First ever ‘wraparound’ PGA Tour gets underway

(Reuters) – The 2013-14 PGA Tour season began in cool, calm conditions at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, California with yesterday’s opening round of the Frys.com Open, launching a campaign that will span 12 months.

For the first time in almost a century, the U.S. circuit gets underway with a ‘wraparound’ season starting in October, rather than its traditional opening in January.

The 2013-14 PGA Tour will include events in Malaysia, China, Mexico, Puerto Rico, England and Canada before winding up in Atlanta with the elite season-ending Tour Championship to be played from Sep. 11-14.

Six events will be held before the end of the 2013 calendar year, with the season then breaking for approximately one-and-a-half months through December.

The schedule resumes with the Jan. 3-6 Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Kapalua, Hawaii and will then move mainly through California, Florida and Texas toward the opening major of the year, the Apr. 10-13 Masters.