Not all will be lost for PGA Tour players who fail to keep their exempt status.
The DP World Tour will offer full membership to PGA Tour players who fail to make the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings, with a catch: only five players ranking Nos. 126-200 can compete in any given event on the European circuit.
The new exemption, known as category 12, is positioned ahead of the top 20 players who advanced from Europe’s developmental Challenge Tour. As part of the “strategic alliance” announced last year between the tours, the top 10 players from the DP World Tour who are not already exempt for the PGA Tour will earn exemptions on the U.S. tour, which offers significantly higher purses most weeks than what’s at stake in Europe.
“Our ‘Ten Cards’ initiative will give the opportunity for DP World Tour members to excel on the PGA Tour next season, and this new membership opportunity announced today will give PGA Tour members the chance to do exactly the same on our tour,” DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley said. “I am excited at the possibilities.”
The PGA Tour has three tournaments remaining in the fall portion of the schedule, beginning this week with the World Wide Technology Championship in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The DP World Tour has two events to play this season, next month in South Africa and in Dubai. READ MORE
The PGA Tour suspended Vince India and Jake Staiano because they placed bets on tour competitions, which violates the tour’s Integrity Program. India and Staiano, both members of the developmental Korn Ferry Tour, did not wager on events in which they participated, according to the tour. India, 34, was suspended for six months, beginning September 18. Staiano, 26, was suspended for three months, dating from September 11. READ MORE
Negotiations have broken down between the PGA Tour and Endeavor regarding potential investment in the tour’s for-profit NewCo venture, Sportico reported. Endeavor, the parent company of wrestling’s WWE, cage fighting’s UFC and sports agency IMG, had expressed interest in the PGA Tour as it works to hammer out an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Endeavor already has a significant business relationship with the tour through the sale of commercial rights and tournament management. READ MORE
The final 10 teams were announced for the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational, which will pair PGA Tour and LPGA golfers in a 16-team, 32-player event on December 8-10 at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida. READ MORE
CHRIS TROTMAN, MASTERS IMAGES
TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts, will play host to the LPGA’s return to New England after a nearly two-decade absence when the FM Global Championship premieres next summer. The $3.5 million event will be played August 29-September 1, which is Labor Day weekend in the U.S.
The women’s tour hasn’t played in New England since the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open, which Annika Sörenstam won at Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island.
TPC Boston, a 2002 Arnold Palmer design, served as the host of the PGA Tour’s defunct Deutsche Bank Championship, which was part of the FedEx Cup playoffs and known in later years as the Dell Technologies Championship, from 2003 through 2018 and also played on Labor Day weekend.
The LPGA has yet to release its complete 2024 schedule. READ MORE
The top four players on the Ladies European Tour next year will earn LPGA membership in 2025, Golf Digest’s Kent Paisley reported, citing multiple unnamed sources. READ MORE
TAP-INS
Annika Sörenstam received an extraordinary birthday present earlier this month: a green jacket. The legendary LPGA champion, who turned 53 on October 9, became a member of Augusta National Golf Club when the course opened for the winter season, Global Golf Post has confirmed. The news was first reported by Golfweek’s Adam Schupak, who cited unnamed sources. Sörenstam, whose 72 victories ranks third all-time on the LPGA Tour, is believed to be at least the seventh female member of the Masters Tournament host club, which was all-male until 2012. READ MORE
The 2024 Asia-Pacific Amateur will be played at Taiheiyo Club’s Gotemba Course in Gotemba, Japan, officials announced. The 15th edition of the tournament, co-sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Golf Federation, the Masters Tournament and the R&A, will be played October 3-6. The winner will earn exemptions into the Masters and the Open Championship. READ MORE
Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina has been awarded six more USGA championships, officials announced. The resort, designated as an “anchor site” for the U.S. Open, will host the 2027 and 2044 U.S. Women’s Amateurs, 2032 U.S. Junior Amateur, 2032 U.S. Girls’ Junior, 2038 U.S. Amateur and a future U.S. Adaptive Open to be determined. Pinehurst’s famed No. 2 course already is scheduled to host five more U.S. Opens, including next year’s edition. READ MORE
Bryson DeChambeau, who captained the Crushers GC squad to the recent LIV Golf championship, will be leading another team in a golf venture. DeChambeau is part of the investment group that is launching UnderPar Life, which is billed as a competitor to the golf/entertainment business Topgolf. UnderPar Life is expected to break ground this year on its first site at the Hawks Creek Golf Course in Westlake Village, Texas, D Magazine reported. READ MORE
U.S. golf courses posted a 1.6-percent increase in play in September compared with the same month in 2022 as the year-to-date increase totaled 3.8 percent, according to Golf Datatech’s National Rounds Played Report. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon