Golf: US PGA Tour unveils 2009 schedule

The US PGA Tour unveiled its 2009 schedule on Tuesday, and despite tough economic times the circuit features 25 tournaments offering at least six million dollars in prize money.

From its headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, the US tour said its policy board had approved the schedule through the regular season and the first three weeks of the FedExCup playoffs.

Still up in the air is whether the final playoff event, the Tour Championship, will immediately follow the BMW Championship or be separated by one week.

Also new for 2009 is a change in dates for the Texas Open, which moves from the post-playoffs Fall Series to the week of May 11-17.

It takes over the slot of a tournament in Atlanta, which has been discontinued.

In the only other change, the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines and the FBR Open in Scottsdale, Arizona, swap weeks, putting the FBR Open January 29-February 1 and the Buick February 5-8.

That could make it a shade more likely that superstar Tiger Woods could launch his comeback from knee surgery at Torrey Pines, where he has won five straight events - the last four Buick tournaments and a scintillating triumph in the US Open last June.

Woods himself has said he is not sure when his surgically repaired knee will be ready for the rigors of competition.

No doubt he will try to play sometime before the Masters, the first major of 2009 which will be held at Augusta National April 9-12.

The US Open championship will be held at Bethpage Black June 18-21, the British Open at Turnberry is slated for July 16-19, and the final major of the year, the US PGA Championship, will be held at Hazeltine August 13-16.

"While we have a couple of late-season scheduling issues to resolve, we felt it was best to release the majority of what we believe is an outstanding schedule for 2009 that is fully sponsored," PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said.

Once the dates for the Tour Championship are finalized, the schedule for the Fall Series will be announced.

Finchem said that despite the economic downturn, the tour expects to exceed the 123 million dollars that was generated by its tournaments for charity in 2007.

"The tournaments and their sponsors have worked extremely hard during this difficult economic time to sustain their significant charitable contributions," Finchem said. "They are to be commended for doing such an outstanding job."