PGA Tour releases 2013 schedule, last before going to wraparound format

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The PGA Tour released its 2013 schedule on Monday, with only 40 events as it prepares for a wraparound season that will start next fall.

The 2013 season begins with the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua on Jan. 4-7, which again features a Monday finish. The FedExCup concludes with the Tour Championship on Sept. 19-22, and then the 2013-14 season will start a few weeks later in October.

For the last six years, at least four tournaments -- part of the Fall Series -- were held after the FedExCup ended. That gave players a chance to earn enough money to keep their cards by finishing in the top 125 on the PGA Tour money list. Next year, most of those Fall Series event will be considered the start of a new season.

For the most part, there were no surprises and very little movement.

The Masters traditionally ends on the second Sunday in April, which in 2013 is April 14. That created an extra week between the Florida Swing and the Masters. The tour will go from Bay Hill to the Shell Houston Open and then the Valero Texas Open leading up to Augusta National.

The Greenbrier Classic again will be held the first full week in July, which leads to a busy end of the season. This year, several players with ties to the RBC Canadian Open wound up playing eight out of the last 10 tournaments, including four playoff events, a major championship and a World Golf Championship.

The one-week break during the FedExCup playoffs will be between the Labor Day finish of the Deutsche Bank Championship outside Boston and the BMW Championship, the third playoff event that moves to Conway Farms north of Chicago.

There also will be a one-week break between the Tour Championship and the Presidents Cup, which will be played at Muirfield Village on Oct. 3-6.

The tour said it would award slightly more FedExCup points to the three opposite-field events, held the same week as World Golf Championships and the British Open. The winner of those events will get 300 points, up from 250 points.

The U.S. Open returns to Merion outside Philadelphia for the first time since 1981, while the PGA Championship will be played at Oak Hill, which last hosted a major in 2003 when Shaun Micheel won the PGA. The British Open will be at Muirfield, where Ernie Els won in 2002. The only other golf course changes are at the Canadian Open (Glen Abbey) and The Barclays (Liberty National)

Still on the schedule is the Tampa Bay Championship at Innisbrook on March 14-17, which is still looking for a title sponsor.

The Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico previously was held the same week in late February as the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. It will be moving to the fall, likely as the anchor of the fall start to the 2013-14 season. The fall schedule has not been released.

Here is the 2013 schedule:
Jan. 4-7: Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Plantation Course, Kapalua, Hawaii
Jan. 10-13: Sony Open, Waialae CC, Honolulu
Jan. 17-20: Humana Challenge, PGA West (Palmer Private, Nicklaus Private), La Quinta CC, La Quinta, California
Jan. 24-27: Farmers Insurance Open, Torrey Pines GC (North and South), San Diego
Jan. 31-Feb. 3: Waste Management Phoenix Open, TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona
Feb. 7-10: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Monterey Peninsula (Shore Course), Pebble Beach, California
Feb. 14-17: Northern Trust Open, Riviera CC, Los Angeles
Feb. 20-24: WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Ritz-Carlton GC at Dove Mountain, Marana, Arizona
Feb. 28-March 3: Honda Classic, PGA National GC, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
March 7-10: WGC-Cadillac Championship, TPC Blue Monster at Doral, Doral, Florida
March 7-10: Puerto Rico Open, Trump International GC, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
March 14-17: Tampa Bay Championship, Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead Course), Palm Harbor, Florida
March 21-24: Arnold Palmer Invitational, Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Florida
March 28-31: Shell Houston Open, Redstone GC (Tournament Course), Houston
April 4-7: Valero Texas Open, TPC San Antonio (AT&T Oaks Course), San Antonio
April 11-14: Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC, Augusta, Georgia
April 18-21: RBC Heritage, Harbourtown GL, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
April 25-28: Zurich Classic, TPC Louisiana, New Orleans
May 2-5: Wells Fargo Championship, Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, North Carolina
May 9-12: The Players Championship, TPC Sawgrass (Players Stadium Course), Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
May 16-19: HP Byron Nelson Championship, TPC Four Seasons Resort, Las Colinas, Texas
May 23-26: Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, Colonial CC, Fort Worth, Texas
May 30-June 2: Memorial Tournament, Muirfield Village GC, Dublin, Ohio
June 6-9: FedEx St. Jude Classic, TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tennessee
June 13-16: U.S. Open, Merion GC, Ardmore, Pennsylvania
June 20-23: Travelers Championship, TPC River Highlands, Hartford, Connecticut
June 27-30: AT&T National, Congressional CC (Blue Course), Bethesda, Maryland
July 4-7: The Greenbrier Classic, The Greenbrier (The Old White TPC), White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
July 11-14: John Deere Classic, TPC Deere Run, Silvis, Illinois
July 18-21: British Open, Muirfield, Gullane, Scotland
July 18-21: True South Classic, Annandale GC, Madison, Mississippi
July 25-28: RBC Canadian Open, Glen Abbey GC, Oakville, Ontario
Aug. 1-4: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Firestone CC (South Course), Akron, Ohio
Aug. 1-4: Reno-Tahoe Open, Montreaux Golf & CC, Reno, Nevada
Aug. 8-13: PGA Championship, Oak Hill CC, Rochester, New York
Aug. 15-18: Wyndham Championship, Sedgefield CC, Greensboro, North Carolina
Aug. 22-25: The Barclays, Liberty National, Jersey City, New Jersey
Aug. 30-Sept. 2: Deutsche Bank Championship, TPC Boston, Norton, Massachusetts
Sept. 12-15: BMW Championship, Conway Farms GC, Lake Forest, Illinois
Sept. 19-22: Tour Championship, East Lake GC, Atlanta
Oct. 3-6: Presidents Cup, Muirfield Village GC, Dublin, Ohio