latin american pga tour

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Pga tour americas: inaugural schedule revealed, details finalized.

• Brentley Romine ,
• Brentley Romine

Details have been finalized for the PGA Tour’s new developmental tour, as the Tour announced Tuesday the competition schedule for the PGA Tour Americas’ inaugural season.

The Americas tour combines what were formerly known as PGA Tour Canada and PGA Tour Latinoamerica, and the circuit will debut in March 2024 with a 16-event slate contested through September that is divided into two swings – Latin American Swing (six events) and North American Swing (10 events, including nine in Canada).

The season begins March 21-24 with the Bupa Championship at PGA Riviera Maya in Tulum, Mexico, and will be capped by the 120-player, no-cut Fortinet Cup Championship on Sept. 5-8 at TPC Toronto in Caledon, Ontario.

There is $3.6 million in prize money up for grabs, $225,000 per event and $40,500 to each winner, while a $100,000 bonus pool has been introduced for the top 10 finishers in the Fortinet Cup points standings ($25,000 to No. 1).

Here is a look at the full schedule:

Introducing the PGA TOUR Americas schedule. The inaugural 16-event season will span across Latin America, Canada and the United States. Players will compete for @KornFerryTour membership and the coveted #FortinetCup . pic.twitter.com/LNia95nUV4 — PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) November 7, 2023

Some other details, both new and previously announced :

• The top 10 finishers in points at season’s end will graduate to the Korn Ferry Tour the following year and receive exemptions into the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School later that year

• Conditional KFT status will be given during the season, to the top two finishers in the Latin American Swing and the top three finishers in the North American Swing, provided they don’t finish in the top 10 of the final points list

• Nos. 11-25 on the final Americas points list will be exempt into the second stage of PGA Tour Q-School, as will Nos. 3-10 of the Latin American Swing and Nos. 4-10 of the North American Swing

• Initial eligibility for the Latin American Swing (144-player fields) will include full membership for the top 60 on this year’s PGA Tour Canada and PGA Tour Latinoamerica points lists, plus first-stage medalists from this year’s PGA Tour Q-School, additional finishers from this year’s PGA Tour Q-School final stage, the top 3 finishers from this year’s Latinoamerica Dev Series and this year’s APGA points champion

• The top 60 players after the Latin American Swing will retain full status for the North American Swing (156-player fields) while a six-site Q-School will also be held between swings with the top nine finishers from each site earning full status for the North American Swing

• PGA Tour University graduates (Nos. 6-25) will be fully exempt for the North American Swing beginning with the Beachlands Victoria Open in June 2024, as will the NCAA D-II Player of the Year (Nicklaus Award winner)

PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Qualifying Tournament Schedule Set

Four tournaments will help complete membership for 2021-22 season

PGA TOUR Latinoamérica takes its first steps toward its 2021-22 season with the announcement Tuesday of its four Qualifying Tournaments—two in Latin America and two in the United States. All four tournaments are in November, leading up to the season-opener, the 115 VISA Open de Argentina presented by Macro set for December 2-5. In 2021-22, players will be for the first time competing for the Totalplay Cup, a season-long points race sponsored by Totalplay, a total connectivity and entertainment platform part of Grupo Salinas.

The Tour will play two Qualifying Tournaments in Florida, with an additional two events in Mexico and Argentina that will help determine its final membership roster. The first Qualifying Tournament is set for Mission Inn Resort and Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, approximately 40 miles from Orlando. Tournament dates are November 2-5.

The following week, November 9-12, the Tour will hold two tournaments simultaneously, in Mazatlan, Mexico, and in Ocala, Florida. The Mexico tournament will be at Estrella del Mar, a course familiar to fans as a site for both Qualifying Tournaments and regular season PGA TOUR Latinoamérica events. The Country Club of Ocala is hosting a PGA TOUR Latinoamérica qualifier for the first time. 

The final Qualifying Tournament is in Argentina, in Lujan, in the province of Buenos Aires, on November 23-26. Club de Campos de Golf Las Praderas de Luján is the host course.

