PGA Tour starts its FedEx Cup Fall with a reduction in prize money and a new event in Utah

The FedEx Cup Fall season is offering $58.7 million in prize money this year, a slight increase from last year’s $56.6 million. This increase is primarily due to the addition of a new tournament, the Black Desert Championship in Utah. However, five of the seven fall tournaments have reduced their prize purses, some by a significant margin, which is unusual for the PGA Tour.

The fall season kicks off this week with the Procore Championship at Silverado in Napa, California. Procore, a new title sponsor, came on board just two months before the event, which is partly why the tournament’s prize purse has dropped to $6 million from last year’s $8.4 million. Similarly, the Sanderson Farms Championship has seen its purse decrease to $7.6 million, down from $8.2 million. The Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas has also experienced a considerable reduction, with its prize purse now set at $7 million, compared to $8.4 million in 2023.

Other fall tournaments are seeing similar cuts. The World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico has lowered its purse by $1 million to $7.2 million, and the RSM Classic at Sea Island is down by $400,000, with a prize of $8 million this year. The Zozo Championship in Japan remains at $8.5 million, though this is a drop from the $11 million it offered two years ago. One exception to the trend is the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, which has increased its purse slightly, from $6.5 million to $6.9 million.

These reductions in prize money are not entirely surprising, given that the top 50 FedEx Cup players are mostly taking a break for the remainder of the year. Players like Scottie Scheffler likely won’t return until events like the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, and Rory McIlroy is focusing on the European tour.

Despite the adjustments, the PGA Tour maintains that there is still plenty at stake during the fall season. In a statement, the tour emphasized that the fall events provide important opportunities for players in terms of prize money, access, and eligibility, with the potential to gain momentum for the upcoming year. The tour also pointed out that winners from last fall, including Ludvig Aberg, Collin Morikawa, and Sahith Theegala, all advanced to the Tour Championship.

On a different note, Luke Clanton is making headlines as he takes a break from his junior year at Florida State to pursue a PGA Tour card. Clanton, who already holds the prestigious Mark H. McCormack Medal as the No. 1 amateur golfer in the world, has earned 14 points towards a PGA Tour card through the “PGA Tour University Accelerated” program. He needs just six more points to secure his card, which is based on performances in PGA Tour, amateur, and college tournaments. Clanton has had three top-10 finishes this summer, including a runner-up finish at the John Deere Classic. He is playing this week at the Procore Championship on an exemption.

Clanton’s future in college remains uncertain, but for now, his focus is on helping the Florida State Seminoles improve upon their runner-up finish at the NCAA Championship.

Meanwhile, the final event of the LIV Golf League is set to take place outside Chicago, with Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann battling for the individual title. But just as compelling is the battle for survival among players ranked outside the top 48. These players face relegation to LIV’s promotions event, with the risk of being dropped from the league entirely. Players like Branden Grace, Hudson Swafford, and Anthony Kim are currently in the “Drop Zone,” and will need strong performances to retain their spots in the league. For those ranked between Nos. 25 and 48 without contracts, the future is equally uncertain, as they could become free agents with no guarantee of being picked up by a team.

If these players fail to stay within the top 48, there is no immediate route back to the PGA Tour. They would be required to sit out for at least a year before attempting to qualify again through Q-school or potentially competing on the Asian Tour.

In an interesting historical note, the PGA Tour often refers to tournaments by their current sponsor’s name, regardless of the event’s long history. A prime example is the 2016 Colonial tournament, which was referred to as the Dean & DeLuca Invitational, even though Ben Hogan, who won the event five times, had claimed his last victory long before the grocery store even existed.

Additionally, Scottie Scheffler’s recent streak of 41 consecutive rounds at par or better has drawn comparisons to Tiger Woods. Woods holds the record with 47 such rounds in a row, which spanned from the 1999 Byron Nelson Classic to the WGC-American Express Championship at Valderrama.