PGA Tour merges Canadian, Latin circuits

The PGA Tour Latinoamerica and PGA Tour Canada will merge into a single circuit that will begin play in early 2024, the PGA Tour said yesterday as it offers a new pathway for golfers to move up the ranks.The newly-branded PGA Tour Americas will stage 16 events across Latin America, Canada and the United States from February through September with 15 cards up for grabs on the developmental Korn Ferry Tour."We are thrilled about PGA Tour Americas and the role this tour will play in preparing players for the next step in their golf journey,” Alex Baldwin, who oversees PGA Tour Americas, the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Q-School and PGA Tour University, said in a statement released yesterday."PGA Tour Americas will be an extremely competitive tour aimed at identifying, developing and transitioning top-performing players to the next level as they ascend through the ranks and strive to reach the highest level of professional golf, the PGA Tour.”The first half of the season will be the Latin America Swing and include the top 60 finishers from both the 2022-2023 PGA Tour Latinoamerica points list and the 2023 PGA Tour Canada points list.The top 60 players from the Latin America Swing move on to compete in the North America Swing from June through September with the top 10 on the season-long points list earning Korn Ferry Tour membership.Five conditional Korn Ferry Tour cards are available to the top two finishers in the Latin America Swing and top three from the North America Swing in the case that they do not finish in the top 10 on the final PGA Tour Americas points list.The schedule for the inaugural season will be announced in September with details regarding purses and points distribution to be released closer to the start of play in February.Zurich winners Nick Hardy, Davis Riley WD from Mexico OpenNick Hardy and Davis Riley withdrew from this week’s PGA Tour stop, the Mexico Open at Vidanta, yesterday after winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Sunday.No reason was given for the withdrawals.It marks the first time since last November that a PGA Tour winner withdrew from an event he was scheduled to play the following week, Golfweek reported.The only team-based tournament on the PGA Tour schedule, the Zurich Classic uses a four-ball (best-ball) format in the first and third rounds and foursomes (alternate shot) in the second and final rounds. Hardy and Riley made seven birdies and no bogeys in a final-round 65 to earn the victory, setting a tournament record of 30-under 258 for the week.It marked both Hardy’s and Riley’s first career PGA Tour wins.Each earned a two-year exemption - and qualifies for the PGA Championship next month at Oak Hill - for winning the PGA Tour’s only team event.Hardy and Riley, sounded optimistic about parlaying their confidence-building triumph into future victories."I felt like it was a matter of time before my time was coming,” Riley told reporters."And to do it with one of my best friends here, who’s also an amazing player, I feel like the sky’s the limit for both of us.”The Mexico Open is entering its second season on the PGA Tour schedule. World No. 1 and reigning Masters winner Jon Rahm of Spain is the defending champ.