PGA Tour players who lose cards have DP World Tour option
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Former Major champion Jimmy Walker has criticised the FedExCup Fall, saying he is now grinding through the fall to retain his tour status.
PHOTO: AFP
NEW YORK – PGA Tour players who fail to retain their full-time status for the 2024 season will be granted full membership to the DP World Tour.
It is a potential lifeline for those who are battling for playing status throughout the FedExCup Fall, a seven-tournament circuit that followed the Tour Championship in August.
The top 50 after East Lake in Atlanta had their statuses secured for 2024.
Those who finish the fall ranked 51-60 will also retain their status and qualify for two signature events in 2024: The Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.
The top 125 will be exempt into full-field events and The Players Championship.
Those from the 126-150 bracket will earn Korn Ferry Tour status and conditional status on the PGA Tour in 2024.
They will also have additional playing opportunities on the European circuit, with up to five players eligible to play in each tournament.
PGA Tour players interested in DP World Tour membership will have until Dec 20 to join.
“When we announced our strategic alliance with the PGA Tour in November 2021, one of the prime objectives was to give as many opportunities as possible to members of both tours, and this is another perfect example of how this is working,” David Howell, chairman of the DP World Tour’s tournament committee, said in Monday’s announcement.
It is part of a 13-year agreement the tours made following the creation of the rival LIV Golf league. It also calls for the top 10 players who are not already exempt on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai list to earn PGA Tour membership for the following season.
“Our Ten Cards initiative will give the opportunity for DP World Tour members to excel on the PGA Tour next season and this new membership opportunity announced today will give PGA Tour members the chance to do exactly the same on our tour,” DP World Tour chief executive office Keith Pelley said on Monday. “I am excited at the possibilities.”
Both tours have three events remaining.
The FedExCup Fall has drawn some criticism from players, including 2016 PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker, 44, who said that instead of properly planning his schedule, he is now grinding through the fall to retain his status.
Walker, currently 129th in the FedExCup standings, is among those hovering around the cut-off line.
Other notables include those sitting from No. 121 to 125: Maverick McNealy, Chesson Hadley, Doug Ghim, Pan Cheng-tsung and Erik van Rooyen.
Just below the cut is China’s Dou Zecheng and Cameron Champ – a three-time winner on the PGA Tour whose most recent victory came in 2021. Champ has fallen to 242nd in the world rankings.
Also currently below the cut line are two-time PGA Tour winner Patton Kizzire (No. 130), Scott Piercy (134th), Aaron Wise (136th), Harry Higgs (137th) and former United States Ryder Cup star Ryan Moore (139th).
Meanwhile, Annika Sorenstam, the greatest LPGA player of the modern era, became a member at Augusta National Golf Club in October when the famed course’s new season began, Golfweek reported on Tuesday. Women were not allowed membership at the home of the US Masters until 2012.
Former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and financier Darla Moore were the first women granted Augusta National membership.
Sorenstam, 53, has won 97 professional tournaments during her career, including 72 on the LPGA Tour. The Swede has 10 Major titles and also won the 2021 US Senior Women’s Open title. REUTERS
