Becoming a PGA Tour pro is a dream all young golfers have when starting out and aside from being very, very good at golf - take a look at our scratch handicap vs PGA Tour pro comparison for proof - the question is, how do you become one?
In ultra-simplistic terms, to officially become a PGA Tour pro you need to earn your PGA Tour card. So how is that done?
There are various different ways, with the world's best players earning theirs from a number of different routes.
Scottie Scheffler, for example, earned his PGA Tour card via the Korn Ferry Tour, while Jon Rahm earned his from capitalising on sponsors exemptions. Danny Willett earned his PGA Tour card after winning the 2017 Masters, while Corey Conners earned his after Monday qualifying and going on to win the Valero Texas Open.
Corey Conners Monday qualified into the 2019 Valero Texas Open and went on to win the tournament, earning a two-year PGA Tour exemption
Rahm turned pro in 2016, gained a sponsors exemption into the Quicken Loans National, finished T3rd to qualify for The Open before getting into the RBC Canadian Open too. He finished T2nd there to secure Special Temporary Member status on the PGA Tour and earned enough points in the remaining events in the season to secure his PGA Tour card for 2017.
Tom Kim was also given a Special Temporary Membership in 2022. The Korean star went on to win the Wyndham Championship to earn a two-year exemption and then another year was added on after his Shriners open win.
Earning enough points simply means accruing enough FedEx Cup points to sit inside the top 125 on the FedEx Cup standings at the end of the regular season. All 125 are guaranteed to earn cards for the next season and go on to the Playoffs. Those who finish just outside of the top 125 will tend to earn a certain number of starts on the PGA Tour for next season, where good finishes will give them the chance to qualify for more tournaments and get into the fabled 125.
Collin Morikawa's route to earning a PGA Tour card was similar to Rahm's. As an elite amateur, he had sponsors exemptions when turning professional and managed to capitalise on them to make it to the big league.
A new way to earn a PGA Tour card is via the DP World Tour. Thanks to the new strategic alliance between the two tours, the top ten finishers (without cards already) on the Race to Dubai will all earn PGA Tour status.
Keith Pelley, DP World Tour CEO
The DP World Tour and Korn Ferry Tour are the main two feeders for the PGA Tour, with ten coming from the DP World Tour each year and a total of 30 cards handed out on the Korn Ferry Tour. Three wins in a single Korn Ferry Tour season also earns a 'battlefield' automatic promotion to the main tour.
There are routes to the Korn Ferry Tour via the other tours that the PGA Tour runs including its circuits in Canada and Latin America.
The top five finishers (and ties) at the Final Stage of 2023 Q-School will earn PGA Tour cards for 2024, while the number one player in the final PGA Tour University Velocity Global Ranking also earns a PGA Tour card.
Another way to earn your PGA Tour card is to win a PGA Tour event. To tee it up in a PGA Tour event without a PGA Tour card you need a sponsor's exemption or to earn a spot via one of the tournament's Monday qualifiers.
A victory on the PGA Tour secures your card for at least two years. Some of the elevated events offer three-year exemptions with wins, while Major victories earn five-year exemptions.
Below we summarise the most common ways of earning a PGA Tour card:
- Earn one of the 30 cards given out to the Korn Ferry Tour top finishers.
- Earn one of the 10 cards given out to the DP World Tour top finishers.
- Finish in the top five of Final Stage Q-School.
- Rank number one at the end of the PGA Tour University Velocity Global Ranking.
- Win a PGA Tour event.
- Earn a sponsor's exemption and win enough points to earn your card.
- Win a Major.
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