“It’s always an exciting time of the year when we announce our Qualifying Tournaments and begin preparing for each one of them. We will be visiting four excellent, unique venues, and we appreciate the courses working with us as partners,” said Todd Rhinehart, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Executive Director. “These courses offer a variety of tests, which will challenge our players during the four days of competition.”

Each of the Qualifying Tournaments is 72 holes, with no cut, the medalist earning exempt status for the entire season and eligible to play in every event. The players finishing in positions 2 through 12 after four rounds receive exempt status and qualify to play in a minimum of half the regular season tournaments, additional tournament starts acquired based on early season performance. Those finishing Nos. 13 through 40 (plus ties) receive conditional Tour status.

Mission Inn Resort and Club is the veteran course of the quartet of Qualifying Tournament sites, hosting PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Qualifying Tournaments since 2018. Mission Inn is one of Florida’s oldest courses and a venue that has also hosted Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying Tournaments. Previous medalists coming out of Mission Inn are MJ Maguire, Neal Ajubita and Jeremy Gandon.

“We will be playing a lot of golf in a three-week period as we prepare for the beginning of our season,” Rhinehart added. “We always love going to Mission Inn, and our second week of qualifiers will be particularly exciting as we play two tournaments at the same time, in Mexico and Florida.”

The Country Club of Ocala, open since 1994, is looking forward to its inaugural opportunity as a Qualifying Tournament site, while Estrella del Mar Resort is set to welcome Q-School hopefuls for a sixth time.

Meanwhile, Club de Campos de Golf Las Praderas de Luján is making its return to the Qualifying Tournament rotation. Las Praderas welcomed this event twice, with Brazil’s Rodrigo Lee (2016) and Argentina’s Thomas Baik (2017), claiming medalist honors. A familiar venue to the Tour, the course, located approximately 50 miles west of downtown Buenos Aires, hosted the Argentina Classic for four consecutive years, with current PGA TOUR player Fabián Gomez posting back-to-back victories (2014-15) and Samuel Del Val (2016) and Julián Etulain (2017) also triumphant.

“While a great many of our Qualifying Tournament hopefuls will come from the Americas—both South and North—we anticipate we will attract players from all over the world as they know will have a quality Tour in which to play,” Rhinehart continued. “I think about the last five years, seeing Mito Pereira, Corey Conners, Harry Higgs and Austin Smotherman all earning membership through our Q-Schools and eventually making their way to the PGA TOUR. That’s what PGA TOUR Latinoamérica provides, the path to golf’s highest level.”

Players interested in competing can register here

PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Qualifying Tournament Schedule

About PGA TOUR Latinoamérica

PGA TOUR Latinoamérica is a professional golf tour created in 2012 by the PGA TOUR in collaboration with promoters, clubs and national golf federations in Latin America. The inaugural season in 2012 featured 11 tournaments in seven countries in the Latin American region. In 2021-22, the Tour is targeting to play 12 events in seven countries. All season, players will battle for the Totalplay Cup, with the points leader at the end of each season winning the Totalplay Cup and earning Korn Ferry Tour membership. The other four players inside the top five will also earn Korn Ferry Tour status.

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The PGA Tour is merging its developmental circuits. Here’s what you need to know

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A PGA Tour Latinoamerica event in Mexico in 2020.

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You thought the Designated events and all the other scheduling changes at the top were all the PGA Tour was working on for 2024? Think again.

The Tour announced Tuesday that it will merge the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and PGA Tour Canada , creating the PGA Tour Americas, which will begin play next season.

For the last decade or so, the Latinoamerica and Canada tours have operated separate 12- and 10-event schedules, respectively, with distinct memberships, both rewarding the top-5 finishers for the season Korn Ferry Tour cards for the following season.

But starting in 2024, those two circuits will be rolled into a unified PGA Tour Americas with a 16-event schedule consisting of a Latin American swing and North American swing, with events in both the United States and Canada. The top 10 finishers will gain full status on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Here’s what you need to know:

16-event schedule

Instead of two separate tours, the PGA Tour Americas will consist of two swings; one in Latin and South America from February to May and another in the United States and Canada from June to September. There will be a total of 16 events.

