8D AGO

Qualifiers for all 2025 Signature Events, THE PLAYERS and majors

4 Min Read

Golfbet

Billy Horschel did it again. For the second time in four years, he prevailed at the BMW PGA Championship.

With an eagle conversion on the second hole of a three-man playoff, Horschel emerged with title at the DP World Tour’s flagship event at Wentworth Club in England. Rory McIlroy’s attempt for his own eagle didn’t drop, so he had settled for birdie. Thriston Lawrence was eliminated with a bogey on the first playoff hole where Horschel and McIlroy matched birdies. Only the par-5 18th hole was used in overtime.

Horschel is the first American to win the BMW PGA Championship more than once, an achievement that is more impressive given that Arnold Palmer is the only other (in 1975). Horschel first took the title in 2021 by one stroke over a trio of runners-up.

Exemptions into the 2025 editions of the U.S. Open and The Open Championship were reserved for the winner of the BMW PGA, but Horschel already is exempt into those majors, so the spots will be filled throughout other pathways.

Up next on the docket relevant to this page is the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. It’s scheduled to conclude on Thursday, Sept. 26. Its winner not only secures the Robert T. Jones Jr. Memorial Trophy as the champion but also exemptions into next year’s Masters and U.S. Open, both for which he will be required to retain amateur status to compete via the exemption.

UPDATE (Sept. 26): Thursday’s headline in the world of golf was the United States’ drumming of the Internationals on the first day of the Presidents Cup, 5-0, but Evan Beck will remember it another way – as the 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion.

Beck trounced Bobby Massa 9-and-8 in the championship match scheduled for 36 holes at Kinloch Golf Club in his home state of Virginia. And just as no one was going to defeat the Americans in Four-ball, no amateur was better than Beck all week as he also co-medaled in the stroke-play portion of the competition to determine seeding in the knockout rounds.

It’s a story of determination for the 34-year-old Beck. He was victimized by Stewart Hagestad in the final of last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur. This time, it’s Beck who earns the exemptions into next year’s Masters and U.S. Open. To play in either major via this victory, he’s required to retain his amateur status. He’s never teed it up in a PGA TOUR event.

This past Sunday, Matt McCarty mathematically secured the top spot on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List with a T5 at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. With only the Korn Ferry Tour Championship remaining, he does not need to wait until it concludes on Oct. 6 to qualify officially for the 2025 editions of THE PLAYERS Championship and U.S. Open as the season-long points leader.

McCarty won three Korn Ferry Tour events across a six-week span in July and August. As a result, he immediately became a PGA TOUR member and eligible to compete in the Procore Championship, but he eschewed that opportunity to remain on his circuit and defend his perch with a T35 at the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation.

In addition to the pair of exemptions and PGA TOUR membership next year, he’ll be slotted in his own category in the Priority Ranking and won’t be subject to reorders.

NOTE: Until all methods of entry are released by the governing bodies, traditional criteria are used to determine qualifiers. Refer to remaining qualifying criteria at the bottom of the page for details.

SE = All Signature Events
TPC = THE PLAYERS Championship
MAS = Masters
PGA = PGA Championship
US = U.S. Open
OPEN = The Open Championship

Recent additions

SE -- none
TPC -- Matt McCarty
MAS -- Evan Beck
PGA -- none
US -- Evan Beck; Matt McCarty
OPEN -- none

NOTE: Golfers are omitted if they recently haven’t competed in majors for which they are eligible (e.g., The Open Championship = David Duval, Paul Lawrie).

