Besides playing in the Majors, the PGA Tour is the pinnacle of any professional golfer’s career.
Achieving a playing status on the PGA Tour is far from easy and most golfers can only dream of playing in the biggest and best events in golf, on a golf course with the likes of Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy.
So how many players are on the PGA Tour each week? In this article, we’ll look at what each week on tour looks like and how many golfers are on the PGA Tour. But also who is lucky enough to have a chance to play and maybe win on the PGA Tour?
Founder, Editor
Ed is the founder and editor at EEE Golf. He’s been playing golf for over 20 years, competing in many top amateur events. He’s played courses all over the world and played with some of the best players in the game. His aim is to help educate people about the game of golf and give insights into the sport he loves most.
How Many Players On PGA Tour?
How Many Players Are On The PGA Tour?
The PGA Tour has a whole host of players available to compete each week, but the number of players in golf tournaments each week is typically 144 or 156 players.
The PGA Tour operates for most of the year. This means early season and events in daylight hours will usually be limited to a lower field size of 144 players.
During the Summer months, the PGA Tour events are likely to have larger field sizes typically up to 156 PGA Tour professionals.
Of course, this is just for the main PGA Tour’s official events and numbers will vary for any Majors or World Golf Championship (WGC) events.
The WGC tournaments usually have a limited size field, with just the top players in the world competing, which includes other tours such as the European Tour (DP World Tour) or the Asian Tour.
The Major championships, such as The Masters, also get the freedom to choose how many players they want competing at their event.
Which Golfers Can Play On The PGA Tour?
Each week the PGA Tour aims to have the best players competing for the trophy.
However, the players that can play in the PGA Tour events each week vary depending on the player’s status and what type of tournament it is.
Like all professional golf tours, the PGA Tour has various exemption categories that decide which players get the chance to play each week and in which tournament.
The core group of players consists of 125 professionals who have full PGA Tour exemption and playing status. This means they can choose to play in any PGA Tour event in a season and skip whichever they feel like skipping.
Most of the members on tour play about 20 to 30 events a year, depending on their global schedule, how much golf they want to play and how much golf they need to play.
Then there is conditional PGA Tour membership for players who will be able to play a few events a year, usually on weeks when some of the top 125 choose not to play.
Some weeks in the season there will be two separate events being played on the PGA Tour.
For example, during Major championship weeks such as The Open Championship or The Masters, the top players on the tour will be competing in the Major.
Whereas the lower-ranked players with more limited status on the tour will get the chance to play in the secondary event and compete to win.
The prize money will be smaller and the FedEx Cup points will be lower, but it’s still a great opportunity for players with limited tour status can play and potentially win.
The PGA Tour will also see players from other tours competing sometimes, even if they don’t have a PGA Tour card.
Often, invites will be given out to top players on the DP World Tour, as well as players who might have had a good week in a Major or WGC event, giving them a chance to compete on the PGA Tour.
The Korn Ferry tour players also have opportunities to play in some of the lower-status events on the PGA Tour when the top players aren’t playing.
How Many PGA Tour Cards Are There?
Approximately, there are between 170 and 200 PGA Tour cards allocated to players for a full season, made up of full tour cards and more limited tour cards.
Getting a PGA Tour card is one of the most challenging and most impressive achievements a golfer can have.
It takes years of practice, plenty of skill and perhaps a bit of luck, but how many players have a PGA Tour card really can vary from season to season.
Ed’s Thoughts ⛳
With so PGA Tour cards available, it shows just how difficult it is to make it in top-level professional golf.
You really do have to be one of the best golfers in the world to earn one of under 200 cards available.
First of all, the top 125 players in the previous PGA Tour season will retain their PGA Tour status for the next season. This gives them full access to playing in a full PGA Tour schedule.
Next up you’ve got the Korn Ferry Tour which will provide the top 30 players with a PGA Tour card for the next season.
The Korn Ferry Tour is the tour one down from the PGA Tour and used to offer the top 25 players in previous seasons.
Korn Ferry Tour events are a great way for players to compete with the best golfers before embarking on a PGA Tour journey.
There’s also a chance to earn a chance to compete on the PGA Tour via the DP World Tour. The top 10 players at the end of the season on the DP World Tour will get PGA Tour cards for next season.
As of 2023, the PGA Tour has again reintroduced its Q-School for qualifying straight to the PGA Tour.
The top 5 finishes at the Final Stage Q-School will get a chance to compete on the PGA Tour for the following season.
Other methods for playing on the PGA Tour are if you’re the top golfer at the end of the PGA Tour University Velocity Global Ranking, if you’ve got a PGA Tour win or a major within a certain amount of years, or any sponsor exemptions that have a good week and earn enough points to retain a card.
Determining how many PGA Tour cards are there really comes down to a couple of different factors but will also include those players who finish well on the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour.
Final Thoughts
That rounds off our look at how many PGA players are there on the PGA Tour. Getting onto the PGA Tour is far from easy and once you get there it’s very difficult to stay there.
With about 80 million golfers playing worldwide and plenty of pro golfers out there, just 156 golfers get the opportunity to play PGA Tour events each week.
Other opportunities do exist for other players to get a chance to play, however, these are limited and the number works out to approximately 180-220 golfers getting the chance to compete in a PGA Tour event.
PGA Tour Players FAQs
How many players qualify for the PGA Tour Championship?
The top 30 players at the end of the PGA Tour season will qualify for the end-of-year Tour Championship where the PGA Tour player that finishes top of the FedEx Cup standings will be crowned FedEx Cup champion.
How many players in golf?
Usually in a professional golf tournament, there will be around 144 players taking part. On the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and other major golf tours, that number can vary from week to week, but is usually around the 144 mark.
How many players have a PGA Tour card?
About 200 golfers can have a PGA Tour card for a season, although not all of these cards will give full playing status for each tournament, with many just offering a partial status.
