PGA Tour elevated events 2023: What are they? When are they? Who is playing?
The PGA Tour announced elevated events in 2023. What are they? When are they? Who is playing? What are the prize purses? This is all you need to know.
The term "elevated event" will be mentioned on the PGA Tour quite a lot in 2023.
If you're unsure what this means, then you have come to the right place. GolfMagic is here to walk you through all you need to know with this handy guide.
The PGA Tour has made some huge changes over the past 12 months. It's not unreasonable to suggest they've come entirely as a result of the LIV Golf League.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has faced a battle to keep the North American circuits star players.
How does he do that?
Money.
And a kick up the backside from Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods.
If you haven't heard, PGA Tour elevated events are all about the money. And lots of it.
What are PGA Tour elevated events?
They have come to be known as "designated" as well as elevated events.
But essentially, the PGA Tour announced that for the 2023 schedule, 17 tournaments throughout the year will have bumper prize purses.
These tournaments include the major championships. The purses for each tournament have increased dramatically.
LIV Golf League tournaments carry $25m prize purses. The 17 elevated PGA Tour events have average purses of $20m.
The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in March 2023 will be the richest in history, with a $25m purse.
Can all PGA Tour players participate in elevated events?
No.
Players who finished inside the top 20 of the Player Impact Program [PIP] are required to play in the elevated events they are eligible in.
This is part of an attempt by the PGA Tour to try and get their star players in the same fields more regularly.
The PGA Tour will soon move to a calendar-based schedule, meaning that more meaningful golf will be played over eight straight months instead of players working their schedules around the majors.
Players are allowed to skip one elevated event if they wish.
Rory McIlroy decided to skip the first elevated event in January at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, which was won by Jon Rahm.
What about Tiger Woods?
Tiger Woods has won the Player Impact Program two years in a row.
Despite not being able to fulfil a full playing schedule owing to his physical limitations following his car crash, the PGA Tour commissioner said Woods would not be docked money from the 2023 PIP despite not being able to participate in every elevated event.
So it's just the top 20 players competing in the elevated events?
Nope. Elevated events will have their standard fields but the top-20 PIP finishers are required to play.
PGA Tour Designated Events 2023
| DATE | DESIGNATED EVENT | PURSE | WINNER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 5-8 | Sentry Tournament of Champions | $15 million | Jon Rahm |
| Feb. 9-12 | WM Phoenix Open | $20 million | Scottie Scheffler |
| Feb. 16-19 | Genesis Invitational | $20 million | Jon Rahm |
| Mar. 2-5 | Arnold Palmer Invitational | $20 million | Kurt Kitayama |
| Mar. 9-12 | The Players Championship | $25 million | Scottie Scheffler |
| Mar. 23-26 | WGC Dell Technologies Match Play | $20 million | Sam Burns |
| Apr. 6-9 | Masters Tournament | $18 million | Jon Rahm |
| Apr. 13-16 | RBC Heritage | $20 million | Matt Fitzpatrick |
| May 4-7 | Wells Fargo Championship | $20 million | |
| May 18-21 | PGA Championship | TBD | |
| June 1-4 | the Memorial Tournament | $20 million | |
| June 15-18 | U.S. Open | TBD | |
| June 22-25 | Travelers Championship | $20 million | |
| July 20-23 | Open Championship | TBD | |
| Aug. 10-13 | Fed Ex St. Jude Championship | $20 million | |
| Aug. 17-20 | BMW Championship | $20 million | |
| Aug. 24-27 | Tour Championship | TBD |
Anything else?
There are some tournaments that are not guaranteed to be designated in 2024.
There has been speculation the WM Phoenix Open, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship and Travelers Championship are designated for 2023 only.
It's also important to note that the WGC Match Play has reportedly been scrapped due to sponsorship reasons.
What other changes have been made?
Qualifying for the FedEx Cup will now be even more difficult
As many as 55 fewer players will qualify for the 2023 Playoffs, with only the top 70 players advancing to the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Those 70 players will be fully exempt for the following season.
From there, 20 players will be cut for the BMW Championship, with the final 30 players competing at East Lake in the Tour Championship.
The end of the wraparound season
The wraparound season began in 2013-2014 but is coming to an end after 10 years.
The PGA Tour will revert to a calendar-year schedule from 2024
The players who don't qualify for the smaller FedEx Cup Playoffs field or are not previously exempt for 2024 will compete for their Tour cards in a new fall series, with details set to be announced this year.
Guaranteed money
For the 2022-23 season, all fully exempt tour players who compete in 15 tournaments will be guaranteed to earn $500,000 through the creation of the Earnings Assurance Program.
This money will be paid up front, with the players drawing against it during the season from their earnings.
Players who come up short of earning $500,000 will be paid the difference by the Tour at the end of the season.
Next page: PGA Tour schedule 2023
Ben joined the GolfMagic team in September 2021, initially as a content executive.
These days, he assumes the position of content manager.
