PGA Tour to consider big changes to eligibility and small field sizes

GOLF

Sung Kang, of South Korea, hits a shot off of the 10th hole during the first round of the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, on May 12, 2022. EMIL LIPPE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE

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By Doug Ferguson

The Associated Press

The PGA Tour is considering sweeping changes that would eliminate 25 cards through the FedEx Cup and shrink the size of fields, part of a plan to make golf’s biggest circuit even more competitive while reducing the time it takes to play and making it easier to watch.

Proposed changes include reducing by 10 the tour cards awarded to Korn Ferry Tour players and limiting the four Monday qualifying spots for fields smaller than 144 players. There would be two open spots for 132-man fields, none for regular tournaments of 120 players.

The proposal sent to players Tuesday, and obtained by The Associated Press, was developed by the 16-member Player Advisory Council that has been crafting the changes since May. The driving force was to make a full PGA Tour card have real value.

With so many eligible players — 125 from the FedEx Cup (or money list) had been the standard since 1983 — newcomers from the Korn Ferry Tour or Q-school often had to wait to see if there was room for them in tournaments.

If approved by the PGA Tour board at its Nov. 18 meeting, changes would start in 2026.

It would be 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 a telephone interview. “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 currently gives priority to tournament winners and the top 125 in the FedEx Cup, with greater perks depending on a player’s ranking.

The proposal would give full status to the top 100 in the FedEx Cup, the 10 players eligible players from the European tour, the top 20 from the Korn Ferry Tour and five from Q-school.

There would be an additional spot lower down the priority list — behind such categories as PGA Tour University, life members and career money — for those who finished from Nos. 101 to 125. They are estimated to get in about 15 or so tournaments.

Villegas said the PAC was divided into four subcommittees, which he said allowed for more ideas and easier communication. Key to two main meetings was leaving behind self-interests.

PAC members range from Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas to Nick Hardy and Adam Schenk.

“Obviously there’s going to be casualties along the way,” Villegas said. “It is going to be harder. There’s not going to be 125 cards, but 100. There’s not going to be 30 Korn Ferry cards, but 20. I’m 190-something in the FedEx Cup. All these proposed changes can affect me, but it’s not about me. It’s about the game.

“We want to make the product as strong as possible for the sponsors, for the fans, for the players,” he said. “If we perform, there’s an opportunity to make an unbelievable living. You just keep working on your dream like you did when you were a kid.”

There also was the ongoing problem of slow play, 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.

That’s for regular tournaments. The eight signature events with the $20 million purses would remain capped at 72 players, filling the field, if necessary, based on current form.

The proposal also suggested changes to the FedEx Cup points distribution, which Villegas said was inspired by a detailed analysis of board member Maverick McNealy. That mainly would reduce points awarded from the middle of the pack.

If approved, that still might not be the end of changes. The PGA Tour is in negotiation with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia — the financial backing of LIV — to become a minority investor in the commercial PGA Tour Enterprises.

Villegas has not been involved in those meetings. He joins the PGA Tour board next year, replacing Jordan Spieth.

“If we do a deal with PIF, there are more changes to come,” he said. “I don’t know how those would affect the schedule, how that will affect the pathways.”

This story has been corrected to show that the board is meeting Nov. 18, not Nov. 11, and there will be two open qualifying spots for 132-man fields.