Currently, the Latin American tour begins in December while the Canadian tour doesn’t start until June.

The new system will avoid the overlap between the two tours that currently exists from June to early-July.

Only the top-60 players on the PGA Tour Americas points list will be guaranteed to move on from the Latin America swing to the North America swing. In between the two legs will be a midseason Q School.

The full schedule for the 2024 season will be announced in September. Purse sizes and point distribution will come close to the start of the new tour in February 2024.

Who will play?

With LIV threatening, PGA Tour offers college stars new membership fast track

Complete eligibility criteria for the new tour are not yet outlined, but the PGA Tour announced the top-60 finishers on both this year’s Latinoamerica Tour and Canada Tour points lists will be exempt for the Latin America swing.

From there, eligibility criteria would be similar to that of the current tours and include finishers from beyond the 40th spot in PGA Tour Q School. There’s also an exemption for the top finisher on the APGA Tour who is a member of the APGA Development program. The Latinoamérica Dev Series will also offer access to the first swing.

When the Tour shifts to North America, the mid-season Q school will offer access both to players without status and those who did not finish in the top 60 of the first swing. This is also when finishers 6-20 in the PGA Tour University ranking will be added to the membership after graduating college.

Korn Ferry cards and Q-School exemptions

At the end of the North American swing, the top-10 finishers on the PGA Tour Americas points list will be granted Korn Ferry Tour cards for the following season and exempt through the third reshuffle.

But there are also five additional conditional Korn Ferry Tour cards available to the top-two finishers from the Latin America swing and the top-three finishers on the North America swing, if they were not in the season-long top 10.

All of those players will then be exempt to the final stage of PGA Tour Q School where, starting again this year, the top-5 finishers and ties will be awarded PGA Tour cards. The next 15 finishers on the season-long list, along with the remainder of the top-10 performers in each swing will be exempt into the second stage of Q-School. All PGA Tour Americas members will be exempt into the first stage.

Still with us?!

What do players think?

‘PGA Tour University’ will help best collegiate golfers begin pro careers

When the PGA Tour held a meeting with players on the Latinoamerica Tour Tuesday evening from this week’s event in Peru to discuss the changes, feelings were somewhat mixed, said Josh Goldenberg, who has played on both tours since turning pro in 2019.

“It’s nice that now there are going to be 15, more or less, cards for Korn Ferry, whereas for Latin and Canada this year there’s only five,” Goldenberg told GOLF Tuesday evening. “But at the same time, the competition is probably going to be better because they’re taking the best — top of both [tours] — and you have to play well on that first series of events to then get to the second part of the season.”

Ryan Davis, who holds conditional status on the PGA Tour Canada for the upcoming season, told GOLF he also felt “indifferent” toward the changes. He said a lot of the downside could be from increased travel. Many aspiring pros previously picked one tour or the other, while those with means could attempt to play both.

“It’s pretty much the same because now there are 10 spots for Korn Ferry Tour up for grabs and it was five for each tour before,” Davis said. “It’s nice to have something to play in all year long now, though. Hopefully, the purses are increased because, with that much travel, it’s going to be hard to make any money.”

Akshay Bhatia explains why he drove a U-Haul to a Korn Ferry Tour tournament

Purses for this season’s Latinoamerica tour were $175,000 with the Tour Championship offering $200,000. The Canada tour’s purses are slightly larger, between $200,000 and $225,000, depending on the event. Winner’s shares range from $31,500 for most Latinoamerica events while the winner of the Canada tour’s final event will take home $40,500.

Goldenberg, who’s 17th on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica points list, said those purses have been the same since before he turned pro. Higher purses could make the difference for players who were only expecting to play on one tour.

Overall, Goldberg said, the path to the Korn Ferry Tour becomes just a little bit more efficient and easier to understand with the new Tour.

“You have the ability to plan your schedule better,” he said. “Whereas before you had one season or one tour you played on and then you had to either go to Q school for the other tour if you didn’t have status from the year prior. So your season wasn’t as clear as to what events you would play in.

