Following the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School, we now have a clear idea of which new faces will be competing on the US-based circuit in the 2026 season.
In total, five players earned their cards via that route, but there are other pathways to the PGA Tour, too.
Korn Ferry Tour Points List
Johnny Keefer finished top of the Korn Ferry Tour points list
Until 2025, 30 players made their way to the PGA Tour via the Korn Ferry Tour points list. That was reduced to just 20 plays this year, but it is still the pathway that offers the most opportunities to progress.
The Korn Ferry Tour Finals section of the season concluded in October with the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. Following that, the order of the season-long points list was confirmed.
At the top of the points list was Johnny Keefer, who won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2025 and became just the third player to win both the Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards.
Keefer isn’t the only rising star to look out for from the crop of Korn Ferry Tour graduates.
The likes of big-hitting Christo Lamprecht, 2024 Masters Silver Cup winner Neal Shipley and Belgian Adrien Dumont de Chassart, who won all his professional debut at the 2023 BMW Charity Pro-Am, are also making their way to the PGA Tour.
Here are the 20 players who earned PGA Tour status for 2026 via the Korn Ferry Tour points list.
- Johnny Keefer
- Chandler Blanchet
- Austin Smotherman
- Neal Shipley
- Emilio Gonzalez
- Hank Lebioda
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart
- S.H. Kim
- Christo Lamprecht
- Davis Chatfield
- Zach Bauchou
- Pierceson Coody
- S.T Lee
- Jeffrey Kang
- Kensei Hirata
- Trace Crowe
- John VanDerLaan
- Zecheng Dou point
- Sudarshan Yellamaraju
- Pontus Nyholm
DP World Tour Race To Dubai Rankings
Marco Penge is PGA Tour-bound after a brilliant year on the DP World Tour
As part of the DP World Tour’s Strategic Alliance with the PGA Tour, its players have had a direct pathway to the US-based circuit since 2023, with the top 10 players not otherwise exempt in the season-long race to Dubai rankings all earning cards.
At the end of the 2025 season, current PGA Tour superstar Rory McIlroy won the Race to Dubai for the fourth season in succession, but the man immediately beneath him in the rankings, Marco Penge, wasn’t a PGA Tour player.
He is now, following a season that included three victories, while other notable names on the list include Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan, Alex Noren and Dan Brown.
In Swede Noren’s case, it means he gets to continue his PGA Tour career having had a card in 2025. However, without such a successful DP World Tour season, where he won twice, he wouldn’t have had full status in 2026 after finishing 105th in the FedEx Cup Fall standings.
For Englishman Brown, his PGA Tour card comes via a somewhat unlikely route, having finished as the 11th non-exempt player in the Race to Dubai rankings, but making his way to the US thanks to Laurie Canter’s decision to turn down his PGA Tour card for a return to LIV Golf.
Here are the 10 heading to the PGA Tour via the Race to Dubai rankings.
- Marco Penge
- Kristoffer Reitan
- Adrian Saddier
- Alex Noren
- John Parry
- Haotong Li
- Keita Nakajima
- Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
- Jordan Smith
- Dan Brown
PGA Tour Q-School
AJ Ewart was one of five players to earn a card via Q-School
Previously at PGA Tour Q-School, there was the opportunity for more than five players to earn a card, as they were awarded to the top five players and ties at the end of the 72 holes of strokeplay of the final stage.
That all changed for the 2025 edition, where the field of 176 competed for just five cards, with a playoff required in the event of a tie.
In the end, four players, including the man who topped the leaderboard, AJ Ewart, secured their PGA Tour status in regulation, with Ben Silverman and Dylan Wu battling it out for the final card via a playoff. Wu prevailed and the five names, listed below, were confirmed.
Like Noren, two of the players, Alejandro Tosti and Adam Svensson, are able to continue their PGA Tour careers thanks to their positions on the leaderboard, having held status in 2025.
Tosti earned his full PGA Tour card for 2025 via Q-School, while Svensson played on the PGA Tour in 2025 courtesy of his 2022 RSM Classic win. Meanwhile, Wu held conditional status in 2025, but he now has full playing privileges.
- AJ Ewart
- Adam Svensson
- Alejandro Tosti
- Marcelo Rozo
- Dylan Wu
Additional Pathways
Jackson Koivun has earned PGA Tour membership, but he has yet to turn pro
There are other ways for players to earn PGA Tour cards. For college golfers, one pathway is PGA Tour University.
David Ford finished top of the rankings in May 2025, giving him immediate membership of the PGA Tour, which continues through 2026.
Another pathway for college golfers is PGA Tour University Accelerated, which awards players points for various achievements, with 20 the threshold to earn a card.
In 2025, Jackson Koivun became the third player to earn a PGA Tour card via that route, following Gordon Sargent and Luke Clanton.
Rather than take up membership immediately, though, he opted to return to Auburn University to complete his junior season, meaning he will become a PGA Tour player whenever he chooses to turn professional, in 2026 or 2027 after his senior year.
Like Ford, Michael Brennan is another player who has already begun his PGA Tour career thanks to winning the Bank of Utah Championship as a non-member. As a result, following the victory, he played in three more FedEx Cup Fall events in 2025.
However, it is worth noting that without the victory, Brennan, who finished top of the PGA Tour Americas points list in 2025, would be playing on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2026 rather than the PGA Tour.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.