Ever turn on your TV mid-week expecting regular programming only to find live PGA Tour golf? You're not just seeing things. While almost every professional golf tournament follows a strict Thursday through Sunday schedule, a select few marquee events break the mold and kick things off on a Wednesday. This article will explain exactly why some of the most exciting tournaments of the year give you that extra day of golf.
To understand the exception, you first need to understand the rule. For decades, the standard PGA Tour event has been a 72-hole, stroke-play competition spanning four days. It’s a rhythm that golf fans know and love.
This structure is efficient and time-tested. It gives players adequate prep time and provides the broadcaster with a clean, compelling weekend storyline. So, when this schedule changes, there’s always a very specific and interesting reason for it.
The most common reason for a Wednesday tournament start is a Pro-Am tournament that’s so big it can’t be contained in a single day or on a single course. These aren’t your typical Wednesday sponsor days, these events are the main attraction, with amateurs playing alongside the pros during the competition rounds.
The best example of this is The American Express tournament in La Quinta, California, or the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the Monterey Peninsula. Here’s why these events need an extra day:
Think about the sheer numbers. In a standard tournament, you have about 156 pros. In a multi-course Pro-Am like Pebble Beach, you have a field of 156 pros and 156 amateurs. That's 312 players who need to get a round in. It is simply impossible to get that many players around one golf course in a single day, especially during winter months when daylight is limited.
To solve this, tournaments like these use a rotation of three different golf courses for the first three days.
From a coaching perspective, these tournaments present a unique mental challenge for the professional. Not only do they have to manage their own game and navigate multiple courses, but they also have to be a host and playing partner to their amateur. It requires a different level of focus and patience compared to a standard event. They are trying to "do their day job" while also ensuring their partner has a memorable experience.
Another major departure from the norm is the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. This event uses a completely different format than 99% of the golf we see on TV. Instead of stroke play, where every shot counts toward a cumulative total, this is match play, which is a head-to-head battle. You are playing against the one person in your group, hole by hole. Win a hole, you go 1-up. Lose one, you go back to even. The total score doesn’t matter - only winning more holes than your opponent does.
To get a 64-player field down to one single champion through this format requires a lot of matches. So, the tournament borrows from the structure of other major global sporting events like the FIFA World Cup.
Here’s how the WGC-Match Play flows, necessitating a Wednesday start:
This structure simply wouldn’t work in a Thursday-Sunday window. The three days of round-robin play create an exciting "group stage" that fills the midweek, building anticipation for the do-or-die knockout rounds over the weekend. It also ensures fans get to see top players compete for at least three full days, unlike a stroke play event where their favorite player might miss the cut on Friday.
As a coach, I love match play because it’s a pure test of grit and strategy. You're not playing against the course, you're playing the opponent. It encourages aggressive play. If your opponent hits one in the water, you can play safely to the center of the green for an easy win. If they stick it to three feet, you have no choice but to fire right at the pin. This constant adjustment and direct competition make it one of the most compelling events of the year.
Finally, there's a third reason you might be seeing live golf on a Wednesday: a major championship tradition. In this case, the tournament itself doesn't start, but one of its most cherished festivities takes place.
The iconic example is The Masters Par 3 Contest.
This isn't part of the 72-hole tournament, and no-one’s score carries over to Thursday’s round. The Par 3 Contest, held on the Wednesday of Masters week, is a beloved tradition and a chance for fans and players to collectively exhale before the immense pressure of the tournament begins.
It's played on a special, nine-hole course located on the Augusta National grounds. Players often have family members and children act as their caddies, sometimes even letting them hit a putt or a chip. It's filled with smiles, laughs, and a surprising number of holes-in-one on the short, friendly holes. For the players, it is the calm before the storm. For the Patrons at Augusta and the viewers at home, it marks the true, spiritual start of the Masters.
So, while the quest for the Green Jacket doesn't officially begin until the first tee shot on Thursday morning, Wednesday at Augusta has become an unmissable part of the experience.
The next time you tune in for Wednesday golf, you’ll know exactly what’s happening. Instead of an ordinary tournament, you are likely witnessing a unique and exciting format, whether it’s a massive Pro-Am across multiple courses, a thrilling head-to-head match play bracket, or a beloved tradition like the Masters Par 3 contest.
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