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Greetings ...

The changes to the Florida PGA Tour schedule in 2007 are bound to have an impact on the Masters Qualifications criteria.

Currently, the week of the Players Championship (March 23-26 in 2006) is the cut-off for final qualifying. Next year, the Players will move to May. This will result in the PLayers winner being eligible for Augusta for a full three years after, rather than for the current year and the next two years after.

As for the "after the Players Championship" Top 50 World Rankings and Top 10 PGA Tour Money List Categories, there are options for both Augusta and the PGA Tour.

Augusta National could choose to leave the cut-off point right where it is, making the WGC-CA Championship at Doral the last event in which players can play for a Masters invite.

= OR = Augusta National could move the cut-off point to the week prior to the CA-Doral event, thus making the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill the last event to qualify.

A cut-off point one week before the CA-Doral event would open up an opportunity for the PGA Tour.

Subject to agreement by all three events -- the Honda Classic, the Chrysler-Tampa Bay Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a rotational schedule placing these events in the slot prior to the CA-Doral could be implemented as follows ---

2007-2008; 2013-2014; 2019-2020; etc. Arnold Palmer Invitational
2009-2010; 2015-2016; 2021-2022; etc. Chrysler-Tampa Bay
2011-2012; 2017-2018; 2023-2024; etc. Honda Classic

With this schedule PLUS an Augusta National-mandated change in the cut-off point for the final Masters invites, the Honda and Tampa events could benefit in several ways.

Of course, this is all speculation as of now. We'll just have to wait and see what really happens.

I don't think it's going to be as complicated as you propose. The Masters tournament committee will probably pick one date and stick to it. Remember they are independent of the PGA so there really nothing they have to "work out". Also your proposal makes some conjectures about what may happen after 2010. In the ever change world or corporate mergers and changing PGA sponsherships we can't even be sure any of the pre-Masters events will even be held or held on the same dates they are now. That's another reason the tournament committee will probably stick to a set date.

I think it's a non issue. As ce me golf says the Masters will just pick a new date and cut off tournament.

brianf