Leaked PGA Tour schedule for 2024 still shows strong West Coast Swing
With all the changes that have happened in the last year and more that could be coming to the PGA Tour in the next year or two, one thing seems consistent from year to year on the professional golf tour: the PGA Tour’s West Coast Swing.
According to an exclusive story from GolfWeek, the 2024 PGA Tour schedule is firmed up, and one thing that definitely isn’t changing is the seven-event swing to start the new calendar year. That means the two events in Hawaii, the Sentry Tournament of Champions and Sony Open, will again be followed by The American Express in La Quinta, the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles.
That’s a swing that suits the PGA Tour well as an opening act for a new season, with the rhythm of the Hawaii, Arizona and California events perfect for high-profile players and players fresh off the Korn Ferry Tour. Good weather, strong golf courses and tournaments being flexible because of the NFL playoffs are all important for the tour and its players.
Assuming the leaked schedule is correct, here are a few other nuggets for 2024:
A new word for big events
At first, they were called elevated events. Then the name changed to designated events for the big-time, limitedfield, big-money events the PGA Tour put together as a way to combat the big money on the rival LIV tour. Now those designated events will be called signature events. It’s a more elegant name for the $20 million dollar purses and the gatherings of the game’s elite players.
Pebble Beach rebounds
In recent years, the AT&T Pebble Beach tournament has suffered from less-than-stellar fields despite having some of the most glorious courses in the world and a remarkable history of professional golf on those courses. That
will change if the GolfWeek report is correct, with Pebble Beach earning signature status for 2024 and the Waste Management Phoenix Open losing that status. That still leaves three signature events on the West Coast, but it also ensures Pebble Beach is not an ignored stop.
Sponsorship changes
With some events lifted to signature status, other events suffer with average fields or less. That seems to have started a roulette of sponsors. AT&T, with the demands of a bigger purse at the signature Pebble Beach, is dropping its sponsorship of the Byron Nelson tournament. South Korean company CJ from the CJ Cup of the fall series will now take over as sponsor of the Byron Nelson. And the old Honda Classic in Florida is currently called the Palm Beach Classic, which sounds like a classic car show. Honda bailed on the event which is sandwiched between too many signature events. Coachella Valley golf fans are familiar with a PGA Tour event without sponsorship, but the desert’s tour event eventually found major sponsor American Express. What will happen to the old Honda?
Cuts in signature events
One of the ideas the PGA Tour had with non-cut fields in the World Golf Championships was no cuts for the limited-field events. When LIV took that idea for all of its events, critics complained. But the PGA Tour is putting more no-cut events on its schedule for 2024, with only a handful of those tournaments, particularly the ones with Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods attached to the events, keeping 36-hole cuts. You can debate whether a cut in a tournament is good or unimportant, but the PGA Tour seems to be siding with no-cuts in its new antiLIV era.
Larry Bohannan is the golf writer for The Desert Sun. You can contact him at (760) 778-4633 or at larry.bohannan@desertsun.com. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at @larry_bohannan. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Desert Sun.