The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour is one of the most popular and respected official golf championships in the world. It hosts two annual events – the official PGA Tour and the Championship Tour for those over 50 years of age. Apart from these two main events, other affiliate championships are held, including the PGA Tour Canada, PGA Tour Latin America and the PGA Tour China.
The PGA Tour first came into being when professional golf players wanted to go independent from club professionals. They are aligned only with the above-mentioned golf championship tours and not the Masters Tournament, the US Open, the PGA Championship nor the The Open Championship. They focus heavily on fundraising and the Tour is actually a non-profit organization.
Check out these world-class players who have won more than one money list in their careers:
- Tiger Woods – 10
- Jack Nicklaus – 8
- Ben Hogan – 5
- Arnold Palmer – 4
- Sam Snead – 3
- Byron Nelson – 2
Though the PGA Tour is mostly played by men, there is no hard and fast rule that prohibits women from getting in on the game. In fact, in as early as 1938, Babe Zaharias was the first woman to participate in the tour. Other notable female pro golfers have been Annika Sörenstam, Suzy Whaley, Michelle Wie and Isabelle Beisiegel. However, the LPGA Tour is a women’s-only professional golf tour.
The Event Categories under the official PGA Tour as as follows:
- Majors: This includes the 4 top golf tours of the season – Masters Tournament, US Open, The British Open Championship and the PGA Championship.
- World Golf Championship: This is co-hosted by the International Federation of PGA Tours and attracts the top golfers from around the world, even those who may not be part of the PGA membership.
- Regular: As the name suggests, these are events taking place round the year, and have varying statuses depending on the size of the event.
