The end of June and start of July are marked by two new tour events: the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club (June 27-30) and the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities (July 4-7). Next will be the John Deere Classic, which sets the stage for the Open Championship at Royal Portrush. The WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, replacing the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, will be conducted immediately after the Open. Two alternate events, the Barbasol Championship and Reno-Tahoe Open, will run concurrent of the Open and WGC. The Wyndham Championship (Aug. 1-4) will denote the end of the regular season.<doc-sep>The PGA Tour has re-released its full schedule for the 2018-19 season, and the 2.0 version has a few noticeable changes. From new dates for some events to new venues for others -- not to mention a few mainstay courses seeing changes to their circulation -- the PGA Tour next season will have a slightly different look to it. One of the key changes: The schedule itself is going to be slightly shorter. So that golf no longer has to compete with the ratings juggernaut that is football (both college and professional), the PGA Tour season will conclude at the end of August, rather than going into September. Other than that major change, some others will be implemented. Key changes on the PGA Tour schedule for 2018-19 WGC-Mexico Championship moved to February from March The Players Championship moved to March from May The Texas Open will be played a week before the Masters (previously two weeks after) PGA Championship moved to May from August Canadian Open moved ahead of the U.S. Open (previously a month after) Rocket Mortgage Classic (June) and 3M Open (July) are new events WGC event will be played in Memphis, Tennessee (previously in Akron, Ohio) One FedExCup Playoff event eliminated (down to three) Greenbrier and Houston will be played in the 2019-20 season Boston out of annual rotation Detroit and Minnesota get new events Now let's take a look at the entire new schedule as it stands. 2018-19 PGA Tour schedule<doc-sep>Movement — and plenty of it — highlights the PGA Tour’s upcoming 2018-19 wraparound season. Start with The Players Championship, the Tour’s flagship event, which moves back to March from its May spot. The PGA Championship, for decades the last major of the year, moves to May. And the FedExCup Playoffs, shortened from four to three events, moves so it will finish by the end of August and before the beginning of the NFL and college football seasons. And two events — the Houston Open and A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier — are moving to the fall and will be played next as part of the 2019-20 season. The Tour released the schedule of 46 events on Tuesday. “We are extremely pleased with the way the schedule has come together, particularly with the number of changes that were involved and the strength of the partnerships required to achieve this new look,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a news release. “By concluding at the end of August, the FedExCup Playoffs no longer have the challenge of sharing the stage with college and professional football. This will enhance the visibility of the FedExCup Playoffs. We have created a schedule that will heighten interest in all tournaments while further elevating the FedExCup Playoffs.” More:Phil Mickelson hit with another penalty for rules violation at Greenbrier More:Report: Tiger, Phil Mickelson planning one-on-one, $10 million match The Playoffs are now three events and will be played in consecutive weeks. The annual Boston stop, which played as the second postseason event the first 11 years of the Playoffs, is moving starting in 2020 into an every other year rotation with the New York area, which has annually hosted the first event. Next season the Playoffs will start with the Northern Trust on Aug. 8-11 in New Jersey, move to Medinah Country Club in Chicago the following week and end in Atlanta at East Lake Golf Club Aug. 22-25. Significant scheduling challenges await the game’s best players as they look to peak for the sport’s biggest events and arrange for proper rest. With the revamped schedule, there is an eight-week stretch that includes the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship Feb. 21-24, The Players Championship March 14-17, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play March 27-31 and the Masters April 11-14. The other four events in this stretch are important to the players, too — the Honda Classic, Arnold Palmer Invitational, Valspar Championship and Valero Texas Open. Two of the season’s most popular events precede the eight-week stretch — the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club. And the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links once again is the week after the Masters and has annually been a big hit with players looking to decompress after the first major of the year. There’s also a six-week stretch that begins July 18-21 with the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. The following week the last WGC event of the season, which is now moving from Akron to Memphis and will be called the FedEx St. Jude Invitational, will be played. The next week is the Wyndham Championship, the last spot for players to earn a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs. And then you have the playoffs. Other significant changes include the addition of two new events. The Rocket Mortgage Classic will be the first PGA Tour event held in Detroit from June 27-30 and will be followed by the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities July 4-7. The RBC Canadian Open moves from its traditional spot in late July to June 6-9, the week ahead of the U.S. Open. The season begins the week after the 2018 Ryder Cup in France. The Safeway Open in Napa, California, is Oct. 4-7 and kicks off a seven-week, eight-tournament fall stretch before the Tour takes a break in late November. The schedule resumes the first week of January in Hawaii with the Aloha State two-step — the Sentry Tournament of Champions Jan. 3-6 and the Sony Open in Hawaii Jan. 10-13. SCHEDULE Oct. 1-7: Safeway Open, Silverado Resort and Spa (North Course), Napa, Calif. Oct. 8-14: CIMB Classic, TPC Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Oct. 15-21: The CJ Cup at Nine Bridges, Jeju Island, South Korea Oct. 22-28: World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, Sheshan International Golf Club, Shanghai Oct. 22-28: Sanderson