PGA Tour

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The PGA Tour is an organization that operates the USA's main professional golf tours. It is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, U.S.. Its name is officially rendered in all-capital letters as "PGA TOUR".

The PGA Tour became a separate entity in 1968, branching off from the PGA of America, which is now primarily an association of club professionals. Tournament players formed their own organization, the Association of Professional Golfers (APG). Later in 1968, the tournament players abolished the APG and agreed to operate as the PGA "Tournament Players Division," a fully autonomous division under the supervision of a new 10-member Tournament Policy Board. [1] The name would officially change to the "PGA Tour" in 1975. [2]

In 1981, the PGA Tour had a marketing dispute with the PGA of America and decided to officially change its name. Beginning in late August 1981, it became the TPA Tour, for the "Tournament Players Association." [1] The disputed issues were resolved within seven months and the tour's name was changed back to the "PGA Tour" in March 1982, before any majors (or The Players Championship) were played.[2]

Due to a multiplicity of similar names, it is worth emphasizing what the PGA Tour does and does not organize. The PGA Tour does not run any of the four major golf tournaments or the Ryder Cup. The PGA of America, not the PGA Tour, runs the PGA Championship, the Senior PGA Championship, and co-organizes the Ryder Cup with the PGA European Tour. The PGA Tour is not involved with the women's tours in the U.S.; they are controlled by the LPGA. The PGA Tour is also not the governing body for the game of golf in the United States; this, instead, is the role of the USGA, which organizes the U.S. Open. What the PGA Tour does organize are the remaining week-to-week events, including The Players Championship and the FedEx Cup events, as well as the biennial Presidents Cup.

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[edit] Tours operated by the PGA Tour

The PGA Tour operates three tours, which are played mostly in the U.S., with occasional events in Canada and Mexico, and one major championship in the U.K. in each of the first two listed.

The PGA Tour also conducts an annual Qualifying Tournament (known colloquially as Q-School), a six-round tournament held each fall; the top 25 finishers, including ties, receive privileges to play on the following year's PGA Tour. Remaining finishers in the top 75, plus ties, receive full privileges on the Nationwide Tour.

The top 25 money-winners on the Nationwide Tour also receive privileges on the following year's PGA Tour. A golfer who wins three events on that tour in a calendar year earns a "battlefield promotion" which garners PGA Tour privileges for the remainder of the year.

At the end of each year, the top 125 money-winners on the PGA Tour receive a tour card for the following season, which gives them exemption from qualifying for most of the next year's tournaments. However at some events, known as invitationals, exemptions apply only to the previous year's top seventy players. Players who are ranked between 126-150 receive a conditional tour card, which gives them priority for places that are not taken up by players with full cards.

Winning a PGA Tour event provides a tour card for a minimum of two years, with an extra year added for each additional win with a maximum of five years. Winning a World Golf Championships event or The Tour Championship provides a three-year exemption. Winners of the major championships and The Players Championship earn a five-year exemption. Other types of exemptions include lifetime exemptions for players with twenty wins on the tour; one-time, one year exemptions for players in the top fifty on the career money earnings list who are not otherwise exempt; two-time, one year exemptions for players in the top twenty-five on the career money list; and medical exemptions for players who have been injured, which give them an opportunity to regain their tour card after a period out of the tour.

Similar to other major league sports, there is no rule limiting PGA Tour players to "men only." In 2003, Annika Sörenstam and Suzy Whaley played in PGA Tour events, and Michelle Wie has done so in each year from 2004 through 2007. None of these three made the cut, although Wie missed by only one stroke in 2004.

The LPGA, like all other women's sports, is limited to female participants only.

The PGA Tour places a strong emphasis on charity fundraising, usually on behalf of local charities in cities where events are staged. With the exception of a few older events, PGA Tour rules require all Tour events to be non-profit; the Tour itself is also a non-profit company. In 2005, it started a campaign to push its all-time fundraising tally past one billion dollars ("Drive to a Billion"), and it reached that mark one week before the end of the season. However, monies raised for charities derive from the tournaments' positive revenues (if any), and not any actual monetary donation from the PGA Tour, whose purse monies and expenses are guaranteed.

There is also a PGA European Tour, which is separate from either the PGA Tour or the PGA of America; this organization runs a tour, mostly in Europe but with events throughout the world outside of North America, that is second only to the PGA Tour in worldwide prestige. There are several other regional tours around the world. However, the PGA Tour, European Tour, and many of the regional tours co-sponsor the World Golf Championships. These, along with the major championships, usually count toward the official money lists of each tour as well as the Official World Golf Ranking.

[edit] Multiple money list titles

The following players have won more than one money list title through 2007:

[edit] Multiple PGA Player of the Year Awards

The following players have won more than one player of the year award through 2007:

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ "Pro Golf Tour Changes Name". The New York Times. The New York Times Company (1981-08-31). Retrieved on 2008-06-18.
  2. ^ "Tour Changes Its Name Again", The New York Times, The New York Times Company (1982-03-20). Retrieved on 2008-06-17.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://www.wikisportsmemorabilia.com/PGA_Tour"
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