Every year, thousands of young golf players dream of becoming a professional golf player, or getting a PGA Tour Card.
However, do you actually know exactly what a PGA Tour Card is, and which benefits it gives you?
In this article, we will tell you exactly what a PGA Tour Card is, how to obtain one, and how owning one can be immensely beneficial to you.
What is a PGA Tour Card?
A PGA Tour Card is a membership card you can obtain through great professional golf performances. This card gives you extra privileges on the PGA Tour, such as higher purses, more sponsorship opportunities, and exemptions from some event qualifiers.
A PGA Tour Card allows professional golfers to get many additional benefits.
These benefits include higher purses, more sponsorship opportunities and exemption from many qualifying events.
Although obtaining a PGA Tour Card is difficult, keeping it is just as difficult, as its benefits typically only last 1 to 5 years.
There are caveats to these qualities of the PGA Tour Card that we discuss in the following sections of this article.
How Can You Get A PGA Tour Card?
You can get a PGA Tour Card in a few ways, such as finishing Top 25 in earnings in the Korn Ferry Tour regular season, or Top 25 in earnings in the finals. Other ways include winning 3 Korn Ferry Tour events, a single PGA Tour event, or finishing Top 125 in the FedEx Cup.
There are multiple ways to obtain a PGA Tour Card, but they are all really hard to achieve.
Most aspiring professional golf players will probably never obtain a PGA Tour Card, but if you do what it takes, why not you?
Since 2013, 50 Korn Ferry Tour golfers receive a PGA Tour Card which will allow them easier access to PGA Tour events.
The 50 PGA Tour Cards up for grabs on the Korn Ferry Tour are distributed in the 2 following ways:
-The golfers who finish Top 25 in earnings during the regular season in the Korn Ferry Tour obtain a PGA Tour Card
-The golfers who finish Top 25 in earnings during the finals in the Korn Ferry Tour obtain a PGA Tour Card
New PGA Tour Card holders with card obtained through this avenue are prioritized according to their earnings in the tour finals.
Another way to obtain a PGA Tour Card is to accumulate 3 wins in a single Korn Ferry Tour season. This process to obtaining a PGA Tour Card is known as a 3-Win Promotion. Less than 15 players accomplished this feat in the last 25 years.
You do not need to finish Top 25 in earnings in the Korn Ferry Tour to be awarded a PGA Tour Card in this manner.
If you are already a somewhat established professional golfer who plays on the FedEx Cup, then finishing Top 125 in FedEx Cup points will give you a PGA Tour Card for the following season.
If you already have a PGA Tour Card and finish outside of the Top 125 players in points, you might lose your PGA Tour Card.
In fact, the Top 126-200 FedEx Cup players in points get the chance of going to the Korn Ferry Tour finals for a chance to regain their PGA Tour Card by finishing Top 25 in earnings.
However, if a professional finishes outside of the Top 200 in FedEx Cup points and does not have any years remaining on his PGA Tour Card, he will lose his card. Without the card, the professional also loses all benefits that come with it.
A different way to quickly obtain a PGA Tour Card is to win a single PGA Tour event. Winning a single PGA Tour event will instantly get you a PGA Tour Card that lasts for 2 seasons.
However, each additional PGA Tour event win during the season will add a year of life to your PGA Tour Card, up to 5 years.
If you finish among the top careers earners in the PGA Tour, you will also receive a PGA Tour Card.
Finally, winning 21 PGA Tour events is unrealistic for most, but it will net you a PGA Tour Card that will last you your entire lifetime.
What are the Benefits of having a PGA Tour Card?
The benefits of having a PGA Tour Card include exemption from qualifiers for some PGA Tour events, larger purses, as well as more advertising and sponsorship opportunities. These benefits last from 1 year, up to lifetime.
There are multiple considerable benefits to owning your very own PGA Tour Card.
For starters, owning a PGA Tour Card is a sign of prestige, and it is a massive flex.
Second of all, owning a PGA Tour Card will give you exemption from most qualifying events for a season’s tournaments. This is a huge advantage because it saves you both time & energy.
However, it could also come to bite you in the back, in the sense that the players who played the qualifiers may be better warmed up than you on the specific tournament’s golf course.
The players who go through qualifiers will have had lots of practice on the golf course before the PGA Tour Card holder even set foot on it!
Fortunately, PGA Tour Card holders can always use practice rounds to bridge the gap. At some point, the rest will be worth more than any amount of practice right before a tournament.
It is important to note that a PGA Tour Card will not exempt you from absolutely all qualifiers.
For example, for some events, such as invitationals, only the previous year’s Top 70 players will be automatically qualified. Players outside the Top 70 will need to qualify, even if they hold a PGA Tour Card.
Finally, having a PGA Tour Card comes with many financial benefits. In fact, holding a PGA Tour Card will give a player access to larger purses, and more sponsorship & advertising opportunities.
The benefits of owning a PGA Tour Card last until the card expires.
Winning a PGA Tour Card off the Korn Ferry Tour Top 25 rankings will give you 1 year of privileges.
Winning a PGA Tour event gives a player PGA Tour Card privileges for 2 years minimum, with an extra year added for each additional PGA Tour win during the season, up to 5 years.
Winning certain tournaments gives you 3 year exemptions, such as winning the Memorial Tournament.
Winning major championships, such as The Players Championship, or the FedEx Cup, gives you a 5 year PGA Tour Card.
Finally, the holy grail is winning 21 PGA Tour events, as that feat will give you a PGA Tour Card that lasts for life.
Conclusion
There you go! After reading this article, you have discovered exactly what a PGA Tour Card is, how to obtain one, and the benefits that come with owning one!
Would you like to have a PGA Tour Card? Is it your dream? Let us know in the comments down below!
