Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler |
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USGA |
THE PGA TOUR is following a well-worn adage as it moves into the next quarter of the 21st century : Quality over quantity . In late November 2024 , the PGA Tour ’ s Policy Board ratified sweeping changes to the structure of the Tour going forward , including smaller field sizes , less chances for marginal players to play and the removal of many Monday qualifiers — all in hopes of recharging what has become a stagnant week-toweek television product .
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In short , the Tour wants its best and most popular players in contention more often . Fair or not , a Scottie vs . Rory Sunday showdown in a mid-season event will draw eyeballs . A Jason Kokrak-Matt Kuchar final-round pairing probably won ’ t . So , the best of the best will have more chances to compete in high-level events , while those outside the top 100 will have to fight like crazy just to find a spot at the table .
Starting in 2026 , there will be 100 fulltime players on the PGA Tour , down from
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125 . The number of full-time Tour cards available to Korn Ferry Tour members drops from 30 to 20 . And only the top five finishers at KFT Q School will earn KFT cards . In the past , the top five and ties graduated .
In theory , the moves should provide a trickle-down effect to strengthen the tops of the lower-level tours , like Korn Ferry and PGA Tour Americas . Competition to advance from those tours will be fiercer . The traditional path to the PGA Tour still exists , but it ’ s narrowed considerably .
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