PGA Tour officials released a major portion of the 2024 schedule this week and the John Deere Classic fell in a familiar spot.
Next year’s Tour stop at TPC Deere Run in Silvis will again be the first week of July, running the 1st through the 7th, allowing tournament organizers to plan for a “Red, White and golf” holiday.
“For us, it should be business as normal slotted into our same week,” said Andrew Lehman, JDC tournament director.
Well, with a few twists caused by the Fourth of July holiday falling on Thursday, which is the official first round of next year’s tournament with Sepp Straka defending his title.
“There are a lot of people who spend the Fourth of July in the Quad-Cities, so we’ll make the most of it and try to turn that day into a celebration around the holiday," said Lehman. "Hopefully it will be a strong field to start the week on Thursday and Friday and then we hopefully head into an exciting weekend.”
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Lehman wasn’t sure how the holiday would affect the tournament turnout that day. It could lead to bigger crowds with people having the day off of work for the holiday, or a smaller turnout with people having holiday plans.
“A lot of people’s holiday festivities don’t start until later in the afternoon or evening,” he said, noting he and the staff are still in the early stages of trying to figure out how to promote that day on and off the course. “I would say that there isn’t anything off the table at this point.”
As was the case during the 2023 tournament, a special gathering was planned for the players involving the “Red, White and Boom” fireworks show on July 3 on the Mississippi River between Davenport and Rock Island. He said that a similar event would probably be considered for 2024, although that could mean moving the popular Big Dig event for families back to Tuesday evening for a year.
The JDC will again follow the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit and precede the Scottish and British Opens – both in Scotland next year.
Lehman noted that the date later in the 36-event Tour schedule will continue to pay dividends in terms of strength of field as players navigate their way through the FedExCup race. He noted the most Top 50 ranked players in the field at last month’s event since 2015 showed that players will be chasing FedExCup points and position.
“I honestly think being toward the end of the schedule is an advantage,” he said. “It will be more enticing than previous years as guys chase the playoffs.”
The 2024 FedExCup regular season schedule again reverts back to the calendar year, beginning in January with the “Opening Drive” at The Sentry and Sony Open in Hawaii – where all players start with zero FedExCup points. The Wyndham Championship once again serves as the culmination of the regular season, with only 70 players advancing to the FedExCup Playoffs. The regular season schedule includes the 50th playing of The Players Championship and the four Major Championships, eight Signature Events (referred to as “Designated events” in 2023), 18 Full-Field Events and five additional events.
There will be a fall schedule announced soon, according to Tour officials, that will be used to determine the Top 125 players who have Tour status for 2025.
The eight “signature events” with elevated prize money and FedEx Cup points are: The Sentry (Jan 1-7), AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (Jan. 29-Feb. 4), Genesis Invitational (Feb. 12-18), Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (March 4-10),
RBC Heritage (April 15-21), Wells Fargo Championship (March 6-12), The Memorial Tournament presented by Workday (June 3-9) and the Travelers Championship (June 17-23).
“We are excited about the roll-out of the PGA Tour’s reimagined schedule and what the season will offer to our fans: a January start with stars competing head-to-head more often, alongside the weekly drama of life-altering moments and the emergence of new stars,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a press release announcing the season’s schedule. “While winning on the PGA Tour continues to be the ultimate – and most difficult – challenge, we have further connected every tournament, with more at stake each week. From The Sentry through the FedExCup Playoffs and into the soon-to-be-announced FedExCup Fall, this new, cadence will create consistent excitement for our fans and reward players like never before. We are grateful to the membership – especially the Player Directors and Player Advisory Council – as well as our tournaments and partners for the collaboration that has set us up for an exciting 2024.”
