The European Tour has released its full schedule for the 2018-19 season, with several big tournaments shifting dates in response to some changes made to key U.S. events.
The schedule will once again include 47 events, beginning with the Hong Kong Open next month and concluding with the DP World Tour Championship a year later. But the PGA Championship’s move from August to May sparked a domino effect that had impacts across the Atlantic.
The PGA now holds a spot typically occupied by the BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour’s flagship event. That tournament has now moved to Sept. 19-22, after the conclusion of the PGA Tour season, and highlights a strong late-season close in Europe that also includes national opens in Spain, France and Italy.
With the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National now in the rear-view mirror, the French Open is no longer a lucrative Rolex Series event. Instead it has been replaced by the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January, which will see its purse jump from $3 million to $7 million.
Other Rolex Series events include the Irish Open at Lahinch and Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club, both played in advance of The Open in July. The Italian Open moves to mid-October, while the final three postseason events remain the same: the Turkish Airlines Open and Nedbank Golf Challenge, followed by the season finale in Dubai.
The schedule also includes the British Masters, which was saved from the chopping block by Tommy Fleetwood. Fleetwood will host the event at Hillside, which is adjacent to Royal Birkdale, the week before the PGA at Bethpage Black.
New to the calendar are events in Saudi Arabia in early February and Kenya, played opposite The Players in mid-March.
The schedule also includes an as-yet-unannounced event the first week in August, as well as TBD venues for GolfSixes in Portugal in June, the Shot Clock Challenge in August, the Open de Espana in October and the Turkish Airlines Open in November.
Click here for a look at the full 2018-19 schedule.