PGA Tour schedule shuffle: Houston Open changes and how Detroit could get its own tournament
As the 2018-19 schedule is finalized, many events will be moved around
When PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announces the 2018-19 PGA Tour schedule later on this season, it's going to look wildly different than it does right now. We know The Players Championship is moving to March in 2019. We know the PGA Championship is moving to May in 2019. What we don't know is how the rest of it will shake out. However, there have been a few signals recently about what's afoot.
The Houston Open, which is now sponsor-less, is moving away from the Golf Club of Houston next year as the Valero Texas Open takes its week-before-the-Masters slot. All of this according to ABC13, which also noted this statement from the Houston Golf Association.
"The PGA Tour and the Houston Golf Association are collectively working toward securing a title sponsor and host facility starting in 2019. We are currently in discussions with a number of prospective companies and facilities with the end goal of securing the long-term future of a historic PGA Tour event that dates back to 1946."
That's a lot of movement for a tournament in a year where the PGA Tour is likely looking at contraction of a few events either completely or just moving them to its fall schedule so that the season can end before football season in September.
There are other moving parts, too. A report emerged recently that Detroit is about to get a PGA Tour event. It is currently unknown whether this is a current event (maybe Houston? Maybe The National, currently played in and around Washington D.C. and also currently sponsor-less?) or a new one altogether. Here is The Detroit News.
The PGA Tour has ramped up negotiations in recent weeks on bringing a tournament to the city of Detroit, and an agreement is believed to be close, according to a source with knowledge of the Tour's scheduling discussions. The tournament likely would debut in 2019, and be held at Detroit Golf Club, making it the first PGA Tour tournament to be played within the city limits.
It sounds like The National moving from D.C. to Detroit would be a natural fit. The event, which is hosted by Tiger Woods and benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation, has existed since 2007 and was sponsored by Quicken Loans until this year. There is a Quicken Loans tie-in in Detroit, as that's where its headquarters reside. And according to that Detroit News article, the company has made getting a golf event to Detroit a priority to the PGA Tour (maybe this is why they declined sponsorship this year and beyond in D.C.).
Regardless of what happens with either of these tournaments, the 2018-19 PGA Tour slate is going to be pretty intriguing. Tournament reshuffles, major championship changes and a brand new look for 2019 and beyond is on tap for Monahan and Co. as they continue to try and figure out what the future looks like.
















