The PGA TOUR: Fall Series

With a TOUR champion declared and already a second fall-series tournament looming, it could be safe to say that the rest of this year’s TOUR season is dead. But with six events still left on the schedule, that is not necessarily the case. In fact, a few big name players still have much to play for. Players such as John Daly, David Duvall, Davis Love III, Jesper Parnevik and Lee Janzen. These men and several others will all be vying to finish inside the top 125 on the money list – meeting the criteria to join the 30 FedEx Cup finalists in receiving full-season exemption in next year’s play.

It is not all fun and games either. The competition will be cutthroat. These men are fighting for their professional careers – their jobs! Now if that’s not added pressure, then I don’t know what is. To make matters worse, John Maginnes, a columnist from PGATOUR.com, reported that it could take upwards of $1-million profits for these players to qualify. Good luck finding other jobs that pay anything close to that!

It is not the end of the road however for the players who do not break the top 125 on the money list. Several golfers will be exempt for tournaments based on their previous year’s finish. Other golfers who finish outside the top 125 will even have the opportunity to qualify through q-school (qualifying school). Those who have success at q-school typically earn their tour card – qualifying for most of the following year’s TOUR events.

Despite all the fierce competition involved, however, the fall series has proven to be less than glamorous and therefore much less popular than the TOUR’s regular season. In fact, in only its second year after being installed onto the schedule, the TOUR along with tournament directors have plans to do more to bring more people out to the golf course, hopefully attracting more fans to the sport as well.

The result has been that all of the tournaments have added more activities to help promote their experiences, viewing them more as events than tournaments. Some of the added activities include cooking demonstrations by Iron Chefs, appearances from pop stars such as Justin Timberlake and even what’s being called the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

Jon Show, a staff writer from sportsbusinessjournal.com, reported that it’s unpredictable whether the new activities will boost attendance at the tournaments. Personally though, I don't think it can fail. These upcoming tournaments are still a very vital part of the TOUR season and can determine the future for many golfers whose careers are in question. The competition should be exciting and it should fun to see who can salvage their spot on the TOUR and take their game to the next level.