PGA Tour Canada and the PGA Tour Latinoamerica are merging to form one circuit that will be called PGA Tour Americas. It will have a season divided by two swings -- South America and the Great White North -- that offer at least 10 spots on the Korn Ferry Tour.

"We talk all the time about wanting to identify and provide access to the best players in the world," said Alex Baldwin, president of the Korn Ferry Tour who now oversees all paths to the PGA Tour -- PGA Tour Americas, PGA Tour University and Q-school.

"It's an extremely competitive environment," she said. "We have a fantastic opportunity to bring the best of these two tours together."

Still to be determined is the 16-tournament schedule for both regions in 2024 that will run from February through September, and the size of the purses.

The fields will be populated by the leading 60 players from this year's PGA Tour Latinoamerica and from the PGA Tour Canada season. Other spots will be available through the early stages of Q-school this fall.

The Latin America swing will run from February through May, and the top 60 players will have status for the North America swing.

Before the second swing starts, the PGA Tour Americas will have another Q-school. Those graduates will advance along with Nos. 6-20 from the PGA Tour University. The remainder of the fields will be filled by open qualifiers, sponsor exemptions and others in a priority list.

A cumulative points list for both swings will determine which 10 players advance to the Korn Ferry Tour. Also, the top two finishers from the Latin America swing and the top three from Canada will get conditional status, provided they don't finish among the overall top 10.

Conditional status means they are exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour through the first reshuffle of the priority list.

Those 15 players also will be exempt into the final stage of Q-school -- five cards are on offer for the PGA Tour -- and the next two dozen or so will go straight to the second stage.

The Canadian tour has been a more popular proving grounds over the decades, a starting point for the likes of Mike Weir, Steve Stricker and Mackenzie Hughes. The PGA Tour acquired both tours in 2012, and now is bringing them together as one starting in 2024.

"The ecosystem is expanding, but we're creating opportunities," Baldwin said. "Every time you tee it up and are playing for something, that is part of your growth, your development, your experience to make you compete at a high level."

Canada Latin America to form PGA Tour Americas

2023-04-25 15:12:00