“I think this allows you the ability to do that if you play well. And I think at the end of the day playing well takes care of everything.”

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Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at [email protected] .

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Canada, Latin America to form PGA Tour Americas

• Associated Press

PGA Tour Canada and the PGA Tour Latinoamerica are merging to form one circuit that will be called PGA Tour Americas. It will have a season divided by two swings -- South America and the Great White North -- that offer at least 10 spots on the Korn Ferry Tour.

"We talk all the time about wanting to identify and provide access to the best players in the world," said Alex Baldwin, president of the Korn Ferry Tour who now oversees all paths to the PGA Tour -- PGA Tour Americas, PGA Tour University and Q-school.

"It's an extremely competitive environment," she said. "We have a fantastic opportunity to bring the best of these two tours together."

Still to be determined is the 16-tournament schedule for both regions in 2024 that will run from February through September, and the size of the purses.

The fields will be populated by the leading 60 players from this year's PGA Tour Latinoamerica and from the PGA Tour Canada season. Other spots will be available through the early stages of Q-school this fall.

The Latin America swing will run from February through May, and the top 60 players will have status for the North America swing.

Before the second swing starts, the PGA Tour Americas will have another Q-school. Those graduates will advance along with Nos. 6-20 from the PGA Tour University. The remainder of the fields will be filled by open qualifiers, sponsor exemptions and others in a priority list.

A cumulative points list for both swings will determine which 10 players advance to the Korn Ferry Tour. Also, the top two finishers from the Latin America swing and the top three from Canada will get conditional status, provided they don't finish among the overall top 10.

Conditional status means they are exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour through the first reshuffle of the priority list.

Those 15 players also will be exempt into the final stage of Q-school -- five cards are on offer for the PGA Tour -- and the next two dozen or so will go straight to the second stage.

The Canadian tour has been a more popular proving grounds over the decades, a starting point for the likes of Mike Weir, Steve Stricker and Mackenzie Hughes. The PGA Tour acquired both tours in 2012, and now is bringing them together as one starting in 2024.

"The ecosystem is expanding, but we're creating opportunities," Baldwin said. "Every time you tee it up and are playing for something, that is part of your growth, your development, your experience to make you compete at a high level."

Fortinet Cup: Canadians on attack entering Ecuador’s Kia Open

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QUITO, Ecuador – With Stuart Macdonald winning the Diners Club Peru Open this past Sunday and Matthew Anderson claiming the ECP Brazil Open a week earlier, Canadian players are on the rise in the early stages of the race for the Fortinet Cup. Anderson, who followed his win with a share of the 18th spot in Peru, improved his point total to 696 to remain the No. 1 player in PGA TOUR Americas for the second consecutive week. Meanwhile, Macdonald rose from 22nd to third in the standings with a 613-point total.

“There's a lot to play for every week and this is a big step forward,” said the 29-year-old Macdonald after his two-shot win Sunday at Los Inkas Golf Club, where he earned 500 Fortinet Cup points.

Through four events played this season, there are seven Canadian players currently inside the top 60 who would secure exempt status for the North America Swing that follows the six-event Latin America Swing. The other Canadians behind Anderson and Macdonald are Joey Savoie (18th), Lawren Rowe (35th), Thomas Giroux (39th), Jeevan Sihota (47th) and Jimmy Jones (50th).

“Golf Canada has done an unbelievable job developing all of our players," added MacDonald. "As you can see, every year we've got more and more players on the PGA TOUR, the Korn Ferry Tour, and this tour. There's a lot of Canadian depth and a lot of that we can attribute to Golf Canada and its coaching staff."

The one player between the leading Canadians is Mexico’s José de Jesús Rodríguez, who tied for fifth in Peru and is second on Tour with a 657-point total. The 43-year-old veteran will not be playing this week’s event at Quito Tennis & Golf Club.

Aside from Macdonald, the other big Fortinet Cup move was made by Wisconsin native Samuel Anderson. Coming off a tie for sixth at the ECP Brazil Open, the 25-year-old gave Macdonald a run for his money late on Sunday.

