The PGA Tour’s schedule of events for a season is usually a straightforward list: names of events, corresponding dates, and the total prize money. Not so this year: in what is a clear reflection of the behind-the-scenes action vis a vis the ongoing merger with the LIV Golf Tour, the PGA Tour put out no less than 2000 words to spell out the changes in its 2024 schedule. For the benefit of our readers here are the key takeaways:

Special Events
The Tour calls these Signature Events. Essentially these are tournaments with the biggest purses, the best players from the previous season, and those on a hot streak in the current season. These events are in addition to the Major Championships, the Players Championships and the FedEx Playoff events. To confuse things further, some of these Signature events are a bit more noteworthy than others. Three in particular: the Genesis Invitational, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial tournament will also feature a 36-hole cut which is not the norm for limited field events. The biggest differentiator in these Signature events however will be in the distribution of the payouts with the winner taking as much as 20% of the total tournament purse.

Special invitees
Figuring out which players from 2023’s FedEx Cup list get invited to the Signature events is a bit like the points system for the FedEx Cup when it started in 2007-too complex for players or for the fans to wrap their heads around. The next 10 players in the current-season FedEx Cup standings who’re not in the field may make their way into the field on the basis of their recent play preceding each event. The other criteria, which is called the ‘Swing 5,’ awards five spots in events based on performances over a shorter period.
Money Talks
The FedEx Cup winner in 2024 will take home $25 million, a raise of over $7 million from this year. Then there’s the newly introduced Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 which will double its contribution to a whopping $40 million to be distributed amongst the Top 10 players of the (regular) season.
Additions-tournaments, venues and sponsors
A bunch of new events have been planned for the season and will include ‘The Classic’ in February 2024. Additional events have been planned for Myrtle Beach, SC and during the Scottish Open.