RIDGELAND, S.C. — The PGA Tour is set to announce this week that the WM Phoenix Open, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship and Travelers Championship will be among 13 elevated events with at least $20 million purses in 2023, sources confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.
They will join nine other elevated events, which the PGA Tour’s top players have committed to play in to beef up those fields, as the tour continues to battle the upstart LIV Golf circuit for the best players in the world.
Golfweek first reported details of the four new elevated events.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan previously announced that the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Players Championship, three invitationals (Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational and Memorial), WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, and the three FedEx Cup playoff events (FedEx St. Jude Championship, BMW Championship and Tour Championship) would be among the elevated events.
The other four elevated tournaments are expected to rotate on an annual basis to bring stronger fields at additional events once the PGA Tour returns to a calendar-year-based schedule in 2024.
The schedule changes were part of recommendations made by players after a meeting led by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy before the BMW Championship in Wilmington, Delaware, in August. Top tour players have committed to playing in each of the 13 elevated events, four major championships (if they’re eligible) and three other tour events each season.
Two of the newly elevated events in 2023 will be played the week after a major. The RBC Heritage, scheduled for April 13-16 at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, is the week after the Masters. The Travelers Championship, scheduled for June 22-25 at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, is the week after the U.S. Open, which will be played at Los Angeles Country Club.
“You’re elevating great events,” Spain’s Jon Rahm said. “They’re all amazing golf courses, all amazing events, a lot of history, all of them. So they’re worthy of it. Hilton Head and Travelers after majors? I’m not keen on playing after a major, but I’ve seen people do it and I’ve seen people do well, so there’s no reason why you can’t.”