The FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship will be the first of three tournaments in the 2023 Epson Tour schedule that will count towards the Potawatomi Cup. The cup is hosted by Native American tribes in the Potawatomi Nation, with this being the tenth annual competition. The two other events for the Potawatomi Cup are the Island Resort Championship (Harris, MI) and the Four Winds Invitational (South Bend, IN).
The cup is broken down by a points system that is the same for each tournament. The unique aspect of the Potawatomi Cup is the bonus amount for the cumulative leaders after each event and for the overall leaders after the final event. Here is how the breakdown will work for each event:
| Potawatomi Cup Breakdown | ||
|---|---|---|
| Finish Position | Cup Points | Bonus Money Earned |
| 1st | 500 | $3,000 |
| 2nd | 300 | $2,000 |
| 3rd | 190 | $1,000 |
| 4th | 135 | $750 |
| 5th | 110 | $500 |
The top six in cumulative points will earn bonus money at the end of each event, with the overall leader in points earning a $5,000 bonus at the end of the third event (Four Winds Invitational). The second-place finisher in points will earn $2,500, while the third-place finisher will earn $1,000.
Players will earn points by making the cut in each event, with the top 60 players earning points.
“We are excited to continue the tradition, now in its 10th year of recognizing our long time Potawatomi sponsored events with the awarding of the 2023 Potawatomi Cup Champion following the conclusion of our South Bend event,” said Tim Kramer, Epson Tour VP, Tournament Business Affairs. “Players will begin this week earning points as well as bonus money. We cannot wait to see how the Potawatomi Cup plays out this year.”
The 2022 Potawatomi Cup champion, Ssu-Chia Cheng, will be in the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship field. Cheng is a past FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship winner, taking home hardware from Battle Creek during the 2019 season. The Chinese Taipei native has had some great success during the playing of the Potawatomi Cup, also winning at the Island Resort Championship, another event in the Potawatomi Cup series, during the 2022 season. The victory in Harris helped Cheng clinch the 2022 Potawatomi Cup at the Four Winds Invitational.
“I’m very happy to get it,” said Cheng after winning the Potawatomi Cup in 2022. “I didn’t expect it at all, but you always say yes to extra money. I appreciate their support of the players. To do extra bonuses and support for the players is really good, and we appreciate that.”
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