Evidence is out there to predict the 2019 PGA Tour schedule

This week's Valero Texas Open has been in a vulnerable spot on the PGA Tour schedule, coming two weeks after the Masters at a time when players traditionally are looking to take a break.

It has happened again this year, with a number of big names staying away. Sergio Garcia and Matt Kuchar are the best players in the field, according to the Official World Ranking -- which is not always how we should judge a tournament.

The Texas Open is a favorite of the PGA Tour because of the charitable dollars it raises -- more than $11 million last year and more than $100 million over the course of its existence.

That is among several reasons why the tournament will get an upgrade next year, moving to the week before the Masters. And while that date has its challenges, too, it does offer one last chance to get into the year's first major while providing a tuneup for others.

It is also yet another example of how significantly the PGA Tour schedule will change in 2019 as the PGA Championship moves to May, the Players Championship moves to March, and the FedEx Cup playoffs end around Labor Day instead of late September.

Last week's announcement that the World Golf Championships event in Akron, Ohio, would be moving to Memphis is another piece of a complicated scenario. Hints by various tournaments about their contractual dates for next year -- along with other sleuthing -- allows for some educated guessing about next year's schedule.

The season will begin in the fall of this year after the Ryder Cup, with eight tournaments played over seven weeks, including the WGC-HSBC Champions in China and two other overseas events in Malaysia and South Korea.

Here is a rundown of how the rest of 2019 might play out.

West Coast swing

Starting at the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Jan. 3, 2019, the first seven weeks of the new year are expected to be as they were in 2018: Sentry, followed by the Sony Open, CareerBuilder Challenge, Farmers Insurance Open, Waste Management Phoenix Open, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Open.

Then things begin to change.

WGCs, Players all in six weeks

After two years of the schedule going from California (Genesis in Los Angeles) to Florida (Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens) and then to Mexico, the order will make more sense.

The WGC-Mexico Championship will follow Genesis and be played Feb. 21-24, in the time slot that Honda went this year. Honda will follow, giving Florida a true swing of four events in a row.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational, which has announced its dates from March 7-10, will precede the Players Championship as it returns to March for the first time since 2006. The Valspar Championship, which has also announced its dates as March 21-24, gives Florida four straight.

Then comes the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, followed by the Valero Texas Open and the Masters.

By moving the Players back to March, the tour will now have two World Golf events and its signature Players Championship in a six-week span. The Masters is a week later next year (the tournament always concludes on the second Sunday of April), which allows for all those tournaments. But that is a lot of high-powered tournaments in a short time, so something seemingly has to give -- and perhaps down the road the WGC-Match Play is moved.

Post-Masters

The RBC Heritage takes its traditional spot at Hilton Head, a short drive from Augusta, Georgia, the week after the Masters. With the Masters a week later, there is room for one less event between it and the U.S. Open, so the Zurich Classic (now a team event) moves to this week's spot a year from now. Although nothing has been announced, the Wells Fargo Championship is expected to follow.

And that is when things again get interesting. The PGA Championship's move to May is not as simple as taking the Players Championship's spot, which has traditionally been on Mother's Day weekend. It will go a week later, separating the Dallas-Fort Worth events which are expected to fall before and after. Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament would follow, two weeks before the U.S. Open.

FedEx's decision to become a title sponsor of the World Golf Championship event in August leaves an opening the week before the U.S. Open. Perhaps the Houston Open, without a title sponsor, gets that spot?

Post-U.S. Open

Following the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, the PGA Tour heads to Connecticut for the Travelers Championship, which has embraced its spot following a major.

Tiger Woods' tournament in Washington, D.C. -- this year simply called The National -- follows on the schedule for now, but its future is unclear. The event is without a title sponsor. Started in 2007 as a way to benefit Woods' foundation and honor the military, it was originally scheduled around 4th of July activities but ends this year on July 1. Whether the event moves -- or is even run by Woods' foundation -- remains to be seen.

The Greenbrier follows, and there have been rumblings about it moving to the fall as part of an expanded post-Tour Championship slate of tournaments with the John Deere Classic the week before The Open.

Post-Open Championship

The Canadian Open has followed The Open for years, and would love to get out of that slot. Perhaps it moves ahead of The Open if the Greenbrier moves? It is a tough spot on the schedule for any North American event given the travel from the United Kingdom.

Although a date has not been announced, the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational -- the new name for the event moved from Akron, Ohio, to Memphis -- is expected to fall in its traditional spot two weeks after The Open. With no PGA Championship following it, the PGA Tour could then conclude its regular season with the Wyndham Championship -- the last chance to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs.

FedEx Cup playoffs

The four-tournament series that began in 2007 is expected to be reduced to just three tournaments starting in 2019, with the event outside of Boston no longer part of the mix or in a rotation with the New York-area event now known as the Northern Trust.

With no PGA Championship and no need for an off week, the PGA Tour -- and especially sponsor FedEx -- can conclude its season before the NFL and college football seasons begin, a long desired goal to improve television ratings for these tournaments. After the Northern Trust comes the BMW Championship and then the Tour Championship.

An altered points structure is expected with only three events, and don't be surprised if the $10 million bonus and overall $35 million bonus pool increase. If the players have one less $9.5 million purse as part of the playoffs, they'll at least have more compensation in the bonus pool.

With several aspects still to be ironed out -- including how the fall schedule will look -- PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is expected to unveil what it will truly look like next month at the final Players Championship tournament.