PGA Tour China to resume with full schedule in 2018

Tiger Woods has committed to the opening two FedExCup Playoff events, starting with THE NORTHERN TRUST at Liberty National in New Jersey next week. The 81-time PGA TOUR winner and two-time FedExCup champion announced via his social media his intention to also tee it up at the BMW Championship at Medinah Country Club Aug. 15-18 as he tries to play his way into the TOUR Championship. “Ready to begin the FedExCup playoffs starting with @TheNTGolf and then the @BMWChamps. Hope to see you there,� he tweeted Wednesday. Woods is the defending champion at East Lake, but currently sits 27th in the FedExCup standings and is at risk of not being in the top 30 for Atlanta. With just three Playoff events this season, the top 125 players will play THE NORTHERN TRUST before the top 70 advance to the BMW Championship. The final 30 players will move on to the TOUR Championship. Woods will be confident in making his run towards an unprecedented third FedExCup, given his history at the venues. He was runner up at THE NORTHERN TRUST both times it was previously held at Liberty National (2009, 2013). In 2009, it took a huge upset – including a clutch 20-foot par save on the 72nd hole – from Heath Slocum to deny him the trophy. In 2013, Woods was seemingly heading for a victory on Sunday when his back seized up and sent him to the ground in agony. Despite the clear and obvious pain, Woods managed to battle his way to having a putt from the fringe on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, but his ball stopped a revolution short of going in. It was the start of serious back injuries for Woods that would result in multiple surgeries. Since winning the Masters this past April, Woods has been on a limited schedule as he protects his body. THE NORTHERN TRUST will be just his fifth start since his vintage display at Augusta National. Woods was last seen at The Open Championship in Northern Ireland, where he missed the cut. Should Woods play in back-to-back weeks, it will be the first time since the 43-year-old has done so since the Genesis Open and the World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship in February. If he makes it all the way back to East Lake, it will be the first time he’s put his fused back through three straight weeks since last year’s Playoffs. But given he’s a two-time winner and four-time runner up at the course, even a tired Woods can’t be discounted. His record at Medinah is also pretty decent. Woods won the PGA Championship there in 1999 and 2006.

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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — Matt Kuchar decided at the last minute to play the Mayakoba Golf Classic and made it look like a smart move Thursday. Kuchar missed only two fairways at El Camaleon Golf Club, key to good scoring, and kept bogeys off his card for a 7-under 64 that gave him a share of the lead with Dominic Bozzelli and PGA TOUR rookie Kramer Hickok. Kuchar has gone more than four years since his last PGA TOUR victory. His 64 was his lowest opening round on TOUR since a 64 in the 2017 Phoenix Open. “It’s an amazing resort, Mayakoba. So to be able to bring the family to enjoy some vacation time, it’s a bit of a working vacation,” Kuchar said. “I had a good time at the office, as well.” Most players did, with more than half of the 132-man field in the 60s. Jordan Spieth was not among them. Playing his second straight week in the fall — and his last tournament before his wedding — Spieth traded birdies and bogeys and had to settle for an even-par 71, leaving him in need to a good round Friday just to stick around for the weekend. One of his former roommates had no such issues. Hickok also played college golf at Texas and lived with Spieth in Dallas until a few months ago, when all the roommates had to find other arrangements as Spieth prepares for his marriage to Annie Verret. Spieth had his first PGA TOUR victory seven months after leaving college early. Hickok toiled on the Mackenzie Tour in Canada, then the Web.com Tour before finally making it to the big leagues. But he says he learns plenty by playing with Spieth at home. “I’m reaching out when I’m home and trying to pick his brain a little bit here and there, but really just watching him play, what he does at practice,” Hickok said. Among those in the large group at 65 was Abraham Ancer, whose tie for fourth last week in Las Vegas moved him to No. 98 in the world. That made Ancer the first Mexican golfer to crack the top 100 in the world ranking, and he carried that to his native soil and kept moving in the right direction. Also at 65 were Bud Cauley as he returns