PGA Tour expands ways college golfers can earn points against PGA Tour cards | Golf News and Tour Information

The threshold for college golfers earning a tour card through the PGA Tour Accelerated program is substantial, and that didn’t change when tour officials announced Thursday some subtle adjustments to the program that will take effect starting in 2025. Luke Clanton, a junior at Florida State, and Jackson Koivun, a sophomore at Auburn, remain three points short of the 20 that undergraduates must accumulate, points which are achieved through a variety of means: winning major college golf awards, working his way into the top five at the World Amateur Championship. Golf rankings, winning high-level amateur events and performing well in PGA Tour tournaments and major championships.

However, there are now more ways to earn these points, with the tour adding a handful of new criteria that count towards the 20 point total. For example, it’s not just the winner who will benefit from a strong performance at the NCAA Championship, but any player who claims a top-10 ranking. And winning prestigious amateur events like the Jones Cup and Northeast Amateur are now also worth a point.

Meanwhile, higher finishes in PGA Tour events now come with more points, and this is where Clanton could have really had an influence. Previously, players earned one point for making the cut in a PGA Tour event and one more point for a finish in the top 10. Starting in 2025, players get an extra point if they place in the top five first.

These points could have been useful to Clanton. The 21-year-old has competed in eight PGA Tour events as an amateur in 2024 (including the US Open), placing in seven and posting three top-10 finishes. But those three top 10 finishes were also top five finishes, including a T-2 at the RSM Classic. Unfortunately for Clanton, points earned under the new criteria cannot be retroactively added to a player’s total, otherwise Clanton would have gotten his 20.

Below is a list of additions/modifications to previous criteria:

• 26 weeks for life as #1 in WAGR: 1 point (this is in addition to the 5 points for reaching #1)
• 52 weeks for life as #1 in WAGR: 1 point
• Top 5 in an official PGA TOUR event or in certain DP World Tour events: 1 point (this is in addition to 1 point for a cut made and 1 point for a top 10)
• Top 10 and ties at the DI NCAA individual championship: 1 point
• Winner of the Jones Cup: 1 point
• Amateur winner from the North-East: 1 point
• Southern Amateur winner: 1 point
• African Amateur winner: 1 point (previously 2 points)
• Asia-Pacific Amateur winner: 1 point (previously 2 points)
• DI NCAA individual champion: 2 points (previously 3 points)
• European amateur winner: 1 point (previously 2 points)
• Amateur winner from Latin America: 1 point (previously 2 points)
• British amateur winner: 2 points (previously 3 points)
• American amateur winner: 2 points (previously 3 points)
• Western Amateur winner: 1 point (previously 2 points)

Here’s how Clanton got his 17 points so far:

5 = Best WAGR ranking (first)
1 = PGA Tour made cut (2024 Procore Championship)
1 = PGA Tour Cup (2024 Wyndham Championship)
1 = Top-10 in PGA Tour event (Wyndham 2024)
1 = PGA Tour made cut (2024 ISCO Championship)
1 = Cup made on the PGA Tour (2024 (John Deere Classic)
1 = Top-10 in the PGA Tour event (John Deere 2024)
1 = Cup made on the PGA Tour (Rocket Mortgage Classic 2024)
1 = Top 10 in PGA Tour event (Rocket Mortgage 2024)
1 = Major Cup (US Open 2024)
1 = Major departure (US Open 2024)
1 = PGA Tour made cut (2024 RSM Classic)
1 = Top-10 in PGA Tour event (2024 RSM Classic)

Koivun, 19, collected his 17 points during an impressive freshman campaign with the Tigers in 2023-24. Here’s how he got his 17:

1 = Palmer Cup (2024)
4 = Best WAGR ranking (second)
1 = PGA Tour Cup (2024 Memorial)
3 = DI Nicklaus Prize (2024)
2 = Outstanding Freshman DI Award (2024)
3 = Haskins Prize (2024)
3 = Hogan Prize (2024)

To date, only one golfer has earned the 20 points needed to claim a PGA Tour card: Vanderbilt junior Gordon Sargent. He will be able to accept tour membership after stroke play of the 2025 NCAA Championship concludes in late May.

Tour officials also announced that all top 10 finishers among eligible seniors in the PGA Tour University Rankings at the end of the college season will earn full Korn Ferry Tour status for the remainder of the season, an increase from the top five finishers. from previous years.

“Today’s announcement builds on the success PGA Tour University has enjoyed over the past four years and continues to evolve the program’s offerings to properly identify and reward elite college talent,” said said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan in a press release. “Advancing opportunities for emerging stars is a tenet of our competitive platform, and PGA Tour University plays a vital role in that process.”

Another subtle change is allowing a second player in the PGA Tour college ranking to receive a full PGA Tour card at the end of the college season. As of the final 2026 PGA Tour U. rankings, the second-place finisher will also gain PGA Tour membership provided their points average is equal to or greater than 1,300. The change was adopted to account for seasons during where there could be two exceptional players in the same promotion. According to the tour, since PGA Tour U launched in 2021, no No. 2 has yet surpassed that mark, and it has only happened twice in the past decade. Over the four years of PGA Tour U., No. 2 averaged 1,176 points.