PGA Tour University was introduced in 2020 to offer a clear pathway for men’s college golfers to enter the professional game.
Since then, a host of players have earned membership to various professional circuits via its rankings, but only two have been given PGA Tour cards so far.
Following the 2021 NCAA Division I Golf Championship, Florida State University’s John Pak finished top of the inaugural rankings to earn his spot on the Korn Ferry Tour, along with the players who finished second to fifth in the rankings, Davis Thompson of the University of Georgia, Austin Eckroat of Oklahoma State, Chun An Yu of Arizona State and Garett Reband of the University of Oklahoma.
Players who finished between sixth and 15th were given membership to the Forme Tour, an eight-event schedule created by the PGA Tour in the wake of Covid-19 restrictions.
A year later, Pierceson Coody of the University of Texas finished top of the rankings to make his way to the Korn Ferry Tour along with those finishing second to fifth - Jacob Brigman of Clemson University, Logan McAllister of the University of Oklahoma, RJ Manke from the University of Washington and Cole Hammer from the University of Texas.
This time, players ranked between sixth and 15th were given membership on the PGA Tour Canada.
There was a change in 2023, when the player finishing top of the rankings earned one of the most coveted prizes in golf - a PGA Tour card. That honor went to Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg, and within months he’d earned his maiden title on the circuit in that November’s RSM Classic.
This time, the players who finished second to fifth earned fully exempt Korn Ferry Tour membership for 2023 with conditional membership going to those who finished between sixth and 10th.
That year, Florida’s Fred Biondi, Adrien Dumont de Chassart of Illinois, Ross Steelman of Georgia Tech and Sam Bennett of Texas A&M earned full Korn Ferry Tour cards while William Mouw of Pepperdine, North Carolina’s Ryan Burnett, Oklahoma’s Patrick Welch, Ricky Castillo and Yuxin Lin, both of Florida, earned conditional membership.
Players placed between 11th and 20th were given fully exempt membership to the PGA Tour Canada for 2023 and conditional membership on the 2024 PGA Tour Americas.
The second player to earn a PGA Tour card via PGA Tour University was Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen, who finished top of the rankings in 2024.
Beneath him, players finishing between second and fifth earned fully exempt Korn Ferry Tour membership for the rest of 2024, with conditional membership again going to those finishing between sixth and 10th.
Christo Lamprecht of Georgia Tech, who gave up a US Open exemption to turn professional, Austin Greaser of North Carolina, Vanderbilt’s Matthew Riedel and Nicholas Gabrelcik of the University of North Florida took the full Korn Ferry Tour membership.
Beneath them, Vanderbilt’s William Moll and Cole Sherwood, Frederik Kjettrup of Florida State, Texas Christian University’s Gustav Frimodt and Stanford’s Karl Vilips earned conditional membership and fully exempt membership to the newly formed PGA Tour Americas.
Players finishing between 11th and 25th were given membership of the PGA Tour Americas.
