Imagine a time when securing a spot on the PGA Tour was akin to surviving a high-stakes battle royale. Believe it or not, today’s players have it easier than their predecessors—but the debate over what’s fair is far from over. As the PGA Tour’s fall season wraps up, the pressure is on for golfers to secure fully exempt status. For the first time in over four decades, finishing in the top 125 in points won’t guarantee a full pass—now, only the top 100 make the cut. But here’s where it gets controversial: this change, announced over a year ago, has sparked both nostalgia and heated discussions about the Tour’s future.
The new rules don’t just stop at reducing exempt spots; they also limit entries from the Korn Ferry Tour and eliminate some Monday qualifying spots. All of this is part of a push for a leaner, more competitive PGA Tour with smaller, more elite fields. But this isn’t the first time the Tour has tightened its grip. Back in the day, exempt status was even harder to come by—think just 60 spots, with players grinding through Monday qualifiers just to get a chance to compete. And this is the part most people miss: missing a cut meant packing your bags and heading to the next tournament site, hoping to qualify all over again.
‘It made us better players,’ said Andy North, a two-time U.S. Open winner who turned pro in 1972. ‘You were grinding on Monday to get in, then grinding on Friday to make the cut.’ North recalls missing the top 60 by a few hundred dollars in his first year, only to bounce back with 10 top-25 finishes the next season. ‘It really toughened you up,’ he added. ‘You had to grind your butt off.’
But not everyone agrees. Gary McCord, a former Tour player and broadcaster, called the old system ‘an ever-evolving trip down the toilet.’ His concept of the ‘All-Exempt Tour,’ introduced in 1983, expanded the exempt spots to 125, giving players more stability. Yet, even then, the grind was relentless. McCord himself only made the top 60 once in nine years, spending most of his career as a ‘rabbit,’ jumping from tournament to tournament without a guaranteed schedule.
Here’s the real question: Did the old system create tougher competitors, or is today’s more inclusive approach better for the sport? Gary Koch, a six-time PGA Tour winner, argues that the old system forced players to perform under immense pressure. ‘Making the cut was such a big deal,’ he said. ‘It made for tough competitors because you had to perform.’ But with the rise of developmental tours like the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas, the pathway to the PGA Tour has become more structured—and some say, less grueling.
Today’s changes, however, have left many players uneasy. Cutting 25 fully exempt spots and reducing Korn Ferry Tour exemptions from 25 to 20 feels like a step backward to some. ‘I just think there are more than 100 guys capable of playing the PGA Tour,’ said John Cook, a 12-time winner. Yet, there’s a silver lining: fully exempt players from the Korn Ferry Tour and Q-School are now almost guaranteed spots in every full-field regular PGA Tour event, offering more stability than ever before.
So, what do you think? Is the PGA Tour’s new system a necessary evolution, or is it taking away opportunities from deserving players? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments—this debate is far from over.
