PGA Tour submits proposal to cut membership numbers and field sizes in 2026, cites "Pace of Play"

10/29/2024 11:33 AM

The PGA Tour will implement substantial changes ahead of the 2026 season, according to multiple reports.

More changes are coming to the PGA Tour.

According to Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal and other reports, the PGA Tour's Player Advisory Council (PAC) has proposed that the tour reduce membership numbers and field sizes for the 2026 season. Per the PAC, the main reason for this proposition is poor "pace of play," which has plagued professional golf for decades. The PAC also wants to eliminate a circumstance that seems to happen almost weekly: the tour suspending play due to darkness.

Yet, this proposal includes eliminating the fines for players who play slowly during major championships. Meanwhile, during regular PGA Tour events, players who violate pace of play policies will have their fines reduced significantly. Players will also have more time to "find a fixed reference point and pace back to their ball." Essentially, PGA Tour members will have more time but pay less fines. Go figure.

But there is a critical undercurrent as the sport continues to evolve. The best players will continue to get the best opportunities. Look no further than creating Signature Events ahead of the 2024 season. It's also no coincidence that the top 36 players will receive the most significant equity stake—$750 million—in the newly established, for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises. The rich will get richer. On the flip side, the journeymen, long shots, and, frankly, Korn Ferry Tour up-and-comers will see their chances of playing reduced significantly.

Maximum field sizes for a one-course, full-field event will now be 144 players, down from the previous iteration of 156. The Players Championship, the tour's biggest event of the year, will see a massive reduction, too, trimming down to 120 from 144.

Additionally, the Tour will change exempt status from the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings to the top 100, squeezing out one-fifth of those who previously earned membership for the following season. The PGA Tour also plans to decrease the number of Korn Ferry Tour players who earn cards from 30 to 20.

On top of that, the tour will "reduce or eliminate" Monday Qualifiers, much to the heartbreak of Ryan French, who runs and facilitates the Monday Q Info website and X account. He always supports those players who typically do not receive attention, the stories that help make golf special. Everyone loves an underdog, a story of someone achieving the impossible. French brings light to those who are grinding hard and pursuing their dream. Jason Caron securing his PGA Tour Champions card for 2025 is a perfect example of this. Nevertheless, Monday Qualifiers will be either reduced or eliminated at regular season events with fewer than 144 players. However, they will remain intact for the FedEx Cup Fall.

A complete summary of the changes follows below:

• Starting fields reduced from 156 to 144, with a reduction to 120 or 132 "based on circumstances such as daylight"
• Exempt status for full PGA Tour members reduced from 125 to 100, determined by prior year's FedEx Cup standings. Conditional status granted to those who finish between 101st and 125th, down from the current iteration of 126th to 150th
• PGA Tour cards for Korn Ferry Tour graduates down from 30 to 20
• PGA Tour cards for top 10 finishers on the DP World Tour not otherwise exempt remain the same
• PGA Tour cards for the top 5 finishers and ties at Q-School stay the same
• Monday Qualifiers reduced or eliminated

As for specific PGA Tour events themselves, Carpenter posted the complete list of tournaments, which includes with the proposed amendments:

Only five tournaments would keep the same field size, with three coming during the FedEx Cup Fall.

The American Express, the third event of the season played across three courses in the Coachella Valley, will not see any changes.

Meanwhile, the Charles Schwab Classic, played at Colonial in Fort Worth every year, will have changes implemented into how its 132-person field is determined. The exempt category for this event will diminish to the top 100 from the prior season's FedEx Cup points list, down from 125. The top 15 finishers from the year before will also see their exemptions removed.

A Policy Board vote will take place on Nov. 18 to decide whether or not to implement these changes for the 2026 season.

Rather than trimming the bottom of these fields, which the tour argues leads to countless rounds finishing in the dark, the glacial pace of play that has frustrated fans for years should be enforced instead. If everyone could play faster—or perhaps not seek Temporary Immovable Object (TIO) relief in critical moments—then more players would be able to finish in the light. In theory, that should allow the tour to have more tee times and, therefore, more players in their fields.

But the tour is more mindful of its stars and top players, who drive the sponsorship dollars and television revenue, not the bottom feeders. That's what this all comes down to.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.