2018–19 PGA Tour

2018–19 PGA Tour season

Duration	October 4, 2018 (2018-10-04) – August 25, 2019 (2019-08-25)
Number of official events	46
Most wins	Brooks Koepka (3) Rory McIlroy (3)
FedEx Cup	Rory McIlroy
Money list	Brooks Koepka
PGA Tour Player of the Year	Rory McIlroy
PGA Player of the Year	Brooks Koepka
Rookie of the Year	Im Sung-jae
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

The 2018–19 PGA Tour was the 104th season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was also the 51st season since separating from the PGA of America, and the 13th edition of the FedEx Cup.

Changes for 2018–19

Schedule

The schedule contained 46 events, two fewer than the previous season. The schedule was shortened in an effort to complete the FedEx Cup Playoffs by the end of August.

As announced in 2017, the PGA Championship was moved from August to May on the weekend before Memorial Day, starting in 2019. The PGA of America cited the addition of golf to the Summer Olympics, as well as cooler weather enabling a wider array of options for host courses, as reasoning for the change. It was also believed that the PGA Tour wished to re-align its season so that the FedEx Cup Playoffs would not have to compete with the start of football season in late-August. Consequently, The Players Championship was moved from May back to March for the first time since 2006.^[1][2][3][4]

New exemption

The PGA Tour added a one-time exemption for those who made 300 career cuts. J. J. Henry was the first to take advantage.

Events

On hiatus: The Houston Open and Greenbrier Classic were not included in the shortened season, but they did return in the autumn of 2019 as part of the 2019–20 PGA Tour schedule.^[5]

New: Two new events were added to the schedule: the Rocket Mortgage Classic, played at Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Michigan, and the 3M Open, played at the TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota.

Relocations: The WGC Invitational was relocated from Akron, Ohio to Memphis, Tennessee when FedEx took over sponsorship of the event.^[6]

Canceled: The FedEx St. Jude Classic ceased due to the WGC event; the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, was played at the Classic's former location in Memphis. The Quicken Loans National; played in the Washington, D.C. area, no longer appeared on the PGA Tour schedule. The FedEx Cup playoff event; the Dell Technologies Championship, was also removed from the schedule with the number of playoff events reducing to three. The Northern Trust alternated between New Jersey, and Boston (the site of the Dell Technologies Championship).^[7]

Rules

From January 1, 2019 onwards, tournaments followed the new rules released by the USGA and The R&A which were designed to speed up the pace of play. The most noticeable changes included golfers being able to putt on the green with the flag remaining in, and drops being made from knee rather than shoulder height.^[8]

Prize money

As well as changes to individual tournament prize funds, the FedEx Cup postseason bonus money increased by $25 million to $60 million, with the FedEx Cup champion getting $15 million. The winner of the Tour Championship will be the FedEx Cup champion. The Tour Championship begins with each player having an adjusted score relative to par which relates to the amount of FedEx Cup points accumulated (previously the Tour Championship was structured similar to other tournaments, and awarded FedEx Cup points). The Tour Championship no longer have its own separate prize fund.

In addition, the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 was introduced, a $10 million bonus to be divided among the FedEx Cup top 10 regular season finishers.^[9]

The tour also introduced the Aon Risk Reward Challenge. In most tournaments, a single hole is allocated to contribute to the challenge. A player's best two scores from every participating event a player competes in throughout the season is used. The player with the lowest average to par score wins $1m. The initiative is replicated on the LPGA Tour.^[10]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2018–19 season.^[11][12]

