Which notable PGA Tour gamers might lose playing cards this fall? It’s difficult

The 2023 fall season, which begins this week on the Fortinet Championship in Napa, Calif., marks the tip of the PGA Tour’s fall-to-summer “wraparound” schedule, which first started in 2013.

With the scheduling modifications comes loads of stress for the gamers teeing it up over the subsequent a number of weeks. What’s at stake? A Tour card, for starters. In August, the highest 70 gamers within the FedEx Cup standings locked of their PGA Tour playing cards for the 2024 season by qualifying for the FedEx Cup Playoffs’ opening occasion, the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

So, what occurred to gamers ranked 71-125 and past? Nothing is assured till the seven-event fall season is full. Throughout that point, gamers ranked 51st and past can take their beforehand earned FedEx factors into the autumn season with hopes of bettering their standings or locking of their exemption standing (i.e., Tour card) for subsequent 12 months.

Whereas a win will simply do the trick for the fall-season hopefuls, there’s lots extra to play for. There are 36 whole tournaments on the 2024 schedule between January and August. Eight of these are designated occasions with restricted fields and outsize ($20 million) purses. The highest 50 gamers from the FedEx Cup standings are already exempt into these designated occasions, however FedEx Fall rivals can qualify for the primary two occasions (The Sentry and the AT&T Pebble Seashore Professional-Am) by being among the many top-10 performers over the subsequent seven weeks. So you possibly can doubtlessly have a participant earn not solely his Tour card but additionally a berth in these profitable designated occasions in a single fell swoop.

A better have a look at some notables

Nevertheless it’s necessary to notice that even the gamers who discover themselves on the improper aspect of 125 might nonetheless have loads of taking part in alternatives in 2024. Take into account present No. 124 Jimmy Walker, No. 131 Erik van Rooyen, No. 137 Charley Hoffman, No. 150 Ryan Moore and No. 157 Sean O’Hair.

All 5 of those gamers can make the most of their previous champion standing to play subsequent 12 months. (Hoffman may also money in a prime 50 profession cash listing exemption.) Previous champions might not get into each discipline they need, however they’ll seemingly have loads of begins — and taking part in properly as soon as they’re in can bump them up the precedence listing even additional.

Aaron Baddeley, the present No. 96 on the rating, performed 23 occasions from the previous champion class this season, and is now well-positioned to regain fully-exempt standing the old school means.

Gamers may also lengthen their taking part in privileges with medical extensions. No. 108 Maverick McNealy took important day off earlier this 12 months for a shoulder damage, and No. 215 Brandt Snedeker, along with using the previous champion standing choice outlined above, might additionally pursue a medical extension for a prolonged absence he had recovering from surgical procedure within the early a part of the season.

For established gamers, the stress to carry out this fall is extra about positioning — and precedence rating — than true accessibility. However for these gamers nonetheless searching for a breakthrough, like Harry Higgs (No. 132), the state of affairs is extra dire. If he falls out of the highest 150, the minimal rating for conditional PGA Tour standing, there’s just one extra pathway again to the Large Present for 2024: Q-Faculty.

After the FedEx Fall, the highest 40 out there gamers beneath No. 125 on the FedExCup standings, to a ground of 2 hundredth place, will likely be exempt into the Closing Stage of PGA Tour Q-Faculty. All different PGA Tour members will likely be exempt into Second Stage. However the reduce at Q-Faculty is much more extreme, with solely the top-five gamers and ties getting PGA Tour playing cards.

Buckle up, golf followers. The drama is simply getting began.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of feminine varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everybody on the masthead. She will out-hustle them within the workplace, too, the place she’s primarily accountable for producing each print and on-line options, and overseeing main particular initiatives, akin to GOLF’s inaugural Fashion Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview collection, “A Spherical With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in each within the journal and in video kind on GOLF.com.