PGA TOUR

ON SCHEDULE

It’s all to play for as the seven PGA Tour events in FedExCup Fall will give golfers an opportunity to lock up or improve their positions in priority ranking and secure additional playing opportunities for the 2024 FedExCup Season. THE GOLF MAG explains the ins and outs of the new format

When the PGA Tour returned in September after a two-week hiatus, the seven-tournament fall schedule looked quite different to previous years. Because the Tour is moving to a calendar-year schedule in 2024 (January to August), there is an interim period where tournaments will be played, and the format has caused some confusion with many golf followers. This series of tournaments has been dubbed the FedExCup Fall and has far-reaching implications on how next season unfolds and flows into the FedExCup Playoffs.

This is a look at who will be participating at what tournaments and what it all means for the 2024 PGA Tour season. The Fortinet Championship and Sanderson Farms Championship have already taken place.

2023 SCHEDULE

  • Shriners Children's Open – 12-15 October
  • Zozo Championship – 19-22 October
  • World Wide Technology Championship – 2-5 November
  • Butterfield Bermuda Championship – 9-12 November
  • RSM Classic – 16-19 November

CHEAT SHEET

  • The top 50 players from the FedExCup Playoffs are eligible for full-field and signature events in 2024.
  • Players ranked 51-60 on the FedExCup Fall points list qualify for the A&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.
  • The top-125 players earn PGA Tour cards.
  • The top-150 players earn conditional PGA Tour status.

SOUTH AFRICAN PLAYERS

This is where our players
were ranked in the FedExCup Fall standings in early October:

75 Garrick Higgo

92 Christiaan Bezuidenhout

125 Erik van Rooyen

126 MJ Daffue

158 Dylan Frittelli

The top-50 players in last season's FedExCup (ie, everyone who advanced to the BMW Championship in the second round of the FedExCup Playoffs) have already secured playing privileges in the eight-event signature event series of 2024. While the world’s top-ranked players have their signature event status locked up, everyone else is fighting to get into these limited-field events of 2024 which also have increased prize money and FedExCup points. That signature events are: The Sentry; the Pebble Beach Pro-Am; the Genesis Invitational; the Arnold Palmer Invitational; the RBC Heritage; the Wells Fargo Championship; the Memorial Tournament and the Travelers Championship.


While The Sentry is limited to winners from last season, as well as other golfers who finished in the top 50 of the final FedExCup standings, Pebble Beach is the first spot where the FedExCup Fall comes into play. The top 10 from the FedExCup Fall standings will gain entrance into this tournament and the Genesis Invitational two weeks later.

Because FedExCup points will carry over from the 2022-23 regular season into the FedExCup Fall, there are already 10 players who have a head start on everyone when it comes to finishing in the top 10 this year and making it to Pebble Beach and the Genesis Invitational. The top 50 players in last season's FedExCup standings can play fall events, but they do not factor into these fall standings as they've already secured entrance into the signature events for 2024.

Five other golfers will gain entrance into Pebble Beach based on play at the Sony Open, American Express and Farmers Insurance Open. The top-five FedExCup point-earners from those three events will play Pebble. However, to even be eligible for Sony and the events thereafter, you have to retain your PGA Tour card. Previously, players retained or lost their cards at the Wyndham Championship in August, but this time year it will be at the RSM Classic in November.

The top 125 after that tournament will keep their Tour cards, while those who just missed out will lose them unless they have other playing privileges (career exemptions, etc) that gain them entry into the events on the 2024 PGA Tour schedule.

Only players ranked 51 and beyond from the FedExCup Standings through the Playoffs can earn points in the FedExCup Fall.

HOVLAND’S HIGHLIGHTS

In the final round of the 2023 Tour Championship, Viktor Hovland shot a seven-under-par 63 to claim his sixth PGA TOUR victory and first FedExCup at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

BREAKDOWN OF 2024

The 2024 FedExCup Regular Season, consisting of 36 events, begins in January with the “Opening Drive” at The Sentry and Sony Open in Hawaii – where all players start with zero FedExCup points and look to get off to a strong start in the race for the FedExCup. The Wyndham Championship once again serves as the culmination of the Regular Season, with only 70 players advancing to the FedExCup Playoffs. The Regular Season schedule includes The Players Championship and the four Majors, eight signature events (referred to as “designated events” in 2023), 18 full-field events and five additional events.

MICHAEL FIALA/EPA/BACKPAGEPIX/CARL FOURIE/SUNSHINE TOUR/ROLEX