Opinion & Analysis

25 different ways to play on the PGA Tour

Published

12 years ago

May 2, 2014

The average PGA Tour field size ranges from 132-to-144 players each week, with some tournaments having even smaller fields. The smaller events are major championships, World Golf Championships and invitationals like The Memorial.

The field size may seem like a lot of players, but there are roughly around 230 PGA Tour members with full and partial tour status. In any given week there are 90-to-100 players who don’t get in the field based on their status. They can either take the week off or play in the Web.com Tour event that week if there is one.

PGA Tour Qualifying School, or Q-School, is not an option anymore for players to gain status on the PGA Tour. They have to go through the Web.com Tour now as a route to get to the big show.

One player everyone is familiar with who has had a bumpy road in the past few years with injuries and poor play is Paul Casey. At one point, he was ranked as high as No. 3 in the Official World Golf Rankings, and has racked up a total of 15 professional wins worldwide. This year, without status, he will be playing on the PGA Tour under No. 9, 16 and 22 from the list below.

Here’s a complete list of ways golfers can gain PGA Tour membership status or get into a PGA Tour field.

1st Way

Winners of the PGA Championship or U.S. Open prior to 1970 or in the last five seasons from the current year.

2nd Way

Winners of The Players Championship in the last five seasons.

3rd Way

Winners of the Masters in last five seasons.

4th Way

Winners of the British Open in last five seasons.

5th Way

Winners of the Tour Championship last three seasons.

6th Way

Winners of World Golf Championships last three seasons.

7th Way

Leading points leader from FedEx Cup points list in the last five seasons.

8th Way

Leading money list winner on the PGA Tour in the last five seasons.

9th Way

Winner of a PGA Tour event in the last two seasons.

10th Way

Any player in the top-50 in career earnings may elect to use a one time exemption for the next season.

11th Way

Any player in the top-25 in career earnings may elect to use a one time exemption for the next season.

12th Way

Two international players designated by the commissioner.

13th Way

The current PGA Club Professional Champion may play up to six open tournaments, but three must be opposite of British Open and World Golf Championship events.

14th Way

PGA Section Champion or Player of the Year of the Section in which the tournament is played.

15th Way

Four low scores of the Monday qualifier during the tournament week.

16th Way

Past champions for the event for that particular in the past five seasons.

17th Way

Top-125 players of the previous season’s FedExCup points list.

18th Way

Top-125 on the previous season’s Official Money List through the Wyndham Championship.

19th Way

Top-25 players on the Web.com money list from previous season.

20th Way

Players winning three events in current Web.com Tour season.

21st Way

Players finishing between 126-150 of the prior year’s FedExCup List.

22nd Way

Sponsor exemption decided by the tournament of the current week.

23rd Way

Special Temporary Members: If during the course of a PGA Tour season, a non-member of the PGA Tours earns an amount of points equal to the amount won in the preceding season by the 150th finisher on the FedExCup points list, he will be eligible to become a special temporary member for the remainder of the season.

24th Way

Team Tournament Winners: Winners of co-sponsored team championships, in order of the total number of team championship tournaments won.

25th Way

Veteran members (players who have made a minimum of 150 cuts during their career), in order of their standing on the PGA Tour Career Money List.

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Josh Thompson

Josh is a retired professional golfer who won the Hooters Tour Touchstone Energy Open at age 21. He has played competitive golf all across the U.S. and holds four courses records. He now has his amateur status back, and works at a digital marketing agency in NYC. Josh is also the Co-Founder of My Golf Tutor, an online golf instructional website.

8 Comments

Double Mocha Man

May 3, 2014 at 10:13 pm

Somebody told me if I win or place second in my club championship I’d get an exemption to play in the Masters next year.

Reply Report comment
- Break80
  
  May 6, 2014 at 1:38 am
  
  Yes. And if your top money earner during the Tuesday night skins game you’ll be inducted into the world golf hall of fame.
  
  I missed out last week by $5 skin…. But I immediately hit the range after my rd of 9 holes and tweaked it (I was hitting it too pure and over-cooking the draw, flying too many greens, instead of controlling my spin and trajectory, but…I’m so close.)
  
  I’m sure we’ll be fighting over a green jacket soon, good luck guy.
  
  Reply Report comment
- ken
  
  May 7, 2014 at 12:38 pm
  
  There no “exemptions” to the Masters. Only certain criteria one must meet. These are referred to by the Club as “invitations”.
  Former winners of The Masters
  Winners of the last five U.S. Opens
  Winners of the last five British Opens
  Winners of the last five PGA Championships
  Winners of the last three Players Championships
  Winner and runner-up from the last U.S. Amateur Championship
  Winner of the last British Amateur Championship
  Winner of the last Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
  Winner of the last U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship
  Winner of the last U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship
  The top 12 finishers (including ties) from last year’s Masters tournament
  The top 4 finishers (including ties), from last year’s U.S. Open
  The top 4 finishers (including ties) from last year’s British Open
  The top 4 finishers (including ties) from last year’s PGA Championship
  Winners of PGA Tour events that award full FedEx Cup points, from the period of the previous Masters to the current Masters
  All golfers who qualified for the previous year’s Tour Championship
  The Top 50 golfers in the final Official World Golf Ranking of the previous calendar year
  The Top 50 golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking from the week prior to the current Masters
  
  Reply Report comment
Eppey

May 3, 2014 at 1:22 pm

Has the 20 win permanent status rule been removed?

Reply Report comment
michael

May 2, 2014 at 1:44 pm

correct me if im wrong but all these ways you have to be already currenlty on the pga tour to play in these events. so there is really on 3 ways to play on the PGA tour vs the 25 on the title.

Reply Report comment
- ken
  
  May 7, 2014 at 12:33 pm
  
  No. These criteria are to maintain status. For example, Nick Faldo used his all time money list top 50 to enter the RBC Heritage.
  Also, should a player have his game go off the reservation and have difficulty making cuts( Derrick Ernst) he can use his exemption status to keep playing. I used Ernst as an example because he won at Charlotte which gave him a 2 yr exemption. He gets to play on the Tour even though he’s only made 8 of his last 18 cuts.
  
  Reply Report comment
Curtis

May 2, 2014 at 12:09 pm

Wow! I still have no chance…damnit!!

Reply Report comment
- ken
  
  May 7, 2014 at 12:40 pm
  
  That makes about 7 billion of us
  
  Reply Report comment

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