PGA TOUR Champions Announces 2018 Schedule
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2017-11-09
Four New Title Sponsors, Darren Clarke Debut Highlight 2018 Season. (Photo/PGA TOUR Champions)
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – PGA TOUR Champions announced the 2018 tournament schedule, featuring 27 official tournaments and two “Challenge Season” events. The 24-event Regular Season will again give way to the third annual Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, which will be used to determine the season-long Charles Schwab Cup champion. The Tour will contest events in three countries and 20 states, with total prize money of $56.6 million.
The 2018 season will feature two new events, with The Ally Challenge marking the PGA TOUR’s return to Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc, Mich., the week of September 10-16, and the Sanford International contested the following week (September 17-23) at Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, S.D.
In addition to the new tournaments in Grand Blanc and Sioux Falls, the Tour will welcome two new title sponsors to the 2018 schedule – Exact Sciences and Rapiscan.
“We are excited to welcome Ally Financial, Sanford Health, Exact Sciences and Rapiscan Systems to the PGA TOUR family, beginning in the 2018 season,” said PGA TOUR Champions President Greg McLaughlin. “PGA TOUR Champions benefits greatly from our many corporate partners and stakeholders, and through their engagement and accessibility, our players deliver tremendous value for our titles sponsors and fans during tournament week.”
Exact Sciences announced its title sponsorship of the PGA TOUR’s longtime stop in Tucson, which began with the Tucson Open from 1945 through 2006 before becoming an official PGA TOUR Champions event in 2015. The Cologuard Classic will be held at Omni Tucson Resort the week of February 26-March 4, which is two weeks earlier than the tournament’s traditional mid-March date.
Rapiscan Systems will assume the title sponsorship of the annual stop at Fallen Oak Golf Club in Biloxi, Miss. The Rapiscan Systems Classic will be contested in late March.
In addition to the new tournaments and title sponsors, seven PGA TOUR winners will turn 50 in 2018 and begin play on PGA TOUR Champions, highlighted by 2011 Open Championship winner Darren Clarke. Clarke, who competed in five Ryder Cups and captained the 2016 European Team to victory, will turn 50 on August 14. The three-time TOUR winner headlines a rookie class that also includes Chris DiMarco, Dudley Hart, Robert Gamez and Brent Geiberger.
The season will begin with the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, set for the week of January 15-20 in Ka’upulehu-Kona, Hawaii. The Toshiba Classic returns to the Tour’s calendar next year with a move from October back to March. The event, which will again be held at Newport Beach Country Club, will be played March 5-11.
The Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs will highlight the 2018 season, featuring a 72-player field for the Dominion Energy Charity Classic at the Country Club of Virginia’s James River Course (Oct. 15-21), a 54-player field for the PowerShares QQQ Championship at Sherwood Country Club (Oct. 22-28) and a 36-player field for the season finale at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, which returns to Phoenix Country Club (Nov. 5-11) for a second consecutive year.
In 2016, World Golf Hall of Fame member Bernhard Langer claimed an unprecedented fourth Charles Schwab Cup title after putting forth a dominant four-win season on PGA TOUR Champions. Langer enters this week’s Charles Schwab Cup Championship at No. 1 in the standings, thanks to seven victories, including three major championship titles.
“The Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs have been a great success through two years, and we are looking forward to building on that foundation in 2018,” said McLaughlin. “Our players understand the importance of the regular season while continuing to focus their efforts around winning the Charles Schwab Cup.”
The five major championships on PGA TOUR Champions will kick off with the Regions Tradition, which returns to Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala., the week of May 14-20. The KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship will be contested the following week at Harbor Shores Golf Club in Benton Harbor, Mich., for the fourth time in the last seven years.
The final three major championships of 2018 will again be held during a five-week stretch in the summer, beginning with the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, Colo., the week of June 25-July 1. The Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship will move to Illinois for the first time the week of July 9-15, with Exmoor Country Club outside of Chicago set to host the year’s fourth major.
