It\u2019s final stage at Q-school, where 176 players are battling for PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour cards. Here\u2019s a simple breakdown of who gets what and what it actually means for next season.<\/p>\n
Five
The top five finishers in Florida earn PGA Tour cards for 2026. One important tweak this year: it\u2019s only five cards. No ties. The last two years, ties got in. This year? Playoff. I don\u2019t love the change, but a playoff for a PGA Tour card is going to be pure chaos in the best way.<\/p>\n
The Next 40 and Ties
After the five PGA Tour cards, the next 40 and ties earn exempt KFT status. That means guaranteed starts through either the second reshuffle (10 events) or the third reshuffle (14 events) of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
A key note here: plenty of players in this field are already fully exempt on KFT for next season. They\u2019re only here chasing a PGA Tour card. But they still count toward the \u201cNext 40.\u201d So if 20 already-exempt guys finish inside the Next 40, that leaves only 20 plus ties new exempt players.<\/p>\n
Everyone Else
Every player at final stage is a conditional KFT member\u2014even if a guy finishes dead last by 20 shots. But anyone outside the Next 40 isn\u2019t guaranteed starts. With all the changes on the PGA Tour, no one really knows how fields will shake out, but if you miss the number by one or two, you\u2019ll get some starts. Three or four? Maybe a few. Below that? Dicey. Very dicey.<\/p>\n
Everyone outside the guaranteed KFT category will also have full Americas Tour membership.<\/p>\n
Why Conditional Membership Matters
Conditional players are eligible for the reshuffle. This matters because if they get into an event via Monday qualifying or a sponsor exemption and then actually play well, they can jump way up the priority ranking and turn one start into several more.<\/p>\n
What Is a Reshuffle
Think of it as a re-ranking. Fields are built off a giant priority list, basically 1 through 250-ish, based on last season\u2019s (mainly) or previous season\u2019s performance. A few times each year, after a set number of events, the Tour hits the reset button on part of that ranking.<\/p>\n
Example
Let\u2019s say a guy finishes last at Q-school. His initial priority number is so bad he won\u2019t get into anything. But he Monday Q\u2019s into the third event, makes the cut, and finishes T10. After the first reshuffle (after the fifth event), he gets re-ranked and suddenly jumps way up the list. Now he\u2019s getting starts. After the 10th event, it reshuffles again. And so on.<\/p>\n
(Yes, this is deep in the weeds, but this is how guys go from \u201cno status\u201d to \u201csurprisingly full season.\u201d)<\/p>\n
\u200d<\/p>\n
The courses:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dye\u2019s Valley at TPC Sawgrass- 6,847 yards, Par 72, rating 74.0, Slope 134<\/p>\n
Sawgrass Country Club- 7,069, Par 72, rating 74.9, Slope 146<\/p>\n
\u200d<\/p>\n
PGA Tour winners in the field<\/p>\n
Luke List<\/p>\n
Cameron Champ<\/p>\n
Adam Hadwin<\/p>\n
Jim Herman<\/p>\n
Ted Potter Jr.<\/p>\n
Ben Martin<\/p>\n
SY Noh<\/p>\n
Lanto Griffin<\/p>\n
Russell Knox<\/p>\n
Taylor Moore<\/p>\n
Trey Mullinax<\/p>\n
Nick Hardy<\/p>\n
Andrew Putnam<\/p>\n
Camilo Villegas<\/p>\n
\u200d<\/p>\n
Player with the most world wide wins<\/p>\n
Ryo Ishikawa- The 34-year-old has 20 Japan Tour wins. After struggling a bit in his first go around on the PGA Tour, he looks to get back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u200d<\/p>\n
Highest ranked in OWGR<\/p>\n
Doug Ghim- 146th<\/p>\n
\u200d<\/p>\n
Former LIV members<\/p>\n
Turk Pettit<\/p>\n
Travis Smyth<\/p>\n
\u200d<\/p>\n
Podcast guests from this week<\/p>\n
Callum McNeill<\/p>\n
Beau Breault<\/p>\n
David Carey<\/p>\n
Michael Miller<\/p>\n
Andre Chi<\/p>\n
Listen to our podcast here Apple<\/a> Spotify<\/a><\/p>\n \u200d<\/p>\n Players who went from Pre-Q to Final Stage<\/p>\n Parker Holekamp<\/p>\n Greyson Leach<\/p>\n Tyler Leach<\/p>\n Marshall Meisel<\/p>\n Tyler Wilkes (h\/t to Korn Ferry Tour for this stat<\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n \u200d<\/p>\n Former NCAA Champs<\/p>\n Fred Biondi- Read my story about his climb back here.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Braden Thornberry<\/p>\n Pettit\u00a0<\/p>\n \u200d<\/p>\n Opera Singers (no, really)<\/p>\n Jay Card III<\/p>\n \u200d<\/p>\n Other players I\u2019ve written stories about in the past\u00a0<\/p>\n Hunter Eichhorn- How a kid from a tiny little town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan became a pro golfer. Read it here<\/a><\/p>\n JJ Grey- Why Sam Asbury will be with him always<\/a><\/p>\n \u200d<\/p>\n GOATS<\/p>\n Spencer Levin<\/p>\n \u200d<\/p>\n Crosshanded Player<\/p>\n Patrick Welch<\/p>\n \u200d<\/p>\n TV:\u00a0<\/p>\n It will be on Golf Channel, not sure of what times. I\u2019ll tweet out times.\u00a0<\/p>\n