PGA Tour Names 4 Other ‘Elevated’ Events With Huge $20 Million Purses for 2023

In August, the PGA Tour announced that, in addition to the four majors and The Players Championship, there would be 12 other events to have “elevated status,” meaning that the top 20 golfers in the Player Impact Program would be required to compete in each with purses raised to $20 million.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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When unveiling the plan, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said that the other elevated events each year would be the three FedEx Cup Playoff tournaments, the Genesis Invitational, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Memorial Tournament, the Sentry Tournament of Champions, and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. In addition, there would be four others that would rotate around so fans in different areas would have a chance to see all the top stars.

Those events were announced Wednesday by the PGA Tour:

• WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale in February
• RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island in April
• Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, NC in May
• Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut in June

While this move was made to counter the $25 million purses being offered in LIV Golf events, the PGA Tour is keeping all of the elevated events stateside—for 2023 at least. Some analysts believe that could be an advantage to LIV, as it seeks players from around the world and held its last two tournaments in Asia.

I will say I’m surprised none of the PGA Tour elevated events are outside the U.S.—you’d think the tour would wanna be more international, but now the only marquee event outside the U.S. is The Open. LIV can now brand itself as the *world* tour,which has appeal to non-Americans.

— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) October 19, 2022

The PGA Tour didn’t say whether the four tournaments elevated for 2023 would be in a fixed rotation of a set number of years or if the four would just be determined on a yearly basis.

Cover Image Via GolfMonthly