Golfer	Qualified
Ludvig Åberg	SE, MAS, *PGA, US, OPEN
Byeong Hun An	SE, MAS, US, OPEN
José Luis Ballester	MAS, US, OPEN (must remain an amateur to compete in the Masters and The Open Championship)
Evan Beck	MAS, US (must remain an amateur to compete in both)
Rich Beem	PGA
Christiaan Bezuidenhout	SE, MAS, US, OPEN
Akshay Bhatia	SE, TPC, MAS, US, OPEN
Richard Bland	PGA, US
Keegan Bradley	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Daniel Brown	OPEN
Dean Burmester	PGA
Sam Burns	SE, TPC, MAS, *PGA, US, OPEN
Patrick Cantlay	SE, TPC, MAS, *PGA, US, OPEN
K.J. Choi	OPEN
Stewart Cink	OPEN
Luke Clanton	US, OPEN (must remain an amateur to compete in both)
Wyndham Clark	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Darren Clarke	OPEN
Eric Cole	SE
Corey Conners	SE, US
Fred Couples	MAS
John Daly	PGA, OPEN
Cam Davis	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA
Jason Day	SE, PGA
Bryson DeChambeau	MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Thomas Detry	SE, MAS, PGA
Jason Dufner	PGA
Nick Dunlap	SE, TPC, PGA
Austin Eckroat	SE
Ernie Els	TPC, OPEN
Tony Finau	SE, MAS, US, OPEN
Matt Fitzpatrick	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Tommy Fleetwood	SE, MAS, *PGA, US, OPEN
Rickie Fowler	*PGA
Ryan Fox	OPEN
Sergio Garcia	MAS
Chris Gotterup	TPC
Max Greyserman	SE
Trevor Gutschewski	US (must remain an amateur to compete)
Adam Hadwin	SE
Harry Hall	TPC, PGA
Todd Hamilton	OPEN
Brian Harman	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Padraig Harrington	PGA, OPEN
Tyrrell Hatton	MAS, *PGA
Russell Henley	SE, MAS, US, OPEN
Lee Hodges	PGA
Tom Hoge	SE, MAS, US, OPEN
Nicolai Højgaard	*PGA
Max Homa	SE, MAS, *PGA
Billy Horschel	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Viktor Hovland	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Sungjae Im	SE, MAS, US, OPEN
Stephan Jaeger	SE, TPC
Dustin Johnson	MAS, US
Zach Johnson	MAS, OPEN
Matthew Jordan	OPEN
Martin Kaymer	PGA
Noah Kent	MAS, US (must remain an amateur to compete in both)
Si Woo Kim	SE
Chris Kirk	SE, MAS, US, OPEN
Kurt Kitayama	TPC
Patton Kizzire	TPC, MAS, PGA
Brooks Koepka	MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Bernhard Langer	MAS
Thriston Lawrence	MAS, OPEN
Justin Leonard	OPEN
Shane Lowry	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Robert MacIntyre	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Peter Malnati	TPC
Hideki Matsuyama	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Denny McCarthy	SE
Matt McCarty	TPC, US
Rory McIlroy	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Shaun Micheel	PGA
Phil Mickelson	MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Francesco Molinari	OPEN
Taylor Moore	PGA
Collin Morikawa	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Alex Noren	SE, PGA
José Maria Olazábal	MAS
Jacob Skov Olesen	US (must remain an amateur to compete)
Louis Oosthuizen	OPEN
Matthieu Pavon	SE, MAS, US, OPEN
Taylor Pendrith	SE, TPC, MAS, US, OPEN
J.T. Poston	SE
Jon Rahm	MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Aaron Rai	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Patrick Reed	MAS
Davis Riley	TPC, MAS, PGA
Justin Rose	MAS, PGA, OPEN
Xander Schauffele	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Scottie Scheffler	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Adam Schenk	MAS
Charl Schwartzel	MAS
Adam Scott	SE, MAS, US, OPEN
Vijay Singh	MAS, PGA
Cameron Smith	MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Jordan Spieth	MAS, *PGA, US, OPEN
Henrik Stenson	OPEN
Sepp Straka	SE, MAS, *PGA, US, OPEN
Hiroshi Tai	MAS (must remain an amateur to compete)
Sahith Theegala	SE, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Justin Thomas	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US, OPEN
Davis Thompson	SE, TPC, MAS, PGA, US
Jhonattan Vegas	TPC, MAS, PGA
Jimmy Walker	PGA
Bubba Watson	MAS
Mike Weir	MAS
Danny Willett	MAS
Gary Woodland	TPC, US
Tiger Woods	MAS, PGA, OPEN
Y.E. Yang	PGA
Cameron Young	SE, MAS
Will Zalatoris	SE, MAS

Remaining qualifying criteria

Criteria are listed in chronological order where possible. Best estimates are given but all are subject to change.

