Champions Tour Announces Name Change, Format Change For 2016
- Dan Hauser
- 22 Jan, 2016
With the new season getting started this week, the PGA Tour has announced some changes for its over 50 division beginning this year.
Perhaps the biggest change is the new name. The Champions Tour will now be called PGA Tour Champions. The new name falls in line with what the PGA Tour has been doing with its affiliate tours over the year, taking the road of the PGA Tour Latinoamerica, PGA Tour China, and the Mackenzie Tour (which in many circles is still referred to as PGA Tour Canada).
In addition, the PGA Tour Champions is adopting a new playoff format, very similar to the format of the FedEx Cup Playoffs on the PGA Tour. Starting this year, the Tour is introducing the inaugural Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, a three-tournament, season-ending competition to determine the Charles Schwab Cup Champion.
Two of three Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs events are new tournaments. The PowerShares QQQ Championship, to be held at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, on Oct. 24-30, will be the first Playoffs event. The Dominion Charity Classic, set for Richmond’s Country Club of Virginia James River Course on Oct. 31-Nov. 6, will be the second Playoffs event.
The Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the traditional season-ending event at Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. on Nov. 7-13, will be the third and final Playoffs tournament. The Charles Schwab Cup winner will earn a $1 million bonus and the top five finishers will also receive bonus payouts.
The 2016 PGA Tour Champions schedule features 26 tournaments in 19 different states and three countries outside the United States with total prize money exceeding $55 million and an average purse of $2.1 million.
“We are excited about the upcoming 2016 Champions Tour season and the launch of the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs. We welcome our new title sponsors to the tremendous group of dedicated partners that support the Champions Tour,” Champions Tour President Greg McLaughlin said. “Next year’s Playoffs are an important component to further develop the Champions Tour brand and highlight where the legends of our game compete. Our players are looking forward to next year’s schedule and this new Playoffs format for the premier prize of the season.”
In addition to the two new playoff events, there will also be a new event added to the regular season. The American Family Insurance Championship will be held in Madison, Wis. on June 20-26 at University Ridge Golf Course. The event will be hosted by PGA Tour pro Steve Stricker, a Wisconsin native who will become eligible to compete on the PGA Tour Champions in 2017.
After completion of the final regular season event, the top 72 golfers on the money list will advance to the first playoff event. 54 will advance to the second event and 36 will advance to the Tour Championship. Similar to the PGA Tour’s playoff system, there will be a points reset before the final playoff tournament and the top 5 players will all control their own destiny at the Tour Championship.
There will be one major difference in playoff formats though. The PGA Tour Champions has implemented “Wild Card Weekend”. At the conclusion of the final regular season event, the SAS Championship, one player who finishes in the top 10 on the week, but finishes outside the top 72 on the season-long money list, will advance to the Playoffs.
“Wildcard Weekend is another unique and exciting element of the Champions Tour season,” said McLaughlin. “It allows any player competing at the SAS Championship to qualify for the Playoffs and have a chance to win the Schwab Cup.”
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About Dan Hauser
As an avid golfer and sports enthusiast, Dan has had a passion for sports starting at a very young age. Dan’s other passion has always been writing. Since the time he could write, he has always enjoyed sharing information with people and telling stories through writing. In middle school he combined his two loves by joining the school newspaper in the sports department.