Ranked 55th on the Fortinet Cup standings through two events, Samuel Anderson now holds the fifth spot following a T6 finish in Brazil and a runner-up finish in Peru. (Gregory Villalobos/PGA TOUR)

“(I) didn't play my best, but I kind of hung in there and hit some awesome shots coming down the stretch, which was great,” said Anderson about his play Sunday in Lima. “I mean, I hit an awesome shot on 16 and I even gave myself a look on 17, which is a super tough par 3. I'm happy with how I played overall and I’m looking forward to Ecuador.”

The solo second finish earned Anderson 300 Fortinet Cup points and allowed him to move from 17th to fifth in the standings. Anderson was ranked 55th before his last two starts.

Finishing only a shot behind Anderson, Argentina’s Julián Etulain was the top Latin performer in Peru. His tie for third at Los Inkas Golf Club was his second third-place finish of the season. It allowed him to defend his position as No. 8 in the standings.

“I’m happy to keep adding points to my tally,” said the 35-year-old Etulain. “Hopefully, we can keep playing well these next two weeks to make the Latin Swing top two and secure a (Korn Ferry Tour) card for next year.”

The Kia Open, which is set to begin Thursday at the Quito Tennis & Golf Club in Quito, Ecuador, is the fifth event of the 2024 PGA TOUR Americas season and one of just two events left to play in the Latin America Swing.

Fortinet Cup Points List top 10

Though 4 of 16 events

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Pga tour americas merges latinoamerica and canada tours, aims to create a more efficient, competitive pathway for players, share this article.

Goodbye PGA Tour Latinoamerica and PGA Tour Canada, hello PGA Tour Americas.

Beginning in February 2024, the two third-level tours will merge under one umbrella as the PGA Tour continues to grow and develop its product. The restructure will aim to create a more efficient and competitive pathway for players looking to take the next step in their professional golf careers.

PGA Tour Americas will hold 16 events across Latin America, Canada and the United States from February-September, with up to 15 Korn Ferry Tour cards available, as well as numerous exemptions to various stages of PGA Tour Q-School.

“As we build on the rich golf history across Latin America and Canada, we are thrilled about PGA Tour Americas and the role this tour will play in preparing players for the next step in their professional golf journey,” said Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin.

So how will it all work?

The full 2024 PGA Tour Americas schedule will be announced in September. Finalized details regarding eligibility, priority ranking, purses and points distribution will be announced closer to the inaugural event in February 2024. Here’s an outline:

• The season begins in February with the Latin America Swing, which wraps in May.
• Following that the PGA Tour Americas will host a mid-season Qualifying School and introduce a handful of PGA Tour University graduates.
• The season will then continue with the North America Swing, where players will compete across Canada and the U.S. from June-September.

Eligibility for the Latin America Swing

Fields for the Latin America Swing (February-May 2024) will consist of 144 players. Those eligible to compete will include the top 60 players from the PGA Tour Latinoamerica points list from 2022-23 as well as the top 60 players on the PGA Tour Canada points list from 2023. Players can also qualify via the following routes ( priority ranking to be announced ):

• 2023 PGA Tour Q-School
• Latinoamerica Dev Series
• Highest finisher on the 2023 APGA season-long points list who is a member of the APGA Player Development program

Eligibility for the North America Swing

The top 60 players from the Latin America Swing will continue on to compete in the North America Swing (June-September 2024), where the field will increase to 156 players. The top 50 from the PGA Tour Americas Q-School as well as Nos. 6-20 from PGA Tour University will also be eligible. Players can also qualify via the following routes ( priority ranking to be announced ):

• Open qualifying and sponsor exemptions
• Korn Ferry Tour
• Additional finishers Latin America Swing / PGA Tour Americas Q-School

Performance benefits

The top 10 finishers on the season-long PGA Tour Americas points list will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership. Five conditional Korn Ferry Tour cards are available to the top two finishers in the Latin America Swing and the top three finishers from the North America Swing.