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse (US$)	Winner(s)[a]	OWGR points	Other tours[b]	Notes
Oct 7	Safeway Open	California	6,400,000	Kevin Tway (1)	28
Oct 14	CIMB Classic	Malaysia	7,000,000	Marc Leishman (4)	48	ASA	Limited-field event
Oct 21	CJ Cup	South Korea	9,500,000	Brooks Koepka (5)	54		Limited-field event
Oct 28	WGC-HSBC Champions	China	10,000,000	Xander Schauffele (3)	66		World Golf Championship
Oct 28	Sanderson Farms Championship	Mississippi	4,400,000	Cameron Champ (1)	24		Alternate event
Nov 4	Shriners Hospitals for Children Open	Nevada	7,000,000	Bryson DeChambeau (5)	40
Nov 11	Mayakoba Golf Classic	Mexico	7,200,000	Matt Kuchar (8)	40
Nov 18	RSM Classic	Georgia	6,400,000	Charles Howell III (3)	24
Jan 6	Sentry Tournament of Champions	Hawaii	6,500,000	Xander Schauffele (4)	56		Winners-only event
Jan 13	Sony Open in Hawaii	Hawaii	6,400,000	Matt Kuchar (9)	50
Jan 20	Desert Classic	California	5,900,000	Adam Long (1)	42		Pro-Am
Jan 27	Farmers Insurance Open	California	7,100,000	Justin Rose (10)	60
Feb 3	Waste Management Phoenix Open	Arizona	7,100,000	Rickie Fowler (5)	56
Feb 11	AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am	California	7,600,000	Phil Mickelson (44)	46		Pro-Am
Feb 17	Genesis Open	California	7,400,000	J. B. Holmes (5)	64
Feb 24	WGC-Mexico Championship	Mexico	10,250,000	Dustin Johnson (20)	72		World Golf Championship
Feb 24	Puerto Rico Open	Puerto Rico	3,000,000	Martin Trainer (1)	24		Alternate event
Mar 3	The Honda Classic	Florida	6,800,000	Keith Mitchell (1)	48
Mar 10	Arnold Palmer Invitational	Florida	9,100,000	Francesco Molinari (3)	64		Invitational
Mar 17	The Players Championship	Florida	12,500,000	Rory McIlroy (15)	80		Flagship event
Mar 24	Valspar Championship	Florida	6,700,000	Paul Casey (3)	50
Mar 31	WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play	Texas	10,250,000	Kevin Kisner (3)	76		World Golf Championship
Mar 31	Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship	Dominican Republic	3,000,000	Graeme McDowell (4)	24		Alternate event
Apr 7	Valero Texas Open	Texas	7,500,000	Corey Conners (1)	40
Apr 14	Masters Tournament	Georgia	11,500,000	Tiger Woods (81)	100		Major championship
Apr 21	RBC Heritage	South Carolina	6,900,000	Pan Cheng-tsung (1)	58		Invitational
Apr 28	Zurich Classic of New Orleans	Louisiana	7,300,000	Ryan Palmer (4) and Jon Rahm (3)	n/a		Team event
May 5	Wells Fargo Championship	North Carolina	7,900,000	Max Homa (1)	50
May 12	AT&T Byron Nelson	Texas	7,900,000	Kang Sung-hoon (1)	40
May 19	PGA Championship	New York	11,000,000	Brooks Koepka (6)	100		Major championship
May 26	Charles Schwab Challenge	Texas	7,300,000	Kevin Na (3)	54		Invitational
Jun 2	Memorial Tournament	Ohio	9,100,000	Patrick Cantlay (2)	68		Invitational
Jun 9	RBC Canadian Open	Canada	7,600,000	Rory McIlroy (16)	48
Jun 16	U.S. Open	California	12,500,000	Gary Woodland (4)	100		Major championship
Jun 23	Travelers Championship	Connecticut	7,200,000	Chez Reavie (2)	58
Jun 30	Rocket Mortgage Classic	Michigan	7,300,000	Nate Lashley (1)	46		New tournament
Jul 7	3M Open	Minnesota	6,400,000	Matthew Wolff (1)	44		New tournament
Jul 14	John Deere Classic	Illinois	6,000,000	Dylan Frittelli (1)	24
Jul 21	The Open Championship	Northern Ireland	10,750,000	Shane Lowry (2)	100		Major championship
Jul 21	Barbasol Championship	Kentucky	3,500,000	Jim Herman (2)	24		Alternate event
Jul 28	WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational	Tennessee	10,250,000	Brooks Koepka (7)	72		World Golf Championship
Jul 28	Barracuda Championship	Nevada	3,500,000	Collin Morikawa (1)	24		Alternate event
Aug 4	Wyndham Championship	North Carolina	6,200,000	J. T. Poston (1)	44
Aug 11	The Northern Trust	New Jersey	9,250,000	Patrick Reed (7)	76		FedEx Cup playoff event
Aug 18	BMW Championship	Illinois	9,250,000	Justin Thomas (10)	72		FedEx Cup playoff event
Aug 25	Tour Championship	Georgia	n/a[c]	Rory McIlroy (17)	60[d]		FedEx Cup playoff event

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the PGA Tour, but did not carry FedEx Cup points or official money, nor were wins official.

Date	Tournament	Location	Purse ($)	Winner(s)	OWGR points	Notes
Nov 23	The Match: Tiger vs. Phil	Nevada	9,000,000	Phil Mickelson	n/a	2-man match[16]
Nov 25	ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf	Australia	7,000,000	Thomas Detry and Thomas Pieters	n/a	Team event
Dec 2	Hero World Challenge	Bahamas	3,500,000	Jon Rahm	48	Limited-field event
Dec 9	QBE Shootout	Florida	3,300,000	Brian Harman and Patton Kizzire	n/a	Team event

Location of tournaments

(&) class=notpageimage| Location of official tournaments of the 2018–19 PGA Tour in the continental United States and Canada. 600-point event (Players & Majors) 550-point event (World Golf Championships) 500-point event (Regular events) 400-point event (Official team event) 300-point event (Alternate events) FedEx Cup playoff event

class=notpageimage| Location of official tournaments of the 2018–19 PGA Tour outside the continental United States and Canada. 600-point event (Players & Majors) 550-point event (World Golf Championships) 500-point event (Regular events) 300-point event (Alternate events)

FedEx Cup

Points distribution

Main article: List of point distributions of the FedEx Cup

The distribution of points for 2018–19 PGA Tour events were as follows:

Finishing position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th		20th		30th		40th		50th		60th
Majors & Players Championship	600	330	210	150	120	110	100	94	88	82		51		32		18		10		6
World Golf Championships	550	315	200	140	115	105	95	89	83	78		51		32		18		10		6
Other PGA Tour events	500	300	190	135	110	100	90	85	80	75		45		28		16		8.5		5
Team event (each player)	400	163	105	88	78	68	59	54	50	46		17		5		2		0		0
Alternate events	300	165	105	80	65	60	55	50	45	40		28		17		10		5		3
Playoff events	2000	1200	760	540	440	400	360	340	320	300		180		112		64		34		20

Tour Championship starting score (to par), based on position in the FedEx Cup rankings after the BMW Championship:

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th–10th	11th–15th	16th–20th	21st–25th	26th–30th
Starting score	−10	−8	−7	−6	−5	−4	−3	−2	−1	E

Final standings

For full rankings, see 2019 FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Final FedEx Cup standings of the 30 qualifiers for the Tour Championship:^[17][18]

Pos.	Player			Majors & The Players						WGCs					Top 10s in other PGA Tour events							Regular season points		Playoffs[e]		Total points	Tour C'ship[f]			Tmts		Money ($m)[g]
	Nat.	Name		Ply	Mas	PGA	USO	Opn		WGC Cha	WGC Mex	WGC MP	WGC Inv		1	2	3	4	5	6	7			NTr	BMW		Start	Final				Basic	Wynd Top10	FedEx Bonus
1		McIlroy		1st	T21	T8	T9	CUT		T54	2nd	T9	T4		T4	T5	T4	T6	T9	1st		2,315		T6	T19	2,842	−5	−18		19		7.79	1.50	15.00
2		Schauffele		CUT	T2	T16	T3	T41		1st	T14	T24	T27		1st	T10						1,858		CUT	T16	2,030	−4	−14		21		5.61	1.10	5.00
T3		Koepka		T56	T2	1st	2nd	T4		T16	T27	T56	1st		1st	T2	4th					2,887		T30	T24	3,119	−7	−13		21		9.68	2.00[h]	3.50
		Thomas		T35	T12	•	CUT	T11		•	9th	T24	T12		T5	3rd	3rd	2nd				1,247		T12	1st	3,475	−10			20		5.01
5		Casey		CUT	CUT	T29	T21	T57		T16	T3	T9	T27		2nd	1st	T4	T5				1,629		•	T24	1,768	−2	−9		22		4.26	0.60	2.50
6		Scott		T12	T18	T8	T7	CUT		T18	•	•	T40		T10	2nd	T7	2nd				1,124		5th	T9	1,874	−3	−8		18		4.08		1.90
7		Finau		T22	T5	T64	CUT	3rd		2nd	T25	T40	T27		2nd							1,279		T30	4th	1,911	−3	−7		25		4.34		1.30
8		Reavie		CUT	•	T14	T3	CUT		T35	T65	T56	T27		T7	T3	T4	1st				1,309		T38	T57	1,394	−1	−6		28		3.66		1.10
T9		Kisner		T22	T21	CUT	T49	T30		•	T27	1st	T27		T7	T5						1,098		T12	T9	1,639	−2	−5		25		3.49		0.84
		Matsuyama		T8	T32	T16	T21	CUT		T30	T19	T24	T43		T3	T9	6th	T7				969		T59	3rd	1,821	−3			24		3.34
		Reed		T47	T36	CUT	T32	10th		T7	T14	T24	T12		T5							774		1st	T19	2,946	−6			25		3.59
T12		DeChambeau		T20	T29	CUT	T35	CUT		•	T56	T40	T48		1st	7th	T10	T8	T2			1,203		T24	T48	1,371	E	−4		21		3.19		0.68
		Rahm		T12	T9	CUT	T3	T11		T22	T45	T24	7th		T8	6th	T5	T10	T9	T6	1st	1,447		T3	T5	2,517	−4			20		4.99	0.50
14		Kokrak		T47	•	T23	•	T32		•	•	•	•		T9	T10	T2	T7	T6			721		T12	T19	1,254	E	−3		24		2.33		0.62
15		Woodland		T30	T32	T8	1st	CUT		•	T17	T17	T55		T5	2nd	T10	2nd	T9	T7		1,795		T52	T31	1,912	−3	−2		24		5.69	1.00	0.60
T16		Fleetwood		T5	T36	T48	T65	2nd		T7	T19	T24	T4		T3	2nd						1,193		T43	T11	1,479	−1	−1		18		3.85		0.55
		Kuchar		T26	T12	T8	T16	T41		•	50th	2nd	T43		1st	1st	T4	T7	2nd	T4		2,313		CUT	T52	2,339	−4			22		6.29	1.20
		Simpson		T16	T5	T29	T16	T30		•	T39	T56	2nd		3rd	T8	T2	2nd				1,619		T18	T24	1,946	−4			21		4.69	0.55
T19		Fowler		T47	T9	T36	T43	T6		•	T36	•	•		T4	1st	T2	T4				1,391		CUT	T11	1,637	−2	E		20		3.95		0.51
		Im		CUT	•	CUT	•	CUT		•	•	•	•		T4	T7	T3	T4	T7	7th	T6	1,097		T38	T11	1,407	−1			35		2.85
T21		Ancer		T12	•	T16	T49	CUT		•	T39	T17	•		T5	T4	T8					622		2nd	T28	1,940	−4	+1		27		2.69		0.48
		Cantlay		CUT	T9	T3	T21	T41		T7	T6	T24	T12		2nd	T9	T3	1st				1,730		T12	2nd	3,157	−8			21		6.12	0.85
		Oosthuizen		T56	T29	T60	T7	T20		•	T25	T5	T20		T5	T2						754		T6	T11	1,355	E			19		2.94
T24		Leishman		CUT	T49	CUT	T35	CUT		•	T62	T9	3rd		1st	T4	T3	T4	5th			1,415		CUT	T19	1,587	−1	+2		21		3.89		0.45
		Snedeker		T5	CUT	T16	77th	CUT		T30	•	T24	T27		T2	T4	T5					934		T6	T5	1,709	−2			27		3.12
T26		Conners		T41	T46	T64	•	CUT		•	•	•	T27		2nd	T3	1st					962		T21	T7	1,476	−1	+3		28		2.92		0.43
		Rose		T8	CUT	T29	T3	T20		3rd	•	T9	11th		1st	3rd						1,423		T10	T52	1,739	−2			17		4.36
28		Howell III		T35	T32	T41	T52	•		•	T14	T24	•		T5	1st	T8	6th	T6			1,279		CUT	T37	1,345	E	+4		27		3.04		0.43
T29		Glover		CUT	•	T16	CUT	T20		•	•	•	•		T7	T7	T4	T10	T7	T10		944		T43	T7	1,337	E	+10		26		2.61		0.40
		D. Johnson		T5	T2	2nd	T35	T51		T30	1st	T40	T20		T4	T9	T6					1,686		T24	T57	1,840	−3			19		5.53	0.70

  Win

  Top 10

  Made cut

  Missed cut

• Did not play

Money list

The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.^[20][21]

Position	Player	Prize money ($)
1	Brooks Koepka	9,684,006
2	Rory McIlroy	7,785,286
3	Matt Kuchar	6,294,690
4	Patrick Cantlay	6,121,488
5	Gary Woodland	5,690,965
6	Xander Schauffele	5,609,456
7	Dustin Johnson	5,534,619
8	Justin Thomas	5,013,084
9	Jon Rahm	4,990,110
10	Webb Simpson	4,690,572

