Decrease in Course Areas in Proposed Modifications to PGA Tour
In a 23-page document sent to players on Tuesday, the PGA Tour Player Advisory Council outlined proposals that aim to enhance the tournament experience and revise the FedEx Cup points system, according to multiple reports.
Under the potential changes, which would not take effect until the 2026 season, some PGA Tour events could see a decrease in the number of participants by up to 12, while the total number of players holding a PGA Tour card would also be reduced.
The reasons for the smaller fields vary, ranging from concerns about pace of play to the number of early rounds that are postponed to the following day due to darkness.
One of the proposed changes is to increase the number of FedEx Cup points awarded to runner-up finishers in major tournaments and the Players Championship, while decreasing the points awarded to players who finish further down the leaderboard in majors and signature events.
All of these proposed changes would be subject to a vote by the PGA Tour policy board on November 18, as reported by ESPN.
Some notable proposed changes include:
- Reducing the number of players in a full-field event played on a single golf course from 156 to 144. For full-field events played on one course before daylight savings time, the number of players would decrease from 132 to 120. Tournaments played on multiple courses would still have 156-player fields.
- Decreasing the number of exempt players on the PGA Tour from 125 to 100, with the 25 eliminated spots maintaining conditional status.
- Reducing the number of PGA Tour cards earned through the Korn Ferry Tour from 30 to 20 per year, and limiting the number of cards earned through qualifying school to five.
- Increasing the number of FedEx Cup points awarded to runner-up finishers in major tournaments by 100, while decreasing the points awarded to players who finish 11th place and below by 10.