The top 10 finishers on the PGA Tour Americas points list, the top two from the Latin America Swing and the top three from in the North America Swing will all earn exemptions to the Final Stage of PGA Tour Q-School.

The following players will all earn exemptions to the Second Stage of PGA Tour Q-School:

• Nos. 11–25 on the PGA Tour Americas points list
• Nos. 3–10 from the Latin America Swing
• Nos. 4–10 from the North America Swing.

All remaining PGA Tour Americas members will earn exemptions to the First Stage of Q-School.

Why it makes sense

The Latinoamerica and Canada tours were essentially doing the same thing on a different schedule from two tours it was supposed to be feeding, the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour.

Aside from streamlining a confusing pathway to the Tour, the merge will also put all three levels – PGA Tour Americas, Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour – on the same operating schedule in a January–September/October window. From October–December, most PGA Tour players will compete in the fall series. Everyone else will enter Q-School to play for status and exemptions.

More benefits for solid play and an easier to understand system are improvements for both fans and the players. Time will only tell if this was the right move for the Tour, but in theory, it checks out.

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PGA Championship invites 7 LIV players to get top 100 in the world

Patrick Reed reacts to his tee shot on the fourth hole during final round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Sunday, April 14, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Rory McIlroy, left, of Northern Ireland, and Joaquin Niemann, of Chile, walks off the 18th hole after final round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Sunday, April 14, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

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The PGA Championship officially has Tiger Woods in a field released Tuesday that includes invitations to seven players from Saudi-funded LIV Golf, giving the major 99 of the 100 in the world ranking at Valhalla next week.

The PGA of America strives to have the top 100 in the world to maintain its reputation for having the strongest field of the four majors, although it is not part of the criteria. Those hopes ended late Tuesday when Rikuya Hoshino (No. 94) withdrew.

The PGA leans on a catch-all category of “special invitations.” The group of LIV players includes Patrick Reed, whose tie for 12th in the Masters moved him inside the top 100. He is at No. 92, and the invitation keeps alive his streak of playing every major since the 2014 Masters.

The PGA Championship returns to Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky, for the fourth time on May 16-19. Rory McIlroy won at Valhalla the last time it was there in 2014. The course is best known for Woods winning a playoff over Bob May in 2000 for his third straight major.

Joaquin Niemann, who won the Australian Open in December and has two LIV Golf wins this year, already received an invitation. The surprise was Talor Gooch announcing in an X post on Monday that he had been invited.

It was a sign the PGA of America’s selection committee was looking at LIV results on their own, as Gooch doesn’t play much outside the Saudi league. He won three times on LIV in 2023 and won the season points list.

Other invitations went to Dean Burmester, Lucas Herbert and Adrian Meronk, all of them inside the top 100 in the world. The seventh invitation went to David Puig, the 22-year-old from Spain who is No. 106 in the ranking. Puig has finished in the top 10 in six of his last seven tournaments on the Asian Tour, including two wins.

LIV will be represented by 16 players, down from 18 a year ago.

There might have been one more, except British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen turned down his invitation. Oosthuizen, who is No. 125 in the world, won twice late last year in South Africa in tournaments co-sanctioned by the European tour.

His manager, Carlos Rodriguez, said in a text message that Oosthuizen already had some personal commitments.

The LIV group includes defending champion Brooks Koepka, who goes for a fourth PGA Championship title. He is the only active LIV player to win a major.

Kerry Haigh, the championship director for the PGA of America, has said he would consider deserving players from tours around the world. Invitations were given to Tim Widing of Sweden, who has won consecutive tournaments on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Another invitation went to Kazuma Kobori, a 22-year-old born in Japan who now plays under the New Zealand flag. He has won three times this year in the Webex Players Series on the PGA Tour of Australasia.

The field has 21 club professionals — 20 from the PGA Professional Championship last week, and Michael Block, who qualified by finishing among the top 15 last year at Oak Hill.

The PGA is keeping two spots open in case the winners of the Wells Fargo Championship and the Myrtle Beach Classic are not already eligible. Only four players in the 69-man field at the Wells Fargo Championship have not qualified. The first alternate is Alex Smalley.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf