The PGA Tour has announced the 2021 portion of the Korn Ferry Tour’s 2020-21 combined schedule, featuring 23 tournaments to be played during the next calendar year, with the season culminating at the Korn Ferry Tour Finals in August. The one-time wraparound season will result in a slate of 46 total events.
“Korn Ferry Tour graduates are prepared to compete with the world’s best on the PGA Tour from day one as we’ve seen with our last two PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honourees in Sungjae Im and Scottie Scheffler,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “With a supersized 2020-21 schedule that bridges two years, we’re extremely confident the Korn Ferry Tour will once again deliver an exceptional class of graduates to the PGA TOUR in the upcoming year.”
The Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna, which has been held at The Club at Indian Creek in Omaha, Nebraska, since 2017, moves to the finale of the Tour’s Regular Season, where the first 25 PGA TOUR cards for the 2021-22 season will be awarded based on the season-long points list. The event is set to be contested August 9-15 and will be broadcast on GOLF Channel.
“The season-long race for 25 PGA TOUR cards is at the foundation of the Korn Ferry Tour, and we are excited to bring that incredible atmosphere to the passionate golf fans in Omaha,” said Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin. “The Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna has been one of our Tour’s premier events over the last four years, and we are looking forward to continuing that tradition leading into 2021 and beyond.”
The 2021 season will open with the third annual LECOM Suncoast Classic, which returns to Lakewood National Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, the week of February 15-21, 2021. The Tour also announced two new events to the schedule with the Emerald Coast Classic at Sandestin and the Paiute Las Vegas Championship. The Emerald Coast Classic will be contested at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort’s Raven Golf Club the week of March 29-April 4. The Paiute Las Vegas Championship will be played the week of April 12-18 at the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort’s Sun Mountain Course.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 10 tournaments from the Tour’s original 2020 schedule were canceled. Of those 10, the Lake Charles Championship, Veritex Bank Championship, Huntsville Championship and Live + Work in Maine Open were all set to make their respective tournament debuts. While the inaugural Lake Charles Championship will be postponed to 2022 due to the impact from Hurricanes Laura and Delta along the Louisiana coast, the other three tournaments will be contested between April and June.
Other 2020 events impacted by COVID-19 set to return in 2021 include the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS, Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, Visit Knoxville Open, KC Golf Classic and REX Hospital Open. The Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, contested in Nashville since 2016, will move to The Grove in nearby College Grove, Tennessee, the week of May 3-9, 2021.
The Korn Ferry Tour Finals will be comprised of the Albertsons Boise Open (August 16-22), Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship (August 23-29) and Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance (August 30 – September 5). The Finals events will represent three of six tournaments broadcast on GOLF Channel, beginning with the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation (June 7-13), which will feature the debut of the inaugural PGA TOUR University Class of 2021. The Utah Championship presented Zions Bank (August 2-8) will also be broadcast on GOLF Channel.
More than 25 linear TV partners broadcast tournament programming is available in 145+ countries & territories. Over 80 hours of LIVE tournament coverage is available in 135 countries and territories.
For more information on the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour season, please visit PGATOUR.com.
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