Signature Events

The Sentry (Jan. 2-5)
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (Jan. 30-Feb. 2)
The Genesis Invitational (Feb. 13-16)
Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (March 6-9)
RBC Heritage (April 17-20)
Truist Championship (May 8-11)
Memorial Tournament presented by Workday (May 29-June 1)
Travelers Championship (June 19-22)

THE PLAYERS Championship (TPC) at TPC Sawgrass (Stadium): March 13-16

Winners of PGA TOUR events thru the final week before THE PLAYERS.
Leader of the Race to Dubai ranking to earn a PGA TOUR card at the conclusion of the DP World Tour Championship (Nov. 17).
Top 125 in the FedExCup at the conclusion of The RSM Classic (Nov. 24).
Top 10 in the FedExCup at the conclusion of the PGA TOUR event TBD (March 2).
Top 50 of Official World Golf Ranking (March 3).
If necessary to complete the field of 144, golfers outside the Top 10 in the FedExCup at the conclusion of the PGA TOUR event TBD on March 2 will gain entry in order of position.

Masters (MAS) at Augusta National Golf Club: April 10-13

Winners of PGA TOUR events that award full FedExCup points allocation for the TOUR Championship.
Winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, if still an amateur (Oct. 6).
Top 50 of Official World Golf Ranking (Dec. 31).
Winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship, if still an amateur (Jan. 19).
Top 50 of Official World Golf Ranking (March 31).
Special invitations to international players per Masters Tournament Committee as its discretion.

PGA Championship (PGA) at Quail Hollow Club: May 15-18

Winners of PGA TOUR events through the final week before the 2025 PGA Championship.
Top three from International Federation Ranking List (TBD).
Top 20 from PGA Professional Championship (April 30).
Top 70 from special money list (i.e., "PGA Championship Points") on PGA TOUR from 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge thru the PGA TOUR event TBD (May 11).
*All 2023 Ryder Cup members inside Top 100 of Official World Golf Ranking (TBD).
Special exemptions per PGA of America. (This likely will include all golfers from Top 100 of Official World Golf Ranking on TBD.)
If necessary to complete the field of 156, golfers outside Top 70 from special money list (three lines above) will gain entry in order of position.

U.S. Open (US) at Oakmont Country Club: June 12-15

Winners of multiple PGA TOUR events that award full FedExCup points allocation since the 2024 U.S. Open.
Winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship, if still an amateur (Jan. 19).
Winner of THE PLAYERS Championship (March 16).
Winner of the Masters (April 13).
Winner of the PGA Championship (May 18).
Top five, not otherwise exempt, in the FedExCup at the conclusion of the PGA Championship (May 18).
Top two, not otherwise exempt, in the 2024 Race to Dubai at the conclusion of the 2025 PGA Championship (May 18).
Top player, not otherwise exempt, in the 2025 Race to Dubai (May 18).
Top 60 of Official World Golf Ranking (May 19).
Final qualifying (TBD).
Winner of the NCAA Division 1 individual championship, if still an amateur (May 26).
Top 60 of Official World Golf Ranking (TBD).
Special exemptions per the USGA.

The Open Championship (OPEN) at Royal Portrush: July 17-20

Winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, if still an amateur (Oct. 6).
Winner of the Japan Open (Oct. 13).
Top 30 in the Race to Dubai at the conclusion of the DP World Tour Championship (Nov. 17).
Open Qualifying Series (TBD).
Winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship, if still an amateur (Jan. 19).
Winner of the African Amateur Championship, if still an amateur (Feb. 8).
Winner of the 118th VISA Open de Argentina (TBD).
Winner of the Masters (April 13).
Winner of the PGA Championship (May 18).
Top 50 of Official World Golf Ranking (TBD).
Top five in the Federation Ranking (TBD).
Winner of the U.S. Open (June 15).
Winner of the British Amateur, if still an amateur (June 21).
Top five, not otherwise exempt, inside the top 20 in the FedExCup at the conclusion of the PGA TOUR event TBD in 2025 (TBD).
Winner of the European Amateur Championship, if still an amateur (June 28).
Leader in World Amateur Golf Ranking points accumulated at the St. Andrews Links Trophy (June 8), British Amateur (June 21) and European Amateur Championship, if still an amateur (June 28).
Final Qualifying. Top 4 at each of four sites (TBD).
Top five, not otherwise exempt, inside the top 20 in the Race to Dubai at the conclusion of the DP World Tour event TBD in 2025 (TBD).

Rob Bolton is a Golfbet columnist for the PGA TOUR. The Chicagoland native has been playing fantasy golf since 1994, so he was just waiting for the Internet to catch up with him. Follow Rob Bolton on Twitter.