The PGA Tour's proposed "Q-School changes will not be implemented until at least" '13, according to Sean Martin of GOLFWEEK. The Tour "had planned to implement in 2012 wholesale changes to Q-School and the Nationwide Tour, but prolonged debate about those modifications has forced the Tour to put the plan on hold." Nationwide Tour President Bill Calfee said that it is "too late to get the new system in place for the 2012 season." Martin noted the Tour "would need a new qualifying procedure in place before the start of the season so players know what's at stake at season's end." The proposed changes would make "50 PGA Tour cards available through a season-ending, three-tournament series that pits the Nationwide Tour's top players against those at the bottom of the PGA Tour money list." The "general structure for the qualifying series seems to be in place," but there has been "debate about how to rank players who've spent the year competing on tours with disparate purse sizes." Under the new system, "only Nationwide Tour cards would be available at Q-School." Meanwhile, the PGA Tour's proposed Latin American tour, "which would provide Nationwide Tour cards, will not begin until at least the fall" of '12. Calfee said that "it was hoped the tour could begin in early 2012, but an umbrella sponsor has not been found" (GOLFWEEK.com, 9/15).
DOWN BY THE BAY: In S.F., Ron Kroichick noted the PGA Tour's contract with the city "calls for the 'penultimate playoff event' to be held at Harding Park" in '13 or '14. But the "folks in Chicago also have an agreement by which their tournament cannot be held elsewhere for three consecutive years -- and the tour probably doesn't want to completely abandon the nation's third-largest market anyway." Kroichick notes, "Word in Chicago is that the 2013 BMW probably will leave Cog Hill, a course widely despised by the players, but still take place in the area." A PGA Tour exec visited S.F. "last week to meet with city officials, hoping to resolve this self-made quandary" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/15).
