At this week’s Valero Texas Open, several PGA TOUR rookies will face a game within the game – one that could influence their playing schedule for the spring and summer months ahead.

Let us explain.

Players who earned their PGA TOUR card via either the Korn Ferry Tour, DP World Tour or PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry began the 2025 season in a category on the PGA TOUR Priority Ranking that correlated with their order of finish on that respective pathway. (DP World Tour graduates were slotted first, followed by Korn Ferry Tour graduates and then Q-School graduates.)

Here’s the twist: Following the Valero Texas Open, this category on the Priority Ranking will be “reshuffled” based on the FedExCup standings through the Valero. Although players from the Korn Ferry Tour/DP World Tour/Q-School category are likely to gain access to most Full-Field Events, this access is not guaranteed, and fields have the potential to cut off somewhere within this category. Hence, a player’s spot on the Priority Ranking could be the difference between a tee time and a spot on the alternate list at any point in the next few months. This category’s next reshuffle will occur after the Wyndham Championship in August, the final event before the FedExCup Playoffs.

Additionally, recent changes to the TOUR’s competitive framework heighten the urgency in earning as many starts as possible. The top 100 on the 2025 FedExCup Fall standings will earn fully exempt TOUR status for 2026, with Nos. 101-125 retaining conditional status. The top-100 number for fully exempt status is reduced from the top-125 number that was used for more than four decades. This fall, the level of competition to earn or maintain a full card will be at an all-time high – and several rookies will likely factor into the drama.

Entering the Valero Texas Open, six rookies currently stand within the top 100 on the FedExCup standings, well positioned for the upcoming reshuffle and tracking toward exempt status in 2026:

• Aldrich Potgieter (No. 50): The big-hitting South African popped at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld in February, finishing runner-up to Brian Campbell in a playoff. That propelled Potgieter, 20, to a spot at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard via the Aon Swing 5. Potgieter has missed six cuts in eight starts, but the learning curve is understandable for a player who has yet to turn 21.
• Danny Walker (No. 53): The Florida native broke into the spotlight earlier this month at THE PLAYERS Championship, where he earned a tee time Thursday morning as an alternate, made the cut playing alongside Jordan Spieth and Wyndham Clark, and proceeded to tie for sixth at TPC Sawgrass. Walker, 29, has made four cuts in eight starts as a rookie thus far.
• Karl Vilips (No. 54): Less than a year after turning pro from Stanford, Vilips won the Puerto Rico Open in just his third TOUR start as a member – and despite being sidelined for the season’s first month-and-a-half due to injury. Vilips has followed his breakthrough victory with three straight missed cuts, but he is fully exempt on TOUR through 2027 as a tournament winner and will not need to monitor the reshuffle.
• Isaiah Salinda (No. 57): Also a Stanford alum, Salinda contended until the final moments of the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld in February and notched a third-place finish that did wonders for his spot on the Priority Ranking. The South San Francisco, California, native has made six cuts in eight starts this season, and he’s fresh off a T11 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
• Jesper Svensson (No. 97): The Swede earned his TOUR card as one of the top 10 finishers on the 2024 DP World Tour Eligibility Ranking, and he has fared well in the early stages with seven made cuts in nine starts, highlighted by a T10 in his first start at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
• Steven Fisk (No. 98): The Georgia Southern alum earned his first TOUR card via the 2024 season-long standings, and he has found a groove in recent weeks with three top-30 finishes in his last five starts – highlighted by a T4 at the Puerto Rico Open. Fisk also made a hole-in-one in the second round of the Valspar Championship, kick-starting a furious run to make the cut on the number and eventually finish the week in a tie for 28th.

Further down the list, several players have started slowly in 2025 and would greatly benefit from a strong week at the Valero to improve their spot on the Priority Ranking via the reshuffle. Here are some notables in the bottom half of the FedExCup standings set to compete at the Valero:

• John Pak (No. 148): Pak finished atop the inaugural PGA TOUR University Ranking in 2021, before the PGA TOUR University No. 1 earned automatic TOUR membership, and earned his first TOUR card via the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour. Pak has made four cuts in seven starts this season but has just one top-50 finish – a tie for 17th at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld.
• Matthew Riedel (No. 163): After finishing No. 4 on the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking to earn Korn Ferry Tour membership, Riedel earned his TOUR card at Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry last fall. The Texas native has made four cuts in seven starts as a TOUR rookie thus far, but he has finished inside the top 50 just once, a T26 at the Puerto Rico Open.
• Thriston Lawrence (No. 196): The South African contended down the stretch at last year’s Open Championship, finishing fourth, and earned his TOUR card via the top 10 on the DP World Tour Eligibility Ranking. Success has been slower to come by in 2025, though, with five missed cuts in seven starts and no finish better than T54.
• Tim Widing (No. 199): The Swede earned his TOUR card via the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour on the strength of back-to-back victories in April (one of which came in Texas), and he’ll look to rekindle that springtime magic in the Lone Star State. He has made just one cut in eight starts as a TOUR rookie thus far, a T45 at the Puerto Rico Open.

Click here to see how all 2025 rookies have fared in 2025 thus far.

Note: The 2024 season-long points leaders from the DP World Tour (Rasmus Højgaard) and Korn Ferry Tour (Matt McCarty) are exempt from the reshuffle, as are current-season winners (Karl Vilips). McCarty is fully exempt on TOUR through 2026 as winner of last fall’s Black Desert Championship; Vilips is fully exempt on TOUR through 2027 as winner of this year’s Puerto Rico Open.