The Champions Tour announced its 2016 schedule, which includes the inaugural Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, a three-event, season-ending competition to determine the winner of the Charles Schwab Cup.
The schedule includes 26 tournaments in 19 states and three countries outside the United States, with total prize money exceeding $55 million and an average purse of $2.1 million.
“We are excited about the upcoming 2016 Champions Tour season and the launch of the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs,” said Greg McLaughlin, Champions Tour president. “We welcome our new title sponsors to the tremendous group of dedicated partners that support the Champions Tour.
“Next year’s playoffs are an important component to further develop the Champions Tour brand and highlight where the legends of our game compete. Our players are looking forward to next year’s schedule and this new playoffs format for the premier prize of the season.”
Two of three Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs events are new tournaments, including the PowerShares QQQ Championship at a course to be named in the Los Angeles area on Oct. 27-30, which will be the first event of the post-season.
It will be followed by the Dominion Charity Classic, on the James River Course at the Country Club of Virginia in Richmond, Va., on Nov. 3-Nov. 6.
The Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the traditional season-ending event on the Champions Tour and the playoff finale, will be played at Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Nov. 10-13.
The winner of the Charles Schwab Cup will earn a $1 million bonus and the top five finishers will also receive bonus payouts.
“We’re excited to bring playoffs to the Champions Tour starting in 2016,” said Chuck Schwab, founder of the Charles Schwab Corporation. “We’re taking what is already a great Champions Tour and making it better, with a more interesting format, increased competition, higher stakes, better for fans.
“And with playoffs, in order to win the Charles Schwab Cup, not only do you have to have a successful season, but now you have to perform in the clutch during the playoffs, when it counts the most, and against the best competition.”
A third new event on the senior circuit schedule, the $2-million American Family Insurance Championship, will be played at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., on June 24-26,
The tournament will be hosted by Steve Stricker, a Wisconsin native and 12-time winner on the PGA Tour who will become eligible to compete on the Champions Tour in 2017.
Bernhard Langer of Germany captured the Charles Schwab Cup for a record third time last Sunday, when he lost in a playoff to Billy Andrade in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Last year, Langer wrapped up the title before the final event, but that won’t be possible under the playoff format.
