PGA Tour announces 2012 slate

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL – The PGA Tour announced its 2012 schedule Wednesday with several new venues and some date changes to prominent events.

"The 2012 schedule again demonstrates the strength of our sport with a very strong collection of tournaments, venues and sponsors that provide outstanding playing opportunities for our members and attractive viewing options for our fans," said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem. "The FedExCup and the PGA Tour Playoffs continue to generate interest and excitement through September, with the Fall Series focusing on the drama of players fighting for their playing privileges."

Once again, there will be 37 regular-season tournaments leading up to the four Playoff events. There will also be the same four Fall Series events, but the schedule changes right out of the gate.

The season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii will feature a Monday finish to coincide with football coverage on NBC. Two weeks later, the Humana Challenge, formerly known as the Bob Hope Classic, revamped its format. It will go from a five-round tournament to four.

Other date changes include the Heritage moving to the week following the Masters with the Texas Open going to the week after the Heritage.

The Byron Nelson Championship and Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial flip- flop on the schedule with the Byron Nelson on tap for May 17-20 and Colonial the following week.

The Greenbriar Classic will be staged earlier in 2012, moving to July 5-8. The final tournament, the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic, will take place November 8-11.

There will be a one-week break in the Playoffs again this year, but it will come before the Tour Championship. The Ryder Cup from Medinah is scheduled for the week immediately after the Tour Championship.

Four tournaments change host courses, including two Playoff events.

The Barclays, the first Playoff tournament, moves to the Black Course at Bethpage and the third Playoff event, the BMW Championship, heads to Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indianapolis.

The two other changes in venue come at the AT&T National, which returns to Congressional Country Club in Washington, DC and the Canadian Open heads east to Hamilton Golf & Country Club in Ontario at the end of July.