Later BMW Championship, shorter Match Play tilt on 2011 PGA Tour schedule

  December 2 -- Finally, road-weary PGA Tour golfers will get a well-deserved break from their grinding routine of playing one spectacular golf course after another. When the PGA Tour announces its 2011 schedule later today, it will reportedly include a longer hiatus between the Deutsche Bank Championship’s Monday (Labor Day) finish and the start of the BMW Championship.

Shorter Match Play final. The tour schedule will also feature a shorter Accenture Match Play final. Instead of Sunday’s traditional 36-hole championship bout, the final competitors will play 18 holes in the afternoon after the morning’s two semifinals contest, according to Golfweek’s Jim McCabe. The match play event will take place Feb. 23-Feb. 27, 2011.

Meanwhile, the new itinerary that Chicago Breaking Sports said will position the BMW event from September 15 through September 18, will give players more time to rest and travel between the second and third stops on the FedEx Cup trail. It should also provide fans more up-close-and-personal times with the golfers, many of whom have previously eschewed Tuesday practice rounds at Chicago’s Cog Hill Golf & Country Club.

More fan support? With the FedEx Cup taking flak earlier this year for just about every aspect of the “season-ending” “playoff” cash-grab, the calendar change may also help build more interest in the final two events. Instead of playing three matches and waiting interminably for the final one, Chicago Breaking Sports noted that the tour will split the series in two-week blocks. After all, even the Super Bowl doesn’t need two weeks of non-stop hype.

The official PGA and European Tour seasons may have ended -- and not after the FedEx Cup, no matter how the suits position it -- but the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 are still at it. Read how Lee Westwood and Tiger Woods are still chasing after golf’s top ranking.