Changes are a comin’ to the PGA Tour but one thing that’s not new is that a new crop of golfers will earn promotion to the big stage following the conclusion of this week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship.
There are 16 who have already clinched their cards for next season with another 14 to be handed out come Sunday night at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Indiana.
But between now and then is 72 holes of intensity, future status of playing privileges hanging in the balance.
The 2024 PGA Tour schedule features a return of the calendar-based schedule. The season starts in Maui at The Sentry in January.
Here’s some of the key things to know about this week’s 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Championship.
Everyone's got a shot at a PGA Tour card
There are 73 players in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship field with Grayson Murray and Nicholas Lindheim taking the week off (Lindheim is in the field at the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship).
All 73 have a chance to move inside the top 30. The event is a 72-hole, no-cut event and it’s likely that there will be some Sunday fireworks down the stretch before it’s all settled.
Big benefits to the top finisher
The golfer who nabs the No. 1 spot on the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Points List gets some serious bennies:
- Fully exempt 2024 PGA Tour membership
- A spot in the 2024 Players Championship
- A spot in the 2024 U.S. Open
Those who finish No. 2 through No. 30 will also earn their PGA Tour cards and will have status as “Korn Ferry Tour graduates”.
Still a path to PGA Tour for those outside top 30
While some will feel the sting of not finishing in the top 30 this weekend, all is not lost. Those golfers who finish between No. 31 and No. 60 will head right to the Final Stage of PGA Tour Q-School.
Meanwhile, the Nos. 61-75 finishers will go right to the Second Stage of Q-School.
Yep, Q School had made its return
The PGA Tour’s 2023 Q-School will offer five cards to the big leagues for the first time in more than a decade.
There are 15 golfers – the Nos. 31-60 finishers this week – who will have direct access to the final stage. Others will have a more arduous path.
There have already been eight pre-qualifiers for Q School. There are 13 First Stage qualifiers taking place in October. There will be five Second Stages in November with the Final Stage to be held Dec. 14-17 at Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass and nearby Sawgrass Country Club.
