Korn Ferry Tour to award an unprecedented 30 TOUR cards in 2023

The Korn Ferry Tour season has never been more important.

Beginning next year, an unprecedented 30 PGA TOUR cards will be awarded to the top players on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List at season’s end, reaffirming the quality of the competition on the circuit and the importance of rewarding season-long performance.

“Increasing from 25 to 30 PGA TOUR cards annually awarded to our membership through the Korn Ferry Tour season is yet another sign our mission to produce the next generation of PGA TOUR stars is working,” said Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin.

The additional five PGA TOUR cards available via the Korn Ferry Tour were announced Tuesday in concert with widespread changes to the PGA TOUR’s qualification process. It was also announced that 10 TOUR cards would be awarded to the top performers on the DP World Tour and Q-School would award PGA TOUR cards to the top five finishers and ties. It will mark the first time in a decade that Q-School will offer PGA TOUR status.

“Bringing back the awarding of PGA TOUR cards at Q-School will be exciting for our fans, membership, and potential new membership,” Baldwin added. The TOUR cards available via Q-School and the DP World Tour will first be awarded in 2023 for the 2024 PGA TOUR season.

It was also announced Tuesday that the Korn Ferry Tour Finals will no longer be a competition for TOUR cards between the top 75 on the Korn Ferry Tour and Nos. 126-200 in the FedExCup standings. The Finals will now refer to the final four events of the season, where members will compete for increased purses and points allocations. The four Finals events will feature $1.5 million purses and award 600 points to each winner. The preceding 22 events on the schedule will have a minimum purse of $1 million – a 67% increase from 2021 to 2023 – and award 500 points to winners. The 2023 Korn Ferry Tour season is scheduled to run from January to October.

“The additional TOUR cards available and reimagined Korn Ferry Tour Finals will properly reward more players for season-long success,” Baldwin said. “Stretching our season into October while maintaining a 26-event schedule will allow us to compose the best possible tournament calendar with natural breaks, peak golf course conditions, as well as providing graduates with time to prepare for their transition to the PGA TOUR.”

The added emphasis on the Korn Ferry Tour season confirms that it is the pre-eminent manner for identifying the PGA TOUR’s future stars and preparing them for golf’s highest level. Korn Ferry Tour alumni make up 80% of the PGA TOUR’s current membership and have combined to win more than 600 times on TOUR, including 27 majors.

When the Korn Ferry Tour debuted in 1990, it awarded just five PGA TOUR cards, with that number gradually growing to 25. Since 2013, the Korn Ferry Tour has awarded 25 TOUR cards via the Regular Season and another 25 via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. Players who’ve finished between Nos. 26-30 on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List in recent years include reigning FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay and Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele, who won his sixth PGA TOUR title at last week’s Travelers Championship.

The No. 1 player on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List will continue to earn an exemption into the following season’s PLAYERS Championship, as well as the following season’s U.S. Open Championship. Recent Nos. 1 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List include Scottie Scheffler and Sungjae Im, who both were named Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year in consecutive seasons. Scheffler is the top player in both the world ranking and FedExCup and the reigning Masters champion. Im has two PGA TOUR victories and represented the International Team in the previous Presidents Cup.