PGA Tour's new eligibility criteria for exclusive invitational events starting in 2026 - Reports

The PGA Tour announced Tuesday (Oct. 29), that its Policy Board will review and vote on a proposal from the Players Advisory Council (PAC) in November. The proposal includes several rule changes with the stated goal of making the tour more competitive.

A report by Sports Business Journal reporter Josh Carpenter indicates that invitational events are among the aspects targeted by the proposed changes. It was also reported that the PAC took into account the views of the circuit's members.

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Changes proposed by the PGA Tour Players Advisory Council for invitational events:

These are the changes proposed by the PAC for PGA Tour's invitational events (the Players Championship, the Charles Schwab Challenge and the Genesis Invitational) (via Sports Business Journal's Josh Carpenter report):

The Players Championship

• Reduce field size from 144 players to 120 players
• Replace exempt category of top 125 in the prior season's FedExCup with top 100 in the prior season's FedExCup Points List

Charles Schwab Challenge

• Replace exempt category of top 125 in the prior season's FedExCup with top 100 in the prior season's FedEx Cup Points List
• Include exempt members from DP World Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, Q-School and PGA Tours University categories
• Remove exemptions for winners prior to 2000 who were within the top 150 of the prior season's FedEx Cup Points List
• Remove top-15 finishers (including non-members) from the prior season's event

Genesis Invitational

• Replace exempt category of top 30 with top 70 in the prior season's FedExCup ranking

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Other changes proposed by the Players Advisory Council

The Players Advisory Council has proposed several rule changes that address issues such as the tournament field sizes, the pace of play, the playing privileges and the FedEx Cup points system.

These are the most significant proposed changes (via PGA Tour news service):

• Adjust the maximum number of players in a starting field of an open tournament played on one course from 156 to 144 players, with a reduction to 120 or 132 as required by circumstances such as daylight.
• Change exempt status from top 125 to top 100 in the FedExCup and add a conditional category for finishers 101-125.
• Decrease the number of PGA Tour cards coming from the Korn Ferry Tour from 30 to 20, maintaining 10 from the DP World Tour and capping Q-School at five.
• Reduce Open Qualifying positions at fields with fewer than 144 players during the FedExCup Regular Season (no changes to the FedExCup Fall).
• Reallocate spots in the field currently used for restricted sponsor exemptions (two PGA Tour Members and two DP World Tour/Korn Ferry Tour/Q-School category) to the next eligible member on the Priority Ranking.
• Adjust the FedExCup points distribution table with a slight increase to second-place points for majors and THE PLAYERS and a slight decrease to points in positions 11 and beyond and a slight decrease to Signature Event points in positions 7 and beyond.

If approved, these and other proposed rule changes will take effect beginning with the 2026 season.