We are coming down to the last few tournaments on the 2025 PGA Tour calendar, and for some, it’s going to be a rude awakening in January. There is more competition for playing spots than ever before. Some unpleasant surprises are waiting for a few players, while others may miraculously slide in under the rules.
It’s the top 100 in FedEx points that are the most important over the next three weeks because a player who doesn’t fall into that category at the end of that stretch will not have full-time status next season.
This is what the PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolaff meant when he said that the competition is going to be key. Should we start looking for spike marks and blood trails on the backs of golfers as they leave the course? For sure, players are going to be grouchier about mediocre rounds.
Starting with this week's World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico, there are three tournaments left for golfers trying to get into the top 100. In a few cases, they have to boot another golfer out. Take this group, for instance: Tom Kim, Max McGreevy, Thorbjorn Olesen, Beau Hossler, and Adam Scott, who are Nos. 96 to 100, respectively, on the FedEx points list right now.
Right now is the operative description because those spots could change at the end of this week’s tournament. So much so that the bottom five on the list is different than it was last week.
Those who don’t play and play well in the next three weeks could easily get bumped out of a guaranteed card for 2026.
An exception is the lovable Tom Kim, just 23. He is currently 96th in the rankings, but his previous victory at the 2023 Shriners Children's Open means he is safe for another season. So, no matter where he finishes, he can play next season. Whew. The PGA Tour needs the Tom Kims of the world.
Max McGreevy might be the only top-100 player who has played PGA Tour China, PGA Tour Americas, the Korn Ferry Tour, and the PGA Tour. The 30-year-old is hanging on by his fingernails in 97th place, but in his favor is that he won the 2024 Dunlop Phoenix, a prestigious tournament in Japan. That event has champions with big names like Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Seve Ballesteros, Ernie Els, Nick Faldo, Fred Couples, Davis Love III, and Tiger Woods. As Carl Spackler so wisely said in Caddyshack, "So, I've got that going for me."
Thorbjorn Olesen is a Danish golfer who got to the PGA Tour because he finished in the top 10 on the DP World Tour last season. Olesen is a veteran at age 35.
Beau Hossler missed the cut at Bank of Utah, but he’s still inside the top 100 by one spot. He has a battle on his hands. Others will want his place.
Adam Scott, currently No. 100, is already exempt for finishing in the top 20 in 2024, another mysterious category that showed up.
Now there are plenty of golfers who are hoping to improve enough to bump others out of the top 100. Some of them, like Billy Horschel, still have time on a past exemption. In Horschel’s case, he could ask for a major medical exemption due to hip replacement surgery.
Austin Eckroat, who has slipped to No. 102, is actually secure because he won two tournaments in 2024. He has some exemption time in the bank.
One who doesn’t is veteran Matt Kuchar. He has nine PGA Tour victories and a U.S. Amateur title, but it’s not going to do him a lot of good in terms of being high on the priority list to enter tournaments. He will have conditional status as he’s No. 121.
However, Kuchar is the kind of player that tournament directors like to have around, and every tournament still has a certain number of exemptions, although that number is now four instead of eight. That may get him into more tournaments in 2026. Realistically, Kuchar, now 47, probably needs to focus on staying competitive for another three years until he turns 50. Then he can turn the page and rake in cash on the PGA Tour Champions.
Right now, anyone trying to get to the top 100 probably needs to have approximately 480 FedEx points. That’s bound to change slightly as a few people shift positions between now and the end of the RSM Classic, the last PGA Tour event of 2025.
While Nos. 101-125 earn conditional status, they can enter tournaments after players in eight other categories:
- DP World Tour cards (10)
- Korn Ferry grads (20)
- Q-School top five
- PGA Tour University positions (3)
- Top 70 non-members
- Top 30 from 2024 and 2025
- Career money leaders
- Life members who feel like playing
In other words, the chances of guys who finish over No. 100 getting into tournaments have been reduced significantly. They don’t have to leap over tall buildings, but pretty close to it.
In addition to the pecking order, there’s another factor. Daylight. In the winter months, there’s not as much of it, and that means the Tour can’t fit as many tee times on a course. Slow play doesn’t help the situation. So, they aren’t going to force it. The PGA Tour is not going to even try to play 156 golfers anymore. The biggest fields will be 144.
When guys in the 101 and up category see how many other categories are in front of them as far as entering tournaments, they may be begging to get into fall events or any events. They are going to need every FedEx point they can get.
But at least you can see why the PGA Tour changed to 100 guaranteed spots for next season. They had to because they’ve added so many other categories. So how does the PGA Tour fit in the rest who want to play? It’s not going to be easy. A lot of golfers are going to be shocked and disappointed.