PGA Tour 2018-2019 tournament schedule and FedEx Cup rules

Here’s a look at the full tournament schedule for the 2018-2019 PGA Tour season and how points work for the FedEx Cup.

While many in the golf world may still be on a high from watching Tiger Woods win the Tour Championship…or on a Ryder Cup high or low (depending on what side of the pond you’re reading this), get yourself ready because the chase for the 2019 FedEx Cup title is once again ready to roll.

It is sometimes easy to forget that the PGA Tour has gone to the wraparound schedule and while many still think the “real” beginning to the season comes with the Sentry Tournament of Champions from Hawaii in January, there are plenty of tournaments on the schedule to keep golf fans busy until then, beginning with the season-opening Safeway Open, which begins on October 4.

There are plenty of changes to the 2018-2019 PGA Tour schedule, the most notable coming in the movement of the PGA Championship, which moves to May and will now be the second major championship of the year as opposed to the last. That also means that The Players Championship is moving back to its spot in March. There are two new tourneys on the docket as the PGA Tour makes its debut in Detroit in June for the Rocket Mortgage Classic (think Rickie Fowler will be there?), which will be followed on 4th of July weekend by the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities, which makes the transition to the PGA Tour from the Champions Tour. Missing from the schedule this season are the Houston Open and A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, both of which will return in the 2019-2020 season as part of the fall schedule. The Quicken Loans National has been completely eliminated.

Making moves on the schedule are The Players Championship, which as mentioned earlier is moving from May to March, and the RBC Canadian Open, which moves from its normal spot in July to the week before the U.S. Open, making it a very critical event for those looking to get in late to Pebble Beach. The Puerto Rico Open is also back on the schedule after being cancelled this past season due to Hurricane Maria. It will take place the same week as the WGC event in Mexico.

The FedEx St. Jude Classic is also missing this year but hasn’t completely gone away as that tournament will now be held as the final World Golf Championships event of the season and will take place at TPC Southwind, replacing the WGC event that was annually held at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. That famed venue will now begin hosting the Senior Players Championship.

There are also a few tournaments that you’ll see below that offer zero FedEx Cup points but do factor into the Official World Golf Ranking.

Did you get all of that? As for how the FedEx Cup will play out, most things will stay the same but there are some big changes toward the end of the year as the players gear up for the playoffs. The regular season finale will still be the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro but the field may end up being filled with a lot more stars under the new system. The top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings through the Wyndham will receive big bonus money, with the leader cashing in $2 million, second place taking home $1.5 million and increments on down leading to the 10th place finisher heading into the playoffs with an extra $500,00 in the bank.

There will now be three playoff events as opposed to the four that have taken place since the inception of the FedEx Cup. As per usual, the top 125 in the standings will participate in the first playoff event, The Northern Trust, but will now dwindle down to 70 instead of 100 for the second event, which is now the BMW Championship, which used to be the third playoff event. The Dell Technologies Championship has been eliminated. The usual top 30 will then make their way to East Lake for the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta but that tournament will have a much different look and feel to it. The scenarios in which one player could win the Tour Championship and not the FedEx Cup (as happened this past season with Tiger Woods and Justin Rose) are gone as a new strokes-based bonus system is in place.

The leader in the FedEx Cup standings through the BMW Championship will begin the tournament at 10-under par and the remaining 29 players in the field will be assigned scores according to their standing. Here’s how things will look before a tee shot gets hit at the Tour Championship.

1st : -10
2nd: -8
3rd: -7
4th: -6
5th: -5
6th to 10th: -4
11th to 15th: -3
16th to 20th: -2
21st to 25th: -1
26th to 30th: E

That’s certainly not going to please everyone but it’s something different and should make things very interesting. So how does a players accumulate FedEx Cup points throughout the season?

For standard PGA Tour events, 500 FedEx Cup points are awarded to the tournament winner and subsequent points are given for second place and on down the line depending on how many players make the cut in that particular event. There are events in which only 300 points will be given to the winner. Those are typically tournaments with weaker fields that take place the same time World Golf Championships or majors are being played and those will be noted on the schedule below.

As for those WGC events, 550 FedEx Cup points are given to the winner and 600 points are given to the winner of The Players Championship, The Masters, the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. Only 300 points are given to the winner of The Open Championship. That same week, 600 points will be given to the victor at the Barbasol Championship. Call it a consolation prize if you will for not making it to Royal Portrush.

Points are accumulated all season and the top 125 will make their way to the playoffs for the chance at the FedEx Cup and the new $15 million bonus that comes along with it. The total prize money for the FedEx Cup Playoffs has increased from $25 million to $60 million so there’s certainly plenty of motivation to play as many events as possible to gather points.

Here’s a look at the full PGA Tour schedule for the 2018-2019 season.

