With first PGA Tour Signature event upcoming, here's a primer on how players can get access
The PGA Tour’s first “Signature Event” will be next week at Pebble Beach.
The Farmers Insurance Open this week in La Jolla, Calif., is the first test of players using tournaments before Signature Events to gain access through their performance on the FedEx Cup points list.
The top 50 from last year’s points list is automatically in all seven Signature Events, which are limited-field tournaments with purses of at least $20 million. All are no-cut, except the three player-hosted tournaments, the Genesis Invitational (Tiger Woods), the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Memorial (Jack Nicklaus).
The AON Next 10 is the top available players from the FedEx Cup points list who are not otherwise in pending Signature Events. The AON Swing 5 are the top five players in FedEx Cup points between Signature Events.
Beau Hossler, Ludvig Aberg, Ben Griffin, Taylor Montgomery, Matt Kuchar, Nick Hardy, J.J. Spaun, Sam Ryder of Atlantic Beach, Luke List and Alex Smalley are the AON Next 10 for both Pebble Beach and the next Signature Event, the Genesis, based on the FedEx Cup Fall.
That list will be re-set to the current FedEx Cup standings after Genesis.
The AON Swing 5 is currently Grayson Murray, Christiaan Bezhuidenhout, Justin Thomas, Kevin Yu and Carl Yuan of Jacksonville.
Pebble Beach will have a field of 80 players. Last week’s winner, Nick Dunlap, will have to turn pro and accept his PGA Tour membership that is waiting for him to be able to play in the Signature Events.
The other Signature Events this season are the RBC Heritage, the Wells Fargo Championship and The Travelers.
Ko gets closer to LPGA Hall
Lydia Ko's 20th LPGA title on Sunday in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournaments of Champions at Lake Nona in Orlando leaves her with one more victory left to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame.
If Ko wins before July, she would be the youngest to ever qualify for the LPGA Hall through its points system for victories, player of the year awards and scoring titles. She has 26 points and needs 27.
Inbee Park was the youngest player to qualify for the LPGA Hall in November of 2015.
Ko is the seventh player in LPGA history to win 20 times before the age of 27, and all are in the World Golf Hall of Fame: Nancy Lopez, Karrie Webb, Seri Pak, Mickey Wright, Lorena Ochoa and Kathy Whitworth. Her $225,000 first-place check also made her the fifth woman to past $17 million in career earnings.
Champions Cup to return
The World Champions Cup, a match-play event among PGA Tour Champions teams from the U.S., Europe and internationally, will return to The Concession in Bradenton in 2024, 2025 and 2028. The two years being left open are giving interests in Europe and other countries to obtain a spot to which to rotate the tournament.
The U.S., captained by Jim Furyk of Jacksonville won the first event with 221 points under a format of awarding points per hole won for a series of six nine-hole matches. Team International scored 219 points and Team Europe 208 points.
Jerry Kelly led the U.S. team with 61 points, followed by Billy Andrade with 57.5 and Steve Stricker with 56.5.
Betting right on Dunlap
Nick Dunlap had 500-to-1 odds on winning The American Express last week.
One bettor had faith in him.
FanDuel posted on its X feed that a bettor in Iowa laid $300 on Dunlap to win. When Dunlap made a 6-foot par putt on the final hole to beat Bezuidenhout by one shot, the bettor made $300,000.
Dunlap is the first amateur since Phil Mickelson in 1991 to win on the PGA Tour.
Jackie Burke words of wisdom
Jackie Burke Jr., packed several lifetimes and a book’s worth of wise and witty sayings in his 100 years before the two-time major champion passed away last week in Houston.
One of them can be appreciated by all golfers.
“Why did golf give us 34 rules when God only gave us 10 Commandments,” he said.
PGA TOUR
Event: Farmers Insurance Open, Wednesday-Saturday, Torrey Pines Golf Club, South Course La Jolla, Calif.
At stake: $9 million ($1.62 million and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner.
Defending champion: Max Homa.
TV: Golf Channel
Area players entered: Tyson Alexander, Harris English, Lanto Griffin, Billy Horschel, Keith Mitchell, Raul Pereda, Sam Ryder, Greyson Sigg, Davis Thompson.
Notable: Homa shot 66 in the final round and defeated Keegan Bradley by two shots. ... Leading the field are Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Zander Schauffele, Jason Day and Ludvig Aberg. ... This is the final tournament for players not otherwise eligible to make the field through the FedEx Cup points list for the season’s first Signature Event next week at Pebble Beach.
LPGA
Event: Drive On Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Bradenton Country Club.
At stake: $1.75 million purse ($262,500 to the winner).
Defending champion: Celine Boutier.
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 12-3 p.m.; Saturday, 4-5 p.m.; Sunday, 2-5 p.m.).
Area players entered: Auston Kim, Mel Reid.
Notable: Boutier birdied the first playoff hole to beat Georgia Hall after both finished at 20-under-par 268.
ROAD TO THE PLAYERS
Dates: March 14-17.
Site: Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach.
Purse: $25 million ($4.5 million and 750 FedEx Cup points to the winner.
Defending champion: Scottie Scheffler.
Days until the first round: 50.
Tour events until The Players: Eight.
Notable: This will be the 50th Players Championship.
Information: theplayers.com.
Players trivia: The par-5 ninth hole remains the only one on the course to have never yielded a 2 (an Albatross). Every par-4 hole has been eagled and there has been a hole-in-one on every par-3 hole.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Grayson Murray tops PGA Tour 'AON Swing 5' to get access to Pebble Beach
