Smaller, higher quality fields look set to be part of a major overhaul of the PGA Tour’s schedule as the US circuit bids to make its tournaments more attractive to players, TV viewers. tour venues and sponsors.
A recent meeting of the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council (PAC) has laid out a raft of changes to the status quo that, if implemented, would result in the tour becoming more competitive, with reduced sized fields, fewer exemptions and fewer players being promoted from the lower tier tours.
This analysis follows extensive feedback from PGA Tour members about tournament field sizes and pace of play, along with playing privileges and the FedExCup points system. These potential changes supported by the PAC will be voted on by the PGA Tour Policy Board at its meeting next month.
The following items will be presented to the Policy Board for a vote on November 18. If agreed on, they would come into effect for the 2026 season.
- Adjust the maximum number of players in a field of from 156 to 144, with a reduction to 120 or 132 as required by circumstances such as limited daylight.
- Change exempt status from the top 125 players to the top 100 in the FedExCup and add a conditional category for those finishing 101-125.
- Decrease the number of PGA Tour cards coming from the Korn Ferry Tour from 30 to 20, while maintaining 10 from the DP World Tour and capping Qualifying School at five.
- Reduce Open Qualifying positions at fields with fewer than 144 players during the FedExCup Regular Season.
- Adjust the FedExCup points distribution table with a slight increase to second-place points for Majors and The Players Championship and a slight decrease to points for those finishing 11th and beyond and a slight decrease to Signature Event points for those finishing 7th and beyond.
The proposed changes come on the back of the PGA Tour suffering a significant drop in TV viewing figures for its regular season tournaments over the last two years in the face of increased competition from other sports and the arrival of LIV Golf in 2022.
Several long-term headline sponsors, including Wells Fargo, Sanderson Farms, Honda, RBC and Shriners, have not renewed their contracts, while many events suffered from a lack of star power, with some featuring no players inside the world’s top 20.
