PGA Tour releases autumn schedule

Will be officially billed as FedEx Cup Fall and gets under way in September

MIAMI:

The PGA Tour unveiled a revamped autumn schedule on Wednesday which will comprise seven tournaments worth a total of $56.6 million in prize money.

The schedule, first outlined last year as the PGA Tour scrambled to respond to the rise of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit, is officially billed as FedEx Cup Fall and gets under way in September at the Fortninet Championship in Napa, California.

After a break for the Ryder Cup in Italy, the schedule resumes with the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi and includes events in Japan, Mexico and Bermuda before concluding at the RSM Classic in Georgia in mid-November.

"We are launching the most meaningful updates to the PGA TOUR season since 2007," PGA Tour President Tyler Dennis said in a statement.

Winners of the seven events included on the schedule will earn a two-year tour exemption as well as a spot in the field at the 2024 Sentry Tournament of Champions -- the traditional opening event of the PGA Tour calendar year that takes place in Hawaii each January.

Winners will also earn berths at the Players Championship as well as majors that normally invite PGA Tour winners.

In addition, tournament winners will earn 500 FedEx Cup points. Points earned in the seven autumn events will go towards finalising priority ranking for the 2024 campaign.

The revamped schedule means the Houston Open, which has been played in the autumn since 2019, will be shifted to the spring of 2024.

The World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, which has not been held since 2019, will not take place in 2023. The WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play is also no longer part of the 2024 FedExCup season.