The PGA Tour has a new classification system for their tournaments, and that means a new term for the biggest events on the schedule: "designated events."
What are PGA Tour designated events?
These events are special to the PGA Tour because its top players have all agreed in principle to compete in each and every one of these events (if they're eligible) to create 17 tournaments that will showcase at least the 20 or 25 best players on the Tour competing against each other.
The top players, in turn, get a chance to reap a huge reward in the form of increased prize money. In each of the PGA Tour-controlled designated events, the purse will be at least $20 million. For The Players Championship, the purse is $25 million. For the Tour Championship, which decides the fate of the FedEx Cup bonus pool, the purse is effectively $60 million.
The four men's major championships are also considered designated events by the PGA Tour, but they do not control the purse or qualifying criteria for those events.
Of the 17 tournaments that are designated events, 13 are fixed on the schedule and will happen every year. Four of the 17 tournaments, however, will rotate around the PGA Tour schedule, giving individual tournaments and their sponsors the opportunity to step up for a year at a time to guarantee themselves an elite field.
Which PGA Tour tournaments are designated events?
In the 2022-2023 PGA Tour schedule, the 17 designated events are:
Click header to sort
| DATE | TOURNEY | PURSE | 1st PLACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 5-8 | Sentry Tournament of Champions | $15,000,000 | $2,700,000 |
| Feb. 9-12 | Waste Management Phoenix Open | $8,500,000 | $1,530,000 |
| Feb. 16-19 | The Genesis Invitational | $20,000,000 | $3,600,000 |
| March 2-5 | Arnold Palmer Invitational | $20,000,000 | $3,600,000 |
| March 9-12 | The Players Championship | $25,000,000 | $4,500,000 |
| March 23-26 | WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play | $20,000,000 | $3,500,000 |
| April 6-9 | Masters Tournament | $15,000,000 | $2,700,000 |
| April 13-16 | RBC Heritage | $8,300,000 | $1,494,000 |
| May 4-7 | Wells Fargo Championship | $9,300,000 | $1,674,000 |
| May 19-22 | PGA Championship | $15,000,000 | $2,700,000 |
| June 1-4 | the Memorial Tournament | $20,000,000 | $3,600,000 |
| June 15-18 | U.S. Open | $15,000,000 | $2,700,000 |
| June 22-25 | Travelers Championship | $8,600,000 | $1,548,000 |
| July 20-23 | The Open Championship | $15,000,000 | $2,700,000 |
| Aug. 10-13 | FedEx St. Jude Championship | $20,000,000 | $3,600,000 |
| Aug. 17-20 | BMW Championship | $20,000,000 | $3,600,000 |
| Aug. 24-27 | Tour Championship | $75,000,000 | $18,000,000 |