from a car accident at the Memorial Tournament in early June, and defending champion Patton Kizzire, who made back-to-back eagles on the par-5 fifth hole and by holing out on the par-4 sixth. Rickie Fowler was among those at 66. Kuchar has slipped to No. 40 in the world, failed to reach the third round of the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in a decade and did not play in the Ryder Cup for the first time in 10 years. He still keeps upbeat on and off the golf course, and decided while in Las Vegas (a tie for 57th) to play in Mexico. His caddie already had other plans, so Kuchar hired a local caddie from El Camaleon. His wife, Sybi, also got in on the act. Kuchar was playing with Zach Johnson, whose caddie (Damon Green) became ill from the heat with four holes to play. Kuchar’s wife was following along in the gallery and carried Johnson’s bag the rest of the way. “I knew she had caddied for me before and was friendly with Zach Johnson, and figured she would be good to handle it, and Zach would go easy on her,” Kuchar said. Kuchar and Johnson live at Sea Island on the Georgia coast. Spieth was 2 under through eight holes until he dropped three shots over the next eight holes. Going back to an old driver didn’t help as he hit only six fairways, making it tough to score for anyone out of the rough. “If you’re not driving it well, this course is extremely hard,” Kuchar said. “If you’re driving it well, you can make some birdies, which I was able to do today.”

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Altogether now, “Thank you.” That’s a message of appreciation from season-long fantasy commissioners and gamers to the powerbrokers of the PGA TOUR for eliminating the wraparound component following the 2022-23 season. Bemoan no more! The tight squeeze of the official offseason will be no more.. FULL-MEMBERSHIP RANKINGS: Intro | 1-50 | 51-100 | 101-150 | 151-200 | 201-214 | Cheat sheet No, easing our lives wasn’t among the influences, but who cares. We still can and will capitalize on the return to the calendar-year season in 2024. It was among a cavalcade of changes announced in June. Those that affect our business are included in this opening page to my annual full-membership fantasy ranking. With the biggest news in 10 years out of the way, welcome! To many, welcome back! It’s states “ranking” throughout these pages, but it’s also a guide, so bookmark or save it. It’s designed to be evergreen – I will not be updating it – and as your resource for things big and small. Read through this page before diving into the golfers. The through line is the context, and it’s all connected. When you get to the golfers, be advised that those included are eligible for PGA TOUR competition and are positioned somewhere in the Priority Ranking through the Non-exempt Medical Extension category. Overall ranking is based on projected value for the entirety of the 2022-23 season. As always, adjust accordingly for your format, opposition and everything else contributing to how your league measures your performance over time. For draft leaguers who prefer to see everything on one page, the Cheat Sheet lists all golfers by ranking, name and age. It’s also printable, so you can glance at a physical copy while scrolling or swiping on your PC, tablet or mobile device. The 2022-23 PGA TOUR season essentially is identical to the season that just concluded. There are 47 tournaments, the last three of which comprising the FedExCup Playoffs. Also familiarly, the top 125 at the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship will be fully exempt for the 2024 season, but for the first time in the 17-year history of the Playoffs, only the top 70 will qualify. The top 50 after the first leg will advance to the second. Then, per tradition, the top 30 after that will qualify for the season-ending TOUR Championship. Most impactful on us, and particularly salary gamers, is the introduction of Elevated Events. As of the publish date of this ranking, eight of the 12 are determined. Of them, purses currently range from $15 million at the Sentry Tournament of Champions through $25 million at THE PLAYERS Championship. Top players are committed to competing against each other in all Elevated Events, and they also will total at least 20 starts for the season. A minimum schedule of the other eight would consist of THE PLAYERS, all four majors and three events of the players’ choosing. All of the golfers ranked include ages, 2021-22 earnings (i.e. salary) and levels of status on the PGA TOUR. An asterisk beside a salary value indicates that a golfer is a bargain. With prize money escalating, there are more than usual this season. Regardless