New tour will have Latin, North America swings
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – PGA Tour Latinoamérica and PGA Tour Canada will merge into a singular tour to form PGA Tour Americas, which will begin play in February 2024, the PGA Tour announced today.
The new tour will consist of 16 events contested across Latin America, Canada and the United States from February through September. The top 10 finishers on the season-long points list will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for the following season.
“As we build on the rich golf history across Latin America and Canada, we are thrilled about PGA Tour Americas and the role this Tour will play in preparing players for the next step in their professional golf journey,” said Alex Baldwin, who oversees PGA Tour Americas, the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry and PGA Tour University.
“PGA Tour Americas will be an extremely competitive Tour aimed at identifying, developing and transitioning top-performing players to the next level as they ascend through the ranks and strive to reach the highest level of professional golf, the PGA Tour,” Baldwin said.
The new tour’s season will begin in February with the Latin America Swing, which will conclude in May. Eligibility for the Latin America Swing will include the top 60 finishers from the final 2022-2023 PGA Tour Latinoamérica Points List and the top 60 finishers from the final 2023 PGA Tour Canada Points List.
Merged tour will feed the Korn Ferry Tour
PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry will also provide access to the Latin America Swing of the new tour for the winners of a First Stage site, as well as additional finishers beyond the 40th position and ties from Final Stage of 2023 PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry. Additional access to the Latin America Swing will include the Latinoamérica Dev Series and the highest finisher on the 2023 APGA season-long points list who is a member of the APGA Player Development program.
The top 60 players from the Latin America Swing will continue on to compete in the North America Swing. Additionally, the new tour will host a mid-season Q-School, as well as introduce graduates from PGA Tour University (finishers 6-20). Full eligibility for PGA Tour Americas will be announced later this year and will feature similar categories to PGA Tour Latinoamérica and PGA Tour Canada, including open qualifiers, sponsor exemptions and eligible Korn Ferry Tour members.
As the new tour heads to the North America Swing, members will compete in Canada and the United States from June through September in an effort to finish in the top 10 on the season-long points list and earn Korn Ferry Tour membership – exempt through the third reshuffle – for the following season.
In addition to Korn Ferry Tour cards being awarded to the top 10 finishers on the PGA Tour Americas Points List, there are also numerous performance benefits available on the new tour. Five conditional Korn Ferry Tour cards are available to the top two finishers in the Latin America Swing and the top three performers from the North America Swing, in the event those individuals do not finish in the top 10 on the final PGA Tour Americas Points List.
Korn Ferry Tour renamed ‘PGA Tour presented by Korn Ferry’
Additionally, performance on the PGA Tour Americas Points List will grant access into 2024 PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry. The top 10 finishers on the PGA Tour Americas Points List, the top two finishers in the Latin America Swing and the top three finishers in the North America Swing will earn exemptions to Final Stage of PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.
Finishers 11–25 on the PGA Tour Americas Points List, finishers 3–10 from the Latin America Swing and finishers 4–10 from the North America Swing will earn exemptions to Second Stage of PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.
All remaining PGA Tour Americas members will earn exemptions to First Stage of PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.
The 2024 PGA Tour Americas schedule will be announced in September. Finalized details regarding eligibility – including the priority ranking – as well as purses and points distribution, will be announced closer to the 2024 PGA Tour Americas season beginning in February 2024.
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Featured image courtesy of U.S. State Department
