The PGA Tour policy board approved eligibility changes Monday that eliminate 25 cards through the FedEx Cup in the first reduction of jobs since the all-exempt tour began in 1983.
Starting in 2026, only the top 100 in the FedEx Cup are assured full status the following year.
The board voted on proposals from the 16-member Player Advisory Council aimed at giving everyone who earns a full PGA Tour card a chance to get into enough tournaments to have a fair chance at keeping their cards.
It also approved smaller field sizes — a maximum of 144 players, down from 156 — for tournaments on one course with ample daylight hours. Another change was eliminating the four restricted sponsor exemptions, allocating them to what amounts to the alternate list.
Open tournaments still get unrestricted sponsor exemptions (typically four) they can give to whomever they want.
With changes not taking effect until 2026, that makes next year even more cutthroat with more than 170 players who have cards trying to finish in the top 100.
“The PAC discussions were based on a number of guiding principles, including our belief that PGA Tour membership is the pinnacle of achievement in men’s professional golf,” said Adam Scott, a player director on the policy board who who also serve on the competitions subcommittee of the PAC.
“The changes approved today will provide equitable playing opportunities for new young talent to be showcased, and positively refine the playing experience for our members.”
It will be tougher than ever to get a PGA Tour card.
Along with players having to finish in the top 100 — tournament winners still get a two-year exemption — the tour will award only 20 cards to the Korn Ferry Tour, along with cards for the leading 10 players not already exempt on the European tour and five from Q-school.
Players who came through the Korn Ferry and Europe fall behind the top 100 and tournament winners in the priority list. Previously, they often had to go weeks at a time without a spot for them to play.
Up until the early 1980s, only the top 60 were exempt and everyone else had to go through qualifying. Because players had a card that didn’t guarantee starts, the PGA Tour switched to the all-exempt tour for the top 125 in 1983. That’s been the number ever since.
It’s the latest significant adjustment to the tour since the disruption of Saudi-backed LIV Golf, which began in June 2022. In the last two years, the tour has created $20 million signature events with limited fields and a postseason for only the top 70 players.
“The reality is that we’re all playing under different circumstances than we were four years ago,” PAC Chairman Camilo Villegas said in three weeks ago when the changes were proposed. “We had no competition. We were the best. All of a sudden we have competition and there are little shifts. The changes we’re proposing make a better product. What does having a PGA Tour card mean?”
The tour also announced changes to the FedEx Cup points distribution that start in 2025, awarding more points to second place and decreasing points from 11th place and down. For signature events, the decrease starts after seventh place.
Monday qualifying will offer four spots only to 144-man fields, reducing the number to two spots for 132-man fields and none when only 120 players are in the field.
There also was the ongoing pace-of-play problem, which rules officials for years have argued was due primarily to too many players on the course. The field sizes would be 120 players before Daylight Savings Time, then up to 132 players and a maximum of 144 in the summer.
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