It is hard to make it on the PGA Tour in consecutive seasons. The competition is cutthroat; new and young talent is added every year, and for the golfers, it all becomes extremely stressful to keep their cards. But despite all this, they do what they can and try their best to keep it. However, many are unfortunate to be ranked outside the FedEx top 125 mark and have to return to the Q-School or Korn Ferry Tour to get the PGA Tour membership again.

So, while Maverick McNealy clinched his maiden victory at the RSM Classic, the 125 golfers for the 2025 season were locked, and many pros lost their cards. One of them was Dylan Wu. The 28-year-old missed 12 cuts this year and has only one top 10 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Following disappointing results, Wu ended up 132nd on the FedEx Cup rankings and is no longer Tour-bound. Wu took this as an opportunity to share how he was grateful for all the experiences he had on the PGA Tour in 2024 and before that and also reminded the golf world of Grayson Murray.

The 2-time PGA Tour winner died in May after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Challenge. It was a sad day for the entire community and the PGA Tour as they mourned Murray’s loss. Wu highlighted the stress and how tough the competition is on the tour and posted on X saying, “A quick side note: I hope people don’t forget about Grayson Murray. Margins on Tour are small, but Top 50, 125, and 150 were unfortunately moved because we lost a fellow player.” 

Wu was probably hinting at the changed fields and the given PGA Tour cards as the FedEx Cup season ends. The PGA Tour changed things for the 2026 season, where only the top 100 will retain the PGA Tour membership and the field sizes were shortened. It was deemed an improvement for the pros and the fans, but the reception for such a decision has been anything but positive.

PGA Tour pros rebel against the 2026 changes

The PGA Tour not only reduced the top 125 FedExCup rule to the top 100, but they also reduced the membership given to the pros at the PGA Tour Q-School and the Korn Ferry Tour. PGA Tour will provide 20 cards to KFT graduates down from 30, and only five who advance from Q-School will get a chance on the PGA Tour reduced from the top 5 and ties. As for the field sizes, an event played on the same course will go down from 156 to 144; the PLAYERS Championship will have only 120 golfers, while the multi-course events’ field will be 154.

This change was widely rejected by many, including Lucas Glover. He accused the PGA Tour of hiding behind the guise of slow play to reduce the field size and called it a “terrible” decision. Even Matt Fitzpatrick vouched for him and showed that he had a similar opinion. Additionally, the 2-time major champion, Padraig Harrington, also noted that the PGA Tour system was not broken and there was no need to change it.

Recently, team America’s assistant captain at the President Cup, Kevin Kisner, also took a dig at the top 125 card rule and highlighted how the golf world will never hear from these pros because “of how much of a closed shop @PGATOUR is becoming.” The PGA Tour has approved of all these changes, and despite the backlash, the Tour would probably move forward with it.

Hopefully, as they have cut down on pathways to make it on the PGA Tour, the American circuit may introduce a different way for golfers to join the Tour.