ST. PAUL, Minn. — The PGA Tour is putting Minnesota on its schedule for the first time under an agreement that elevates a PGA Tour Champions event.
The 3M Open Fund will start its seven-year deal next summer.
The 2019 dates for the 3M Open will not be announced until the PGA Tour reveals its full schedule in the coming weeks.
Minnesota has hosted the 3M Championship on the PGA Tour Champions since 1993, and the final event for seniors will be Aug. 3-5 with Paul Goydos as the defending champion. The PGA Tour event will be held on the same course, the TPC Twin Cities.
For years, the best golfers have come to Minnesota for big events, most recently the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine in 2016. Hazeltine also hosted the PGA Championship in 2009 and 2002, and it held the 1970 U.S. Open won by Tony Jacklin.
The PGA Tour found room on the schedule for the 3M Open when the Houston Open announced it was moving to the fall starting in 2019.
Minnesota is known for its fervent support of golf, which extends to the U.S. Women’s Open in 2008 and the Solheim Cup in 2002, both at Interlachen.
That gives the PGA Tour two new markets next year that were not on the schedule this season. The tour previously announced that Quicken Loans would be the title sponsor of a new tournament in Detroit next year.