PGA Tour releases 2009 slate

Nov 12, 2008 - 8:00 AM By John Nestor PA SportsTicker Golf Editor

The 2009 PGA Tour schedule was released on Tuesday with only event the season-ending Tour Championship lacking a firm date.

The 30-man event at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta is the finale to the FedEx Cup playoffs and will be held from September 17-20 or a week later if there is a break built into the playoff schedule.

The biggest change to the schedule is the creation of a Texas Swing with the Texas Open returning to the regular season after a two-year sting in the golf Purgatory known as the Fall Series.

The Texas Open will be played from May 14-17 in San Antonio

"While we have a couple of late-season scheduling issues to resolve, we felt it was best to release the majority of what we believe is an outstanding schedule for 2009 that is fully sponsored," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said. "We are very pleased to officially welcome the Valero Texas Open to the FedEx Cup schedule after performing exceptionally well during the Fall Series."

The 2009 season begin sin Kapalua, Hawaii from Jan. 8-11 with the winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship.

The Fall Series schedule will be announced once the dates for the Tour Championship have been finalized.

The World Golf Championship events open with the Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson, Arizona in February followed by the WGC-CA Championship in Miami in March. The third and final event in the series will be the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August.

SWEET CHARITY: The PGA Tour has set its sights on a record year for charitable donations in 2009 despite the global financial crisis.

Commissioner Tim Finchem said in a statement on Tuesday he expected the tour to exceed the record $123 million generated by its tournaments for charity in 2007.

"The tournaments and their sponsors have worked extremely hard during this difficult economic time to sustain their significant charitable contributions," Finchem said. "They are to be commended for doing such an outstanding job."

TRIVIA QUESTION: How many events has Davis Love III played in to reach 20 career wins on the PGA Tour?

QUOTABLE: Sergio Garcia after winning the HSBC Champions on the European Tour on Monday and surpassing Phil Mickelson as the No. 2 player in the world behind Tiger Woods.

"Moving to No. 2 in the world, it's a great excitement for me, and I'm just very happy. It's been a very solid year.

I had some hard losses this year, but we came back strong and we're finishing the year very nicely, so I'm very happy with that."

CHIP SHOTS: Martin Laird finished 125th on the money list with $852,752 in earnings. ... A total of 104 players topped the $1 million mark in 2008. Lucas Glover almost made it 105 with $998,491. ... The largest margin of victory on the PGA Tour this year was eight strokes by Tiger Woods at the Buick Invitational. ... Five players in their 40s won on the PGA TOUR this year (nine wins). The players were Davis Love III, Vijay Singh, Kenny Perry, Steve Lowery and Greg Kraft.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Love has played in 570 events with 450 made cuts, 165 top-10 finishes and the 20 wins, including Sunday when he captured the title at the Children's Miracle Network Classic.

Question or comment? e-mail john.nestor@pa-sportsticker.com