Few changes made in PGA Tour's 2010 schedule

The PGA Tour announced its 2010 schedule on Tuesday, with one new tournament and few changes to its schedule of 37 regular-season events.

The major championships are in their same calendar slots as in 2009, and also preceded and followed by the same tournaments, starting with The Masters April 8-11 at Augusta National:

• The U.S. Open returns to Pebble Beach June 17-20 for the first time since Tiger Woods' historic 15-stroke victory in 2000.

• The British Open will be played July 15-18 at the Old Course at St. Andrews, where Woods won in 2000 and 2005.

• The PGA Championship returns Aug. 12-15 to Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisc., where Vijay Singh won his third major championship in 2004.

The four-tournament FedEx Cup playoffs and the Tour Championship, to be held Sept. 23-26 in Atlanta, will be followed by the Ryder Cup, as the United States will attempt to defend its title Oct. 1-3 at Celtic Manor in Wales.

The PGA Tour features four venue changes and one new tournament in 2010.

One new course makes up a third of the rotation at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where the Shores Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club replaces Poppy Hills. The Valero Texas Open is headed to the new TPC San Antonio, and Tiger Woods' AT&T National is moving for two years from Congressional Country Club to Aronimink in suburban Philadelphia. Congressional is undergoing renovations in preparation for the 2011 U.S. Open.

The RBC Canadian Open will make its fourth apperance at St. George's Golf and Country Club in Ontario, but it is the tournament's first visit to that venue since 1968.

The lone new event on the schedule is the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia, which replaces the Buick Open on the schedule. The Buick Open ceased to exist as General Motors withdrew its sponsorship amid the company's reorganization.

There were few surprises on the schedule, as a majority of the tournaments were under contract for 2010 and were already aware of their dates.

The tournament's opening West Coast swing will have a slightly different look in 2010, as the FBR Open will follow the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, giving the tour back-to-back weeks in Arizona. The season opens Jan. 6 with the SBS Championship in Kapalua, Hawaii.

With GM's withdrawal of its sponsorship, the former Buick Invitational has been renamed the Century Club of San Diego Invitational and will be the fourth event on the schedule, following the SBS Championship, the Sony Open and the Bob Hope Classic. After San Diego, the tour heads to the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles, then to Pebble Beach before the two Arizona events.

The Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, which had been opposite the Bridgestone, now is moving opposite the British Open -- a spot previously held by a tournament in Milwaukee, which is no longer on the schedule.

The Turning Stone Resort Championship, this year played the week after the Tour Championship and as part of the Fall Series, is getting a new date as part of the FedEx Cup schedule. It will be played Aug. 5-8, opposite the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

This also is the first time since the FedEx Cup began in 2006 that the points system was left alone. Woods won the $10 million prize this year, although four players had a chance to win the cup on the back nine of the Tour Championship.

Despite speculation that the FedEx Cup playoffs would have a break after the Deutsche Bank Championship -- the second of the four playoff tournaments -- the off-week again will follow the third event, the BMW Championship in Chicago.

The Fall Series, which had five scheduled events this year and concludes with next week's Children's Miracle Network Classic at Walt Disney World, has yet to be announced.

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.