Becoming a PGA Tour pro is a dream all young golfers have when starting out and aside from being very, very good at golf – take a look at our scratch handicap vs PGA Tour pro comparison for proof – the question is, how do you become one?
In ultra-simplistic terms, to officially become a PGA Tour pro you need to earn your PGA Tour card. So how is that done?
There are various different ways, with the world’s best players earning theirs from a number of different routes.
Scottie Scheffler, for example, earned his PGA Tour card via the Korn Ferry Tour, while Jon Rahm earned his from capitalising on sponsors exemptions. Danny Willett earned his PGA Tour card after winning the 2017 Masters, while Corey Conners earned his after Monday qualifying and going on to win the Valero Texas Open.
Corey Conners Monday qualified into the 2019 Valero Texas Open and went on to win the tournament, earning a two-year PGA Tour exemption
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Rahm turned pro in 2016, gained a sponsors exemption into the Quicken Loans National, finished T3rd to qualify for The Open before getting into the RBC Canadian Open too. He finished T2nd there to secure Special Temporary Member status on the PGA Tour and earned enough points in the remaining events in the season to secure his PGA Tour card for 2017.
Tom Kim was also given a Special Temporary Membership in 2022. The Korean star went on to win the Wyndham Championship to earn a two-year exemption and then another year was added on after his Shriners open win.
Earning enough points simply means accruing enough FedEx Cup points to sit inside the top 125 on the FedEx Cup standings at the end of the regular season. All 125 are guaranteed to earn cards for the next season and go on to the Playoffs. Those who finish just outside of the top 125 will tend to earn a certain number of starts on the PGA Tour for next season, where good finishes will give them the chance to qualify for more tournaments and get into the fabled 125.
Collin Morikawa‘s route to earning a PGA Tour card was similar to Rahm’s. As an elite amateur, he had sponsors exemptions when turning professional and managed to capitalise on them to make it to the big league.
A new way to earn a PGA Tour card is via the DP World Tour. Thanks to the new strategic alliance between the two tours, the top ten finishers (without cards already) on the Race to Dubai will all earn PGA Tour status.
Keith Pelley, DP World Tour CEO
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The DP World Tour and Korn…
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