The PGA Tour has revealed a revamped fall schedule for 2023 which includes seven events and the chance for players beneath the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings to accumulate points and improve their positions for the 2024 season.
There will be seven PGA Tour events in the fall schedule, beginning with the Fortinet Championship in the week beginning 11 September. Following that, a two-week break is scheduled, with the Ryder Cup taking place in one of them. Then, the PGA Tour schedule resumes with the Sanderson Farms Championship in early October.
Two more October tournaments follow – the Shriners Children’s Open and Zozo Championship, before another week-long break before the World Wide Technology Championship, which begins on 2 November at its new venue, the Tiger Woods course El Cardonal in Mexico. The following week sees the Butterfield Bermuda Championship before the fall schedule concludes with the RSM Classic beginning on 16 November.
There is a new initiative this year that will see players ranked No.51 and beneath carrying over their FedEx Cup points from the regular season and first FedEx Cup Playoffs event and continuing to accumulate the points in the fall schedule as they bid to secure additional playing opportunities for the 2024 season.
Additionally, 10 players, not previously eligible, with the most season-long FedEx Cup points, including those accumulated in the fall schedule, will earn exemptions to the first two designated events after January's Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Meanwhile, existing incentives will remain, including a two-year exemption to the PGA Tour for a win during the fall schedule, 500 FedEx Cup points and entry to the 2024 Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Meanwhile, there is also the advantage of receiving invites to the Majors that include PGA Tour winners as part of their qualifying criteria, including The Masters.
PGA Tour President Tyler Dennis explained the changes will help make the fall schedule distinct from the rest of the season. He said: "We are launching the most meaningful updates to the PGA Tour season since 2007, the first year of the FedEx Cup.
"The reimagining of our schedule – from the Regular Season with Designated and Full-Field events to the FedEx Cup Playoffs and culminating with the FedEx Cup Fall – creates distinct but connected ‘chapters,’ and within this new framework, the FedEx Cup Fall is now more than ever an integral part of that compelling story. There will be so much at stake – and more immediate payoffs – as opportunities are unlocked in the FedEx Cup Fall for the season to come.
He also explained that he hoped the added incentives will help ensure the best players continue to appear in the events. He said: “Players have the chance to secure or improve their playing status and earn additional benefits for the following season, and we are confident a number of top performers will continue to support events that have traditionally fit into their respective schedules."
Making way is the Houston Open, which will now be played in the spring of 2024, while the CJ Cup is no more. The PGA Tour Challenge season will follow the fall schedule, comprising the Hero World Challenge, new PGA Tour and LPGA co-sanctioned event the Grant Thornton Challenge and the PNC Championship.
The PGA Tour will move to a calendar year schedule from 2024, beginning with the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
PGA Tour Fall Schedule 2023
- 11-17 September, Fortinet Championship
- 2-8 October, Sanderson Farms Championship
- 9-15 October, Shriners Children's Open
- 16-22 October, ZOZO Championship
- 30 October - 5 November, World Wide Technology Championship
- 6-12 November, Butterfield Bermuda Championship
- 13-19 November, The RSM Classic