The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex will be held on the Old Course at St. Andrews for the first time the week of July 23-29. The Old Course has hosted The Open Championship 29 times, including in 2015 when Zach Johnson earned his second major championship title.
| TOURNAMENT | TV | GOLF COURSE | LOCATION | PURSE | ||
| Jan | 15-20 | Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai (Saturday finish) | GOLF | Hualalai Golf Course | Ka'upulehu-Kona, HI | $1,800,000 |
| Feb | 5-11 | Boca Raton Championship | GOLF | The Old Course at Broken Sound Club | Boca Raton, FL | $1,600,000 |
| 12-18 | Chubb Classic | GOLF | The TwinEagles Club (Talon Course) | Naples, FL | $1,600,000 | |
| Mar | 26-4 | Cologuard Classic | GOLF | Omni Tucson National (Catalina Course) | Tucson, AZ | $1,700,000 |
| 5-11 | Toshiba Classic | GOLF | Newport Beach Country Club | Newport Beach, CA | $1,800,000 | |
| TBD | Rapiscan Systems Classic | GOLF | Fallen Oak | Biloxi, MS | $1,600,000 | |
| Apr | 9-15 | Mitsubishi Electric Classic | GOLF | TPC Sugarloaf | Duluth, GA | $1,800,000 |
| 16-22 | Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge | GOLF | Top of the Rock, Mountain Top, Buffalo Ridge Springs Course | Ridgedale, MO | $1,800,000 | |
| May | 30-6 | Insperity Invitational | GOLF | The Woodlands Country Club (Tournament Course) | The Woodlands, TX (Houston) | $2,200,000 |
| 14-20 | *Regions Tradition | GOLF | Greystone Golf & Country Club | Birmingham, AL | $2,400,000 | |
| 21-27 | *KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship | GOLF/NBC | Harbor Shores | Benton Harbor, MI | $3,000,000 | |
| June | 4-10 | Principal Charity Classic | GOLF | Wakonda Club | Des Moines, IA | $1,750,000 |
| 18-24 | American Family Insurance Championship | GOLF | University Ridge Golf Course | Madison, WI | $2,000,000 | |
| 25-1 | *U.S. Senior Open Championship | FS1 | The Broadmoor Resort | Colorado Springs, CO | $4,000,000 | |
| July | 9-15 | *Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship | GOLF | Exmoor Country Club | Highland Park, IL | $2,800,000 |
| 23-29 | *Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex | GOLF/SKY/NBC | Old Course, St. Andrews | Fife, Scotland | $2,000,000 | |
| Aug | 30-5 | 3M Championship | GOLF | TPC Twin Cities | Blaine, MN (Minneapolis) | $1,750,000 |
| 13-19 | DICK'S Sporting Goods Open | GOLF | En-Joie Golf Course | Endicott, NY | $2,050,000 | |
| 20-26 | Boeing Classic | GOLF | The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge | Snoqualmie, WA (Seattle) | $2,100,000 | |
| 27-2 | Shaw Charity Classic | GOLF | Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club | Calgary, AB, Canada | $2,350,000 | |
| Sept | 10-16 | The Ally Challenge | GOLF | Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club | Grand Blanc, MI | $2,000,000 |
| 17-23 | Sanford International | GOLF | Minnehaha Country Club | Sioux Falls, SD | $1,800,000 | |
| 24-30 | PURE Insurance Championship | GOLF | Pebble Beach Golf Links and Poppy Hills Golf Course | Pebble Beach, CA | $2,100,000 | |
| Oct | 8-14 | SAS Championship | GOLF | Prestonwood Country Club | Cary, NC | $2,100,000 |
| SCHWAB CUP PLAYOFFS | ||||||
| 15-21 | Dominion Energy Charity Classic | GOLF | Country Club of Virginia (James River Course) | Richmond, VA | $2,000,000 | |
| 22-28 | PowerShares QQQ Championship | GOLF | Sherwood Country Club | Thousand Oaks, CA | $2,000,000 | |
| Nov | 5-11 | Charles Schwab Cup Championship | GOLF | Phoenix Country Club | Phoenix, AZ | $2,500,000 |
| 27-30 | PGA TOUR Champions National Qualifying Tournament - Finals | TBD | TBD | $200,000 | ||
| Challenge Season Events | ||||||
| Jan | 12-14 | Diamond Resorts Invitational | GOLF | Tranquilo Golf Club at Four Seasons Resort Orlando | Orlando, FL | $760,000 |
| Dec | 10-16 | PNC Father Son Challenge | GOLF/NBC | Ritz-Carlton Golf Club | Orlando, FL | $1,085,000 |
| * Denotes Major Championship | ||||||