Awards

Award	Winner	Ref.
PGA Tour Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Trophy)	Rory McIlroy	[22]
PGA Player of the Year	Brooks Koepka	[23]
Rookie of the Year (Arnold Palmer Award)	Im Sung-jae	[22]
Scoring leader (PGA Tour – Byron Nelson Award)	Rory McIlroy	[24]
Scoring leader (PGA – Vardon Trophy)	Rory McIlroy	[25]

See also

• 2018 in golf
• 2019 in golf
• 2019 Korn Ferry Tour
• 2019 PGA Tour Champions season
• List of 2019 PGA Tour card holders

Notes

1. The number in parentheses after each winner's name is the number of PGA Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for PGA Tour members.
2. ASA − Asian Tour.
3. The Tour Championship has no stand-alone purse and does not carry official money; the tournament directly determines the assignment of the FedEx Cup bonus pool money, including US$15,000,000 to the winner.^[13]
4. OWGR points at the Tour Championship were awarded based on aggregate scores only (see Tour Championship format).^[14] McIlroy had the lowest aggregate score and was awarded with the 60 points.^[15]
5. The top 125 point scorers in the regular season retain their tour card for the following season, and qualify for The Northern Trust. The top 70 points scorers after The Northern Trust qualify for the BMW Championship.
6. The top 30 point scorers after the BMW Championship qualify for the Tour Championship. Each player begins with a score adjustment to par determined by their point ranking, the lowest scorers in the Tour Championship in addition to this adjustment win the FedEx Cup.
7. In addition to tournament prize money, the top 10 regular season point scorers receive a share of a US$15,000,000 bonus, and the US$60,000,000 FedEx Cup postseason bonus money is distributed based upon standings after the Tour Championship.
8. Koepka also won a further US$1,000,000 by topping the Aon Risk Reward Challenge standings.^[19]

References

1. Harig, Bob (August 10, 2017). "PGA Championship to move from August date to May in 2019". ESPN. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
2. Shedloski, Dave (August 7, 2017). "The PGA Championship is moving to May and players are on board". Golf Digest. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
3. "P.G.A. Championship Will Move from August to May in 2019". The New York Times. Reuters. August 8, 2017. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
4. Herrington, Ryan (August 7, 2017). "The PGA Championship will be moving to May, sources say". Golf Digest. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
5. "2018-19 PGA Tour golf schedule sees major changes, including big events being moved". CBS Sports. July 10, 2018.
6. "Senior Players Champ. replacing WGC at Firestone". Golf Channel. April 12, 2018. Archived from the original on September 20, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
7. "The Northern Trust to call New York/New Jersey home in 2019, Boston home in 2020". PGA Tour. July 10, 2018. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
8. Herrington, Ryan (December 3, 2018). "Nine changes in the new Rules of Golf you absolutely need to know for 2019". Golf Digest. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
9. "FedEx Cup Purse Rises to $70 Million, Winner to Take Home $15 Million". Sports Illustrated. September 18, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
10. "Understand the risk. Realise the reward". Aon. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
11. "2018–19 Tournament schedule". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
12. "PGA Tour unveils significantly revamped 2018-19 Season schedule". PGA Tour. July 10, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
13. "How it works: Tour Championship". PGA Tour. August 18, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
14. Smith, Jeff (August 19, 2019). "10 FAQs: Tour Championship, FedExCup Format". Pro Golf Weekly. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
15. "Tour Championship - 72 Hole Scores". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
16. Murray, Ewan (November 22, 2018). "Woods v Mickelson is a $9m vulgar marketing exercise". The Guardian. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
17. "2019 FedEx Cup". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
18. Murray, Ewan (August 25, 2019). "Rory McIlroy pockets richest prize of £12m in winning FedEx Cup title". The Guardian. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
19. "PGA Tour's Brooks Koepka wins Aon Risk Reward Challenge and $1 million". PR Newswire. August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
20. "2018–19 Official money". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
21. Kelly, Todd (August 21, 2019). "See how much money the top 20 golfers made during PGA Tour 2018-19 season". Golfweek. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
22. Woodard, Adam (September 11, 2019). "Rory McIlroy voted PGA Tour Player of the Year, Sungjae Im named Rookie of the Year". Golfweek. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
23. Heath, Elliott (August 27, 2019). "Brooks Koepka Named PGA Player Of The Year". Golf Monthly. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
24. "2022–23 PGA Tour Media guide | Awards". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
25. Hoggard, Rex (August 26, 2019). "McIlroy passes Cantlay for PGA Tour's Vardon Trophy". NBC Sports. Retrieved October 23, 2023.

External links

• Official website