The PGA Tour is one of the most famous sports leagues in the world and the dominant tour in men's professional golf, but did you know that it also runs a number of other tours?
The main PGA Tour is home to the majority of the elite players playing men's professional golf as they aim to win the biggest prize funds and claim the biggest honors in the game, however, its other tours support up-and-coming players, golfers from Canada, Latin America, over 50s and basically anyone who is looking to make it to the big leagues.
Here's a look at the other tours the main PGA Tour operates...
Korn Ferry Tour
Scottie Scheffler won the Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honors in 2019
This is a US developmental tour in which golfers try and work their way to the PGA Tour. The top 30 players on the season-long standings at the conclusion of the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Championship will earn a PGA Tour membership for the 2024 season. Events aren’t just exclusive to the United States, with tournaments held in Brazil, Mexico, and Canada amongst other countries.
The Korn Ferry Tour has had a few different names, starting out as the Ben Hogan Tour in 1990, changing names (and sponsors) to the Nike Tour, Buy.com Tour, Nationwide Tour and Web.com Tour.
A number of Major winners have come through the Korn Ferry Tour as money list winners, including Tom Lehman, Stewart Cink, Zach Johnson, Jimmy Walker and, most recently, Scottie Scheffler.
PGA Tour Canada
This was taken over by the PGA Tour in November 2012, having been originally founded in 1970 and Mackenzie investments became the sponsor of the tour in 2015. It is an international developmental tour and it provides access to the Korn Ferry Tour as a pathway to the main PGA Tour.
A number of players have come through the 'Canadian Tour', as it's known, to the main tour in recent years, including PGA Tour winners JJ Spaun, Joel Dahmen and Mackenzie Hughes.
PGA Tour Latinoamerica
Mitchell Meissner won the 2022 PGA Tour Latinoamerica Order of Merit to earn Korn Ferry Tour status
Formed in 2012, the PGA Tour Latinoamerica is another developmental tour run by the PGA Tour that holds events throughout South America and Mexico.
The Order of Merit winner gains a Korn Ferry Tour card, with the rest of the top five earning spots into Korn Ferry Tour Final Qualifying. Places six to 50 go to the stage prior to Final Qualifying.
PGA Tour Champions
Bernhard Langer with the Charles Schwab Cup in 2018
Originally named the Senior PGA Tour having been formed in 1980, it settled on its current name of the PGA Tour Champions following the 2015 season. This tour allows golfers aged 50 and over who may have lost the ability to regular challenge at the top on the PGA Tour the opportunity to compete for prizes including the Senior Major Championships.
It features 54-hole tournaments with no cut mainly, aside from the five Senior Majors that are played over 72-holes and 36-hole cuts. Each season, players compete for the Charles Schwab Cup, with Bernhard Langer winning the money list title a record 11 times. Langer has won over $30m on the PGA Tour Champions and 44 titles as of 2023, one shy of Hale Irwin's record.
PGA Tour China
England's Callum Tarren won the 2018 PGA Tour China Order of Merit
The PGA Tour China was another part of the PGA Tour’s global expansion, although it ceased to exist in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It started in 2014 and had five full seasons before shutting down. The tour's top finishers on the Order of Merit earned Korn Ferry Tour status ranging from a full card to the champion to entry into Q-school and some starts for lower finishers.
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