of status, if a golfer earned $0 last season, he’s annotated with “–“ and no asterisk. Salaries for golfers who were non-members in 2021-22 are determined by the total of official money and earnings at the WGC-Match Play. For all golfers not included in this ranking, refer to the “TOTAL MONEY” column in “NON-MEMBER OFF+WGC EARNINGS” as your reference to determine salary. (They are separated on the page in the event that a non-member wins a WGC, so that provisional disclaimer is irrelevant for your objective.) Because of the introduction of the Elevated Events, qualification into those tournaments may be modified, but for our purposes, use the following traditional breakdown to project entry. STATUS … BERTHS • Top 125 in 2021-22 FedExCup Eligibility Points = Entry into every open and the following invitationals: The American Express, The Genesis Invitational, THE PLAYERS, RBC Heritage. • Top 80 = Top 125 exemptions plus entry into the Charles Schwab Challenge. • Top 70 = Top 80 exemptions plus entry into the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard and Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. • Top 60 = Top 70 exemptions plus entry into the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP and THE CJ CUP in South Carolina (both of which have made room for the top 60 available). • Top 30 = Exemptions into every tournament before the Playoffs except the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and the PGA Championship. (These golfers now are exempt into the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Their membership exemptions also are extended through the 2024 season if they aren’t already.) Other levels of status are as follows: • Multi-year = Winners prior to 2021-22 who didn’t qualify for the 2022 Playoffs but still have fully exempt status. • Medical Extensions = Terms to fulfill are noted. (Golfers on Major Medicals would retain status in the Priority Ranking for the remainder of the season. Golfers with other medicals would be promoted to the Major Medical category for the remainder.). • Conditional = Nos. 126-150 in 2021-22 FedExCup Eligibility Points. • KFT = Korn Ferry Tour graduates – regular season (25 golfers). • KFT Finals = KFT Finals graduates (25 golfers). • OWGR Top 50 = Thomas Pieters and Ryan Fox (only two non-members inside the top 50 of the most recent Official World Golf Ranking who are eligible for PGA TOUR competition). There are 28 rookies to open the season. They are noted accordingly. Justin Suh and MJ Daffue also are first-time PGA TOUR members (via the KFT regular season), but each exhausted his rookie eligibility in a prior season. Life Members over the age of 50 are not included. Also excluded is 2022 PGA Professional Championship winner Jesse Mueller, who is allowed six somewhat restricted starts. For non-members eligible for PGA TOUR competition in 2022-23, the target to achieve Special Temporary Membership is 175.228 FedExCup points. That equals what Dylan Wu totaled as the 150th-ranked golfer via FedExCup Eligibility Points in 2021-22. It’s the lowest threshold in memory, so it stands to reason that it will be threatened if not crossed multiple times. Once it is, gaining access to the PGA TOUR in 2024 eases. (For a detailed explanation of STM, click here.) In addition, the top 10, not otherwise fully exempt on the PGA TOUR in 2024, at the season-ending DP World Tour ranking in 2023 will be extended PGA TOUR membership in 2024. Altogether, leagues that allow drop-adds and/or keepers will have a stockpile of additional talent lined up for the future. Now, changes are not limited only to the PGA TOUR, membership and everything else broken down above. There are two significant enhancements to PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf as well. First, pars now will reward one point instead of zero. Therefore, cuts made returns as an influencer in building rosters and managing starts across Segments. Second, the dedicated fantasy app has been discontinued. Access to PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf via your mobile device has been simplified to the PGA TOUR app and via mobile browsing. The desktop version, FantasyGolf.PGATOUR.com, also remains unchanged. PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live will continue as well. Mike Glasscott and I will continue to collaborate for Pick ‘Em Preview every Wednesday. If you ever have any questions and comments, please connect with me on Twitter. My handle is beside my byline at the top. Glass also makes himself available on the platform. Have fun, listen and learn, and remain fluid. In fantasy, in reality.

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