PGA Tour starts its FedEx Cup Fall with a reduction in prize money and a new event in Utah

The PGA Tour begins its FedEx Cup Fall series with a reduction in prize money at most tournaments and a new event in Utah. The total purse for the eight tournaments is $58.7 million. That includes a $7.5 million purse at the new Black Desert Championship. Five tournaments from last year have smaller purses. It starts with the Procore Championship this week in Napa, California. The purse is $6 million. That’s down from $8.4 million a year ago. The field includes Luke Clanton. He’s a junior at Florida State who already has three top-10 finishes in six tour events.

The numbers alone indicate a FedEx Cup Fall season worth $58.7 million in prize money as players try to secure their PGA Tour cards by finishing in the top 125, or perhaps qualify for two signature events if they finish in the top 60.

But there’s a reason for the increase in prize money from $56.6 million last year — there’s one additional tournament, the Black Desert Championship in Utah. Five of the seven tournaments in the fall have reduced the purse, some rather substantially.

While not unprecedented, a reduction in prize money is rare on the PGA Tour.

It starts this week with the Procore Championship at Silverado in Napa, California, a new title sponsor with a purse of $6 million, down from $8.4 million a year ago. Part of that is due to Procore signing on just two months before the tournament.

The Sanderson Farms Championship purse is $7.6 million, down from $8.2 million last year. The Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas also has a significant drop in prize money to $7 million, compared with $8.4 million in 2023.

The World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico is down $1 million to $7.2 million, while the RSM Classic at Sea Island is $8 million, down by $400,000 from a year ago.

The Zozo Championship in Japan is the same at $8.5 million, though it was $11 million two years ago. The one increase was the Butterfield Bermuda Championship at $6.9 million, up from $6.5 million last year.

It’s to be expected with the top 50 in the FedEx Cup locked in and playing only sparingly the rest of the year, if at all. Scottie Scheffler isn’t likely to play until his title defense in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. Rory McIlroy is playing only on the European tour.

The tour said in a statement there is “more to play for than ever” in the fall in terms of prize money, access, eligibility and a chance to build momentum. Three winners last fall — Ludvig Aberg, Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala — reached the Tour Championship.

“And while there have been adjustments to purse sizes at a some FedEx Cup Fall events, both playing opportunities and overall prize money have seen an increase,” the tour said.

On the rise

Luke Clanton is taking a break from his junior year at Florida State to resume what appears to be a rapid march to a PGA Tour card.

Clanton already has won the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the No. 1 amateur in the world, earning him a spot in the U.S. Open and British Open if he stays an amateur. He also has 14 points, needing only six more points to earn a PGA Tour card through the “PGA Tour University Accelerated” program for underclassmen.

Points are accumulated based on PGA Tour, amateur golf and college tournaments. Clanton has three top 10s — including a runner-up finish at the John Deere Classic — in his six PGA Tour starts this summer. He is playing on an exemption this week in the Procore Championship.

Players get one point for making the cut on the PGA Tour, an additional point if it’s a top 10.

How long he stays in school is still to be determined, but the 20-year-old Clanton said his main goal for now is atoning for the Seminoles’ runner-up finish in the NCAA championship.