The PGA Tour has approved a slew of changes in its recent meeting. These amendments will modify the shape and dynamics of the Jay Monahan-led tour in 2026. The Player Advisory Council approved reducing the field size, overhauling the FedEx Cup point structure, and trimming the number of full-time Tour card holders. 

Firstly, the regular non-signature events will consist of 144, 132, and 120 players instead of 156. The final field size will depend on the daylight available. On 144 player-fields, four players will earn a spot via Monday Qualifiers, which has remained unchanged. However, for the 132-man field, only two can enter via the same route, whereas there won’t be any Monday qualifier for the 120-player field. THE PLAYERS, the Tour’s flagship event at Ponte Vedra, will see a field of 120 in 2026. 

The rationale behind reducing the field size was to wrap up a round within the designated time. Oftentimes, the Tour is forced to call off play due to darkness with at least 2-3 groups yet to complete 18 holes. Moreover, the PAC believes that it will increase the pace of play as well. 

“Today’s announced changes build on the competitive and schedule enhancements incorporated over the last six years in seeking the best version of the PGA Tour for our fans, players, tournaments and partners,” Jay Monahan said in the official statement. Tour’s fans are, however, on a different page regarding the changes. They believe it destroys any semblance of metrics on which the PGA Tour was founded.

More exodus of PGA Tour pros to LIV Golf is in the offing, per fans

From Jay Monahan to Tour loyalist Billy Horschel, players and administrators have tried to defend these sweeping changes. It has barely convinced the detractors, however. In fact, Lucas Glover has gone so far as to say the new policy “challenges our intelligence”. “You get a better pace of play policy or enforce the one you have better,” the six-time PGA Tour winner told Golfweek blasting the narrative that reduced field size will improve the pace of play.

Many fans share Glover’s sentiment. One commented, “Sad day for the tour; it just seems to be getting worse.” Their biggest concern was that reducing the field size would affect playing opportunities. Moreover, the number of cards handed to KFT graduates will reduce to 20 from 30. Similarly, only the top five players (instead of top-fives and ties) in the PGA Tour Q-school will be moving up the ladder. 

What will be its inevitable fallout? Some believe those players who won’t get too many starts will move to LIV Golf instead. “Get ready for a mass exodus of players that won’t get many starts,” wrote one user. It should be noted that LIV Golf Promotions will have only one spot on offer instead of three from last year. But players can join the 54-hole league if a team wants to sign them directly.

Nevertheless, fans believe these changes make the PGA Tour more closed shop like LIV Golf. “[It] is too Elitist. There is soooo much great young talent. Monday Q’s were / are best way,” wrote one of them. Another sarcastically wrote, “PGA Tour 2 years ago: LIV is bad, small fields, no competition PGA Tour now: let’s be more like LIV.”

It isn’t clear if the PGA Tour is going to redistribute the purses. Currently, the tournament winner earns 18% of the total purse, the second spot gets 11%, and third gets 7% so on and so forth. The belief among fans is that, with a limited number of players, the top players will earn more from a tournament. A user rhetorically asked, “Isn’t this basically a way for the tour to pay their top talent more without having to increase the purse size?”

The PGA Tour will implement the changes in 2026. That means the top 125 players from this year will face a more cut-throat competition to keep their cards. The PGA Tour will wrap up the 2024 season with the RSM Classic this week.