PGA TOUR returns to competition
13-week sprint in the FedExCup standings begins at Charles Schwab Challenge
ATLANTA – Following a 91-day hiatus from PGA TOUR competition that included the cancellation of 11 tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the TOUR returns this week – June 11-14 – in Ft. Worth, Texas for the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club. The Return to Golf will include 13 tournaments that will decide which 30 players will advance to the TOUR Championship on Labor Day weekend from Sept. 3-7 at East Lake Golf Club, where the 2020 FedExCup champion will be crowned.
The 2019-20 PGA TOUR Season will conclude with a total of 36 official events, including the FedExCup Playoffs, which is nearly three-fourths of the originally planned 49-tournament schedule. With limited opportunities to improve FedExCup standings position prior to the start of the FedExCup Playoffs, players are eager to return to competition as is evidenced by the strength of this week’s field that boasts the top five players in the FedExCup standings (Im, McIlroy, Thomas, Todd, Simpson) as well as the top five in the Official World Golf Ranking (McIlroy, Rahm, Koepka, Thomas, D. Johnson).
McIlroy, the defending FedExCup champion, has already committed to competing in the first three events of the PGA TOUR’s Return to Golf, which include this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge, the RBC Heritage (June 18-21) and Travelers Championship (June 25-28).
Currently No. 2 in the FedExCup standings, McIlroy has finished inside the top five in each of his six starts during the 2019-20 season, including his 18th career PGA TOUR victory at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in November.
Reigning PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year Sungjae Im leads the FedExCup standings after the 22-year-old Korean collected his maiden PGA TOUR title at The Honda Classic in March. Im was the only rookie to qualify for the 2019 TOUR Championship following a season highlighted by seven top-10s in 35 starts.
2017 FedExCup champion Justin Thomas sits No. 3 as one of two players with multiple wins during the 2019-20 season. Thomas collected THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in October and added the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January. Thomas is joined by former University of Georgia standout Brendon Todd (No. 4), who notched victories at the Bermuda Championship and Mayakoba Golf Classic in late 2019.
Notable:
- FedExCup Playoffs Points have been adjusted to account for the loss of regular season events. Instead of a 4x multiplier for Playoffs points, the 2019-2020 FedExCup Playoffs will award 3x the points (1500 points for 1st). The Wyndham Rewards Top 10 and the FedExCup Bonus Money will be distributed at the end of the 2019-2020 season.
- Dustin Johnson sits 111th in the FedExCup standings; has not failed to qualify for the TOUR Championship since his rookie season in 2008
- Brooks Koepka, who battled a knee injury toward the end of 2019, is 213th in the FedExCup standings with only five starts during the 2019-20 season (best finish: T43 – The Genesis Invitational)
- With only three starts during the 2019-20 season, Tiger Woods (28th) has not competed on the PGA TOUR since The Genesis Invitational in February; Woods is not in the field at the Charles Schwab Challenge
- Sungjae Im
- Justin Thomas
- Rory McIlroy
- Brendon Todd
- Webb Simpson
- Patrick Reed
- Marc Leishman
- Lanto Griffin
- Sebastián Muñoz
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Kevin Na
- Xander Schauffele
- Cameron Smith
- Tyrrell Hatton
- Cameron Champ
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Joaquin Niemann
- Nick Taylor
- Scottie Scheffler
- Adam Scott
- Jon Rahm
- Tom Hoge
- Byeong Hun An
- Harris English
- Abraham Ancer
- Carlos Ortiz
- Tyler Duncan
- Tiger Woods
- Patrick Cantlay
- Andrew Landry