.
Hoffman, 47, is one of six players on the PGA Tour Policy Board. As a player who has not been among the top 100 in the world the last two years, he championed for the little guys.
“I’ve been on the board that’s been part of this limiting fields, building purses,” said Hoffman, who asked Woods for an exemption into Genesis before he qualified and was denied because there were none left.
“Obviously, the majority of the membership didn’t love limiting the fields. I know I was adamant about making sure the … hot players were able to work their way into the events. My example last year was Taylor Montgomery; that guy deserved to be in all the events. He started off hot in the fall and played well and he should have been in all the events. Obviously, that was my example this year.”
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