PGA Tour unveils streamlined eligibility criteria for two-tiered system coming in 2028
· Yahoo Sports
The PGA Tour policy boards approved a streamlined eligibility criteria for the circuit’s reimagined competitive model that will begin in 2028 on Monday.
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As part of the Tour’s move to a two-tiered system in ’28, the complicated eligibility rules were trimmed from 34 categories to seven, with the top 90 from the previous season’s Championship Series points retaining their status in the top-tiered events.
“It was an in-depth, collaborative process driven by data. A lot of people had opinions, had a view of what we thought it should be,” said Tour CEO Brian Rolapp of Monday’s vote. “I should say this: We all sort of aligned our north stars of where we wanted to go, right, which we've talked a lot about, and then it's a question of how you get there.”
The Challenger Series will be the primary pathway to the Championship Series with the top 20 on the season-ending points list moving up to the top-tier.
Winners of Championship Series events — including the majors and Players Championship — will receive a two-year exemption, but there will be no extensions to that exemption for multiple victories in the same season.
One-time career money exemptions will also be available beginning in 2029 as will medical exemptions for injuries or “conditions that materially prevent competition.” Players using a career money exemption must have been a Championship Series member in the prior season.
The No. 1 player from the PGA Tour University list for either the current or prior year will also have Championship Series status for the remainder of the season after the NCAA Championship and the following season; and the top 3 players from the “last chance series,” which will be a “minimum of four events” and played in the fall, will have top-tier status.
Access for DP World Tour members, which currently includes the season’s top 10 points earners, is “being considered as part of the ongoing discussions regarding the future of the strategic alliance [with the PGA Tour].”
“We had a discussion yesterday [with DP World Tour officials]. We had a discussion last week. Discussions are ongoing. The spirit of those conversations are very productive. Both sides are trying to think creatively about how we modify and improve the relationship we have,” said Rolapp, who added that he doesn’t see any “scenarios” where the top DP World Tour players don’t earn Championship Series status. “Like any discussions, there's things we agree on, things we don't agree on, things we're trying to work through, and we'll continue to do that.”
Exemptions for victories through 2026 will be honored based on current eligibility, which means this year’s major championship winners will retain their five-year exemptions.
“We're not sitting here today saying all of this is perfect,” Rolapp said. “This is a brand new model that we're launching in '28, and I fully expect as we get into '28 and '29 and '30 we'll look and see what's working well and what's not, and working with our boards and the PAC on how do we improve and make it better. We'd be naïve to think that we've nailed this 100 percent. We know it'll take some innovation as we go through the years.”
For the Challenger Series, eligibility begins with Nos. 21-90 on the previous season’s points list, those relegated from the Championship Series, the top 20 from the Korn Ferry Tour’s previous season, Nos. 2-5 from the PGA Tour University list and the top 5 finishers from Q-School.
The Challenger Series, which will feature 144-player fields and at least 20 events, will also have open qualifying and “up to two” designated exemptions. Open qualifying will only be held at Challenger Series events that are played the same week as a Championship Series event and include the top 2 finishers.
Medical exemptions will also be available for Challenger Series players.
The Tour has also created “transition-year eligibility” for 2027 to account for current exemptions. Status for the 2028 Championship Series will include the top 70 players through next year’s playoffs, the top 95 on the FedExCup points list through next year’s fall finish, top 10 from the Korn Ferry Tour’s points list as well as the top 30 through the 2026 FedExCup playoffs. The 2028 Challenger Series exemptions were also adjusted to account for current status.
“There's no set field size, so to speak, in the Championship Series, so when you get to 2028, all of the committed members for that particular week will be in the field. So, one week it could be 120 exactly, one week it could be 123, something like that. There's going to be some variability,” said Tyler Dennis, the Tour’s chief competitions officer.
The new format will also include an adjusted points systems for the Championship Series to allow for more clarity with all Championship Series events, including The Players and major championship, awarding the same number of points. The new points distribution will feature a “flatter curve” which rewards top finishes and winning.
The points system for the Challenger Series will be finalized at the year’s final board meeting in November.
The Championship Series will feature 24 events, including the four majors, The Players Championship, the international team competitions and the reimagined post-season, which will be two events. The top-tiered events will have 120-player fields, on average, and a 36-hole cut to the top 65 and ties.
Nine Championship Series events have been announced, including the RBC Heritage, Truist Championship, Cadillac Championship at Doral, Travelers Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Memorial, The Sentry at Torrey Pines (Calif.), The GO by Raymond James (formerly the Wyndham Championship) and a new event that will be sponsored by Japan-based Sompo and will be played in 2027 in Napa, Calif.
Four small but notable PGA Tour eligibility changes and what they mean for PGA Tour U, Q-School, KFTFrom PGA Tour U implications to new Q-School dates, here are a few smaller details from the PGA Tour’s eligibility announcement for 2027 and beyond that are notable.