The 2019 PGA Tour Schedule Is Starting To Get A Little More Clear
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2018-06-22
By DOUG FERGUSON, Associated Press
The PGA Tour filled in some major pieces of the scheduling puzzle last week, starting with the Houston Open going to the fall starting in 2019 under the direction of Houston Astros owner Jim Crane and the Astros Foundation. Then, the tour announced Monday that the 3M Open in Minnesota, a PGA Tour Champions event since 1993, would be on the PGA Tour schedule next summer.
The Houston Open had been penciled in for the date before the U.S. Open, but that doesn't mean Minnesota takes that spot.
One likelihood is for the RBC Canadian Open to be held a week before the U.S. Open, two of the oldest championships in golf in consecutive weeks.
The Canadian Open in recent years had taken the spot after the British Open, arranging a charter flight for those playing the event. But with a constricted schedule next year to end the FedEx Cup a week before Labor Day, that spot now goes to the World Golf Championship in Tennessee.
The John Deere Classic has a contract to be held before the British Open. A week before that would put Canada on top of the Fourth of July and too close to Canada Day on July 1. It would be tough attracting a strong field, not to mention volunteers.
A move before the U.S. Open is the best fit, especially for the title sponsor of two PGA Tour events. RBC also has Hilton Head a week after the Masters.
That would leave the tour to decide on Minnesota and Detroit after the U.S. Open and before the British Open.
Still to be determined is the order in the fall, with one other surprise. Two people aware of the discussions said the tour is working on a tournament in Japan for this fall that would at least temporarily add to the Asia swing along with stops in Malaysia, South Korea and Shanghai. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the plans have not been finalized.