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PGA Tour announces '09 schedule

(China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-25 10:31

LOS ANGELES: The PGA Tour has released its entire schedule for next year, a fully sponsored program with a slight increase in purses despite the global financial crisis.

The line-up for the regular season was announced last month before the Fall Series, which will finalize the top 125 on the money list and playing priorities for 2010, was added on Tuesday.

Although one event still needs to be inked in for the first week of November, Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem is delighted with a calendar drawn up in a deteriorating economic climate.

"Once again, we believe we have a very strong line-up of fall tournaments for our fans, sponsors and players," Finchem said in a statement.

"We are working on a couple of options for the week of Nov 2-8 and will announce that week as soon as it is finalized."

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The Fall Series will start in early October with the $6 million Turning Stone Resort Championship in Verona, New York, one week after the culmination of the lucrative FedExCup playoffs.

The Nov 12-15 Disney Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Florida will then bring the curtain down on the 2009 PGA Tour.

Forty-seven events feature on next year's schedule, just one down from 2008, with the elite winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship launching the season in Kapalua, Hawaii from Jan 8-11.