On Monday, the PGA Tour announced a new pathway for elite college golfers to make in on to the Tour.
PGA Tour University was created to provide college golfers with the opportunity to earn status on the various Tour operating under the PGA Tour umbrella, including the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Canada, PGA Tour Latinoamérica, and PGA Tour Series-China.
Players eligible for the PGA Tour University Ranking List will be NCAA Division I golfers who complete a minimum of four years in college.
From the Tour’s release, here is a further breakdown of how the program will work:
The top 15 finishers from the final Official PGA TOUR University Ranking List at the conclusion of each NCAA collegiate spring season (defined by the conclusion of the NCAA Men’s Division I Golf Championship) will be awarded exempt status to the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Series – China, based on their respective finish.
The top five finishers from the final Official PGA TOUR University Ranking List will receive Korn Ferry Tour membership and will be exempt into all open, full-field events beginning the week following the conclusion of the NCAA Division I Men’s National Championship through the conclusion of the Korn Ferry Tour regular season. The top five finishers will also be exempt into the Final Stage of that year’s Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament.
Finishers Nos. 6-15 will secure membership on one of the International Tours for the current season and a spot in the Second Stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament (if necessary). At that point, these players will have their choice of which International Tour their exempt status applies to.
The eligibility for each respective Tour will begin the week following the conclusion of the NCAA Men’s Division I Golf Championship. The 2021 NCAA Men’s Championship is scheduled to be held at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, from May 28 – June 2.
In order to come up with the Official PGA Tour University Ranking List, the Tour will work with the World Amateur Golf Ranking system, which is administered by The R&A and the USGA. The WAGR system ranks the top amateurs on the basis of their average performance in counting events on a rolling cycle over the previous 104 weeks. The list will be filtered to include those players and results meeting the PGA TOUR University eligibility criteria.
Events that will count towards the Official PGA Tour University Ranking List include NCAA Division I Men’s Golf events and official PGA Tour events and Major Championships, including the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship.