A mixed team event will return to the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour schedule in 2023 with the QBE Shootout, the Associated Press has reported.
The last time the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour sponsored an event was the 1999 JCPenney Classic, where John Daly and Laura Davies won at Innisbrook. Finally, that is all set to change next year as the influence of women’s golf continues to grow.
Billy Horschel, who will play in this week's QBE Shootout - which also features LPGA Tour players Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson - welcomed the news. He said: “I think it’s something that needed to be done for quite a while. When you look at the game of golf, the fans want to see more team events, see something different. It’s going to benefit the PGA Tour, but I think it’s going to benefit the LPGA Tour even more in terms of getting more exposure.”
Mixed team events were first introduced in 1960 with the Haig & Haig Scotch Foursome, which became the JCPenney Classic in 1995. However, given the raised profile of the women’s game in recent years, the reintroduction of a mixed-team event to the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour schedules adds to the sense that the momentum it currently has will gather pace.
This year, the women’s game continued its upward trajectory. Evidence of that came with the LPGA’s season-closing CME Group Tour Championship, which offered the highest prize in the history of a women’s tournament, at $2m. Meanwhile, the LPGA Tour has announced a record purse of over $100m across its 33 tournaments for 2023. Elsewhere, the LET’s Aramco Team Series has helped grow the profile of the women’s game, while last week’s ISPS Handa Australian Open was the first time national open events for men and women had been played together.
Details of next year's QBE Shootout, including format and qualification criteria, have not been confirmed.
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