PGA Tour Fall Series
The PGA Tour Fall Series was a series of events on the PGA Tour that covered the end of the calendar year from 2007 to 2012. Beginning in 2013, some of these events will open the PGA Tour season.[1]
This series was created in 2007 as part of the reorganization of the entire tour schedule. The new structure includes a regular season and the FedEx Cup playoffs, which will determine the season champion. This slate of tournaments had the working title "Quest for the Card" before the PGA Tour finalized the name.
The Fall Series began as a group of seven events (eventually reduced to four at the time of the series' demise) that determined who joined the 30 FedEx Cup finalists in receiving full-season exemptions to the following year's tournaments. These were the golfers who did not qualify for the FedEx Cup finals, but finished in the top 125 on the money list at the end of the Fall Series. Golfers finishing outside the top 125 could only enter the following year's tournaments based on other exemptions or through qualifying, e.g. "Q-school."
The winner of each Fall Series event, as in the case of all other PGA Tour events, received an exemption for the remainder of that season and the entirety of the following two seasons, and also received an automatic invitation to the following year's PGA Championship. However, winners of Fall Series tournaments did not receive invitations to the following year's Masters unless they qualified by other means. Masters invitations for PGA Tour winners not otherwise exempt were extended only to winners of tournaments that offer a full FedEx Cup points allocation. Those who finish the season in the Top 30 of the PGA Tour money list also earned a spot in the Masters.
In 2007, the Fall Series began the week after the final FedEx Cup event, The Tour Championship. In 2008, the first event took place the week before The Tour Championship. The Fall Series then took a week off before resuming with its final six events.
Major changes came to the Fall Series in 2009:
- The Fall Series was once again scheduled to start after The Tour Championship.
- The Valero Texas Open left the Fall Series, moving to mid-May.
- The Ginn sur Mer Classic was completely dropped from the schedule.
- The Viking Classic moved from September to the date vacated by the Ginn.
- Although the HSBC Champions is not a Fall Series event, its elevation to World Golf Championships (WGC) status also affected the scheduling of the Fall Series.
In that year, the Fall Series began with the Turning Stone Resort Championship, and then took a week off for the year's major team event, the Presidents Cup. It was intended to continue with three more events leading into the HSBC Champions, but the Viking Classic was canceled when several weeks of nearly continuous rain made the course unplayable. The Fall Series then took off for the HSBC Champions before ending with the Children's Miracle Network Classic.
The 2010 Fall Series schedule saw one change from previous years before it was announced. The Turning Stone Resort Championship moved to August, becoming an alternate event opposite another WGC event, the Bridgestone Invitational. This left four Fall Series events, but the gap was filled by a new event, the McGladrey Classic.
In 2011, the Viking Classic, moved to July and became an alternate event to The Open Championship, leaving four events.
In March 2012, the PGA Tour announced dramatic changes to its schedule and qualifying process that will take effect in 2013. The most significant change, as it relates to the Fall Series, is that starting with the 2014 season, the PGA Tour season will begin in October of the previous calendar year. As a result, the Fall Series tournaments will become part of the regular season. At the time these changes were announced, it had not yet been determined whether Fall Series events would receive full FedEx Cup points. Fry's, currently the title sponsor of a Fall Series event, notified the PGA Tour that it had "concern about continuing our sponsorship" if the events did not receive full points.[2] In June of that year, the PGA Tour announced that the former Fall Series events would receive full points.[1]
Former Fall Series events
| Tournament | Location | Years | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viking Classic | Madison, Mississippi | 2007–2010 | moved to July in 2011 |
| Valero Texas Open | San Antonio, Texas | 2007–2008 | moved to May in 2009 |
| Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open | Las Vegas, Nevada | 2007–2012 | Timberlake dropped sponsorship after 2013 |
| Frys.com Open | San Martin, California | 2007–2012 | Official start of new season with new format |
| Ginn sur Mer Classic | Port St. Lucie, Florida | 2007–2008 | discontinued after 2008 |
| Children's Miracle Network Classic | Lake Buena Vista, Florida | 2007–2012 | discontinued after 2012 |
| Turning Stone Resort Championship | Verona, New York | 2008–2009 | moved to August in 2010 |
| McGladrey Classic | Sea Island, Georgia | 2010–2012 | Last PGA TOUR event of calendar year |
Television and radio
Every round of all Fall Series events was televised on Golf Channel and broadcast via satellite radio on Sirius XM Satellite Radio channel 146.
