Pebble Beach joins signature stops as PGA unveils ´24 schedule

WASHINGTON: The Pebble Beach Pro-Am will become a "signature" event on the 2024 US PGA Tour schedule released on Monday even as a merger framework agreement with LIV Golf remains unresolved.

The PGA Tour unveiled a lineup of 36 tournaments in a calendar-year schedule for the first time since 2012, including eight signature events, what were termed designated events in the just-ended 2023 regular season.

Top players such as Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm were required to play in the special events or forfeit bonus money, ensuring showdowns of many of golf´s top-ranked stars throughout the season at events beyond the major championships.

There was no sign of LIV Golf events in next year´s programme despite the controversial merger plan announced in June.

The PGA Policy Board, now with a majority of players after the addition of Tiger Woods, must ratify any agreement by the end of the year or the deal with the Saudi-back upstart circuit could collapse.

The Pebble Beach Pro-Am will replace the Phoenix Open on the list of PGA signature events, which have higher prize money and limited fields. There will be some tweaks with some tournaments not having cuts and others trimming the field after 36 holes.

The Sentry, formerly known as the Tournament of Champions, will serve as the season opener in Hawaii in the first week of January and be the first signature event, followed by Pebble Beach in early February.

In a change to the Pro-Am format, amateurs will play alongside pros in the first two rounds with only pros playing in the last two rounds at Pebble Beach.

Other signature events include the Woods-hosted Genesis Invitational at Riviera in February, the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March at Bay Hill, the Heritage in April the week after the Masters, the Wells Fargo at Quail Hollow two weeks before the PGA Championship, the Memorial in June the week before the US Open and the Travelers Championship the week following the US Open.

The Genesis, Palmer and Memorial events will feature a 36-hole cut to the top 50 and ties or anyone within 10 strokes of the lead, with winners taking 20% of total prize money, up from 18% in other signature events.

Next year´s majors include the Masters on April 11-14 at Augusta National, the PGA Championship on May 16-19 at Valhalla, the US Open on June 13-16 at Pinehurst and the British Open on July 18-21 at Royal Troon.

Paris Olympic Golf will be staged in early August with the PGA Tour season ending on August 8-11 at the Wyndham Championship, setting up the FedEx Cup playoffs at the St. Jude Championship in Memphis, the BMW Championship at Castle Pines in Colorado and the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

A Fall 2024 schedule, which will finalize the 125 players for the 2025 PGA season, was not released. "We are excited about the roll-out of the PGA Tour´s reimagined schedule and what the season will offer to our fans: a January start with stars competing head-to-head more often, alongside the weekly drama of life-altering moments and the emergence of new stars," said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.

Field sizes for signature events other than the season opener are expected to be between 70 and 80 players, including the top 50 from the prior season standings and 15 members who can play their way into the events.