PGA Tour 2018-2019 regular season tournament schedule

October 4-7: Safeway Open-Silverado Resort and Spa North-Napa, California

October 11-14: CIMB Classic-TPC Kuala Lumpur-Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

October 18-21: The CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges-Nine Bridges-Jeju Island, South Korea

October 25-28: Sanderson Farms Championship-CC of Jackson-Jackson, Mississippi (300 FedEx Cup points to the winner)

October 25-28: World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions-Sheshan International GC-Shanghai, China

November 1-4: Shriners Hospitals for Children Open-TPC Summerlin-Las Vegas, Nevada

November 8-11: Mayakoba Golf Classic-El Camaleon GC-Playa del Carmen, Mexico

November 15-18: The RSM Classic-Sea Island Resort (Seaside)-Sea Island, Georgia

November 22-25: ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf-The Metropolitan Golf Club-South Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia (No FedEx Cup points on the line)

November 29-December 2: Hero World Challenge-Albany-New Providence, Bahamas (No FedEx Cup points on the line)

December 7-9: QBE Shootout-Tiburón GC-Naples, Florida (No FedEx Cup points on the line)

January 3-6: Sentry Tournament of Champions-Plantation Course at Kapalua-Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii

January 10-13: Sony Open in Hawaii-Waialae CC-Honolulu, Hawaii

January 17-20: CareerBuilder Challenge-Stadium Course-La Quinta, California

January 24-27: Farmers Insurance Open-Torrey Pines GC (South)-San Diego, California

January 31-February 3: Waste Management Phoenix Open-TPC Scottsdale-Scottsdale, Arizona

February 7-10: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am-Pebble Beach Golf Links-Pebble Beach, California

February 14-17: Genesis Open-Riviera CC-Pacific Palisades, California

February 21-24: Puerto Rico Open-Coco Beach Golf & CC-Rio Grande, Puerto Rico (300 FedEx Cup points to the winner)

February 21-24: World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship-Club de Golf Chapultepec-Mexico City, Mexico

February 28-March 3: The Honda Classic-PGA National (Champion)-Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

March 7-10: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard-Bay Hill Club & Lodge-Orlando, Florida

March 14-17: The Players Championship-TPC Sawgrass-Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

March 21-24: Valspar Championship-Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead)-Palm Harbor, Florida

March 27-31: World Golf Championships: Dell Technologies Match Play-Austin Country Club-Austin, Texas

March 28-31: Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship-Corales Golf Club-Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

April 4-7: Valero Texas Open-TPC San Antonio-AT&T Oaks-San Antonio, Texas

April 11-14: The Masters Tournament-Augusta National GC-Augusta, Georgia

April 18-21: RBC Heritage-Harbour Town Golf Links-Hilton Head, South Carolina

April 25-28: Zurich Classic of New Orleans-TPC Louisiana-Avondale, Louisiana (Team format-400 FedEx Cup points awarded to each member of the winning team)

May 2-5: Wells Fargo Championship-Quail Hollow Club-Charlotte, North Carolina

May 9-12: AT&T Byron Nelson-Trinity Forest Golf Club-Dallas, Texas

May 16-19: PGA Championship-Bethpage State Park (Black Course)-Bethpage, New York

May 23-26: Charles Schwab Challenge-Colonial CC-Fort Worth, Texas

May 30-June 2: the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide-Muirfield Village GC-Dublin, Ohio

June 6-9: RBC Canadian Open-Hamilton Golf & Country Club-Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

June 13-16: U.S. Open-Pebble Beach Golf Links-Pebble Beach, California

June 20-23: Travelers Championship-TPC River Highlands-Cromwell, Connecticut

June 27-30: Rocket Mortgage Classic-Detroit Golf Club-Detroit, Michigan

July 4-7: 3M Open-TPC Twin Cities-Blaine, Minnesota

July 11-14: John Deere Classic-TPC Deere Run-Silvis, Illinois

July 18-21: Barbasol Championship-Keene Trace Golf Club-Nicholasville, Kentucky

July 18-21: The Open Championship-Royal Portrush Golf Club-Portrush, Northern Ireland

July 25-28: World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational-TPC Southwind-Memphis, Tennessee

July 25-28: Reno-Tahoe Tournament-Montreux G&CC-Reno, Nevada (300 FedEx Cup points to the winner)

August 1-4: Wyndham Championship-Sedgefield CC-Greensboro, North Carolina

2019 PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoffs

August 8-11: The Northern Trust-Liberty National GC-Jersey City, New Jersey

August 15-18: BMW Championship-Medinah CC (No. 3)-Medinah, Illinois

August 22-25: Tour Championship-East Lake GC-Atlanta, Georgia

Be sure to check in with the FanSided golf hub and our friends at Pro Golf Now all season long for the latest updates and news on the PGA Tour.