Farms Championship, Country Club of Jackson, Jackson, Miss. Oct. 29-Nov. 4: Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas Nov. 5-11: Mayakoba Golf Classic, El Camaleon Golf Club at the Mayakoba Resort, Playa del Carmen, Mexico Nov. 12-18: The RSM Classic, Sea Island Resort (*Seaside Course, Plantation Course), St. Simons Island, Ga. Dec. 31-Jan. 6: Sentry Tournament of Champions, Kapalua Resort (The Plantation Course), Hawaii Jan. 7-13: Sony Open in Hawaii, Waialae Country Club, Honolulu Jan. 14-20: CareerBuilder Challenge, PGA WEST (*Stadium Course, Nicklaus Tournament Course); La Quinta Country Club, La Quinta, Calif. Jan. 21-27: Farmers Insurance Open, Torrey Pines Golf Course (*South Course, North Course), San Diego Jan. 28-Feb. 3: Waste Management Phoenix Open, TPC Scottsdale (Stadium Course), Scottsdale, Ariz. Feb. 4-10: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, *Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, Monterey Peninsula Country Club (Shore Course), Pebble Beach, Calif. Feb. 11-17: Genesis Open, The Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, Calif. Feb. 18-24: World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, Club de Golf Chapultepec, Mexico City Feb. 18-24: Puerto Rico Open, Coco Beach Golf & Country Club Feb. 25-March 3: The Honda Classic, PGA National Resort & Spa (The Champion Course), Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. March 4-10: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, Bay Hill Club and Lodge, Orlando March 11-17: The Players Championship, TPC Sawgrass (THE PLAYERS Stadium Course), Ponte Vedra Beach, Calif. March 18-24: Valspar Championship, Innisbrook, a Salamander Golf and Spa Resort (Copperhead Course), Palm Harbor, Fla. March 25-31: World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, Austin Country Club, Texas March 25-31: Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, Puntacana Resort & Club (Corales Golf Course), Dominican Republic April 1-7: Valero Texas Open, TPC San Antonio (AT&T Oaks Course) April 8-14: Masters, Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Ga. April 15-21: RBC Heritage, Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, SC April 22-28: Zurich Classic of New Orleans, TPC Louisiana April 29-May 5: Wells Fargo Championship, Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte May 6-12: AT&T Byron Nelson, Trinity Forest Golf Club, Dallas May 13-19: PGA Championship, Bethpage State Park (Black Course), Bethpage, NY May 20-26: Charles Schwab Challenge, Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth May 27-June 2: the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio June 3-9: RBC Canadian Open, Hamilton Golf & Country Club, Hamilton, Ontario June 10-16: U.S. Open, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, Calif. June 17-23: Travelers Championship, TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, CT June 24-30: Rocket Mortgage Classic, Detroit Golf Club July 1-7: 3M Open, TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Minn. July 8-14: John Deere Classic, TPC Deere Run, Silvis, Ill. July 15-21: The Open Championship, Royal Portrush Golf Club, Portrush, Northern Ireland July 15-21: Barbasol Championship, Keene Trace Golf Club (Champions Trace), Nicholasville, Ky. July 22-28: World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, TPC Southwind, Memphis July 22-28: Reno-Tahoe Tournament, Montrêux Golf and Country Club, Reno July 29-Aug. 4: Wyndham Championship, Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro, NC FedExCup Playoffs Aug. 5-11: The Northern Trust, Liberty National Golf Club, Jersey City, NJ Aug. 12-18: BMW Championship, Medinah Country Club (Course No. 3), Medinah, Ill. Aug. 19-25: Tour Championship, East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta<doc-sep>
The PGA Tour has unveiled its schedule for the 2018-19 season, and it’s going to take some getting used to. We’ve known the basics of the revamped schedule, which includes the movement of several significant tournaments and one major, for some time, but seeing them laid out together will come as a bit of a surprise for golf fans. The new schedule features 46 events and runs from October 1, 2018 to August 25, 2019. Let’s break it all down. The big changes At the top of the mountain, the new schedule reworks the major lineup. The PGA Championship move from August to the week of May 13, and the Players Championship moves from May to the week of March 11. The FedEx Cup Playoffs drop from four events to three, starting much earlier in the summer. The Tour Championship now wraps up before Labor Day, finishing on August 25. The Tour also adds two new events: the Rocket Mortgage Classic (week of June 24), the first Tour event in Detroit, and the 3M Open (week of July 1) in Minnesota. In a scheduling quirk, the Houston Open and Greenbrier will not be on the 2018-19 schedule, but only because they’re moving to the fall and will be on the 2019-20 slate. Otherwise, they’d have been held just a couple months after their 2017-18 installments. Here’s the schedule in minuscule print; for the complete list, tap here. After months of speculation, the @PGATOUR has officially unveiled a revamped schedule for the 2018-19 season. Take a look: pic.twitter.com/QJbeUYULG6 — Will Gray (@WillGrayGC) July 10, 2018 What the new schedule means for golf The major season tightens up, and the Players gets an opening-act role rather than mid-bill. The PGA Championship now sits right in the middle of the mix, which should help reduce the perception that it’s the appendix of the four majors. Story continues The FedEx Cup blessedly gets out of the way of the NFL, a move that everyone not blindfolded by tee flags has advocated for years. The playoffs lose one of their events, yes, but Boston and New York will rotate the opening event, and the entire month of September is now free for Ryder Cups and the like. What kind of an impact will this have on golf’s ratings? Depends on how many of these events Tiger Woods plays. But the overall move, smoothing out the schedule and concentrating the big moments, ought to work better than the current scattershot method. We’ll start to find out soon enough. ____ Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook. More from Yahoo Sports: • LiAngelo Ball will play in his dad’s league after all • Why isn’t the U.S. better at soccer? It’s all about $$$ • Massive bee invasion delays Texas minor league game • Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs have the entire NBA waiting