PGA TOUR Americas: How It Works

PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and PGA TOUR Canada have merged to create PGA TOUR Americas, a singular, competitive pathway tour set to feed into the Korn Ferry Tour.

With play starting in March 2024, the inaugural PGA TOUR Americas schedule includes 16 events spanning across Latin America, Canada and the United States. Two continents and eight different countries will host players competing for the chance to earn their way onto the Korn Ferry Tour, and ultimately onto the PGA TOUR.

Combining PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and PGA TOUR Canada for 2024 allows for two competitive ‘swings’ throughout the year, with six events in Latin America spanning from March to May, followed by 10 North American events spanning from June to September.

Each tournament, aside from the season-ending Fortinet Cup Championship, will be a four-day, 72-hole stroke play competition featuring a 36-hole cut after two rounds. Play will be conducted per the traditional calendar scheme of Thursday-Sunday.

The top 120 players on the PGA TOUR Americas Points List after 15 events will be eligible for the Fortinet Cup Championship. The top-10 players on the final 2024 Fortinet Cup Standings will earn exempt Korn Ferry Tour membership for the 2025 season.

In addition to 10 exempt Korn Ferry Tour cards via the season-long points race, up to five conditional Korn Ferry Tour cards are available to the top two finishers in the Latin America Swing and the top three finishers in the North America Swing, if these players do not finish in the top 10 on the final PGA TOUR Americas Points List.

The top two players from the Latin America Swing can upgrade to exempt Korn Ferry Tour status for the 2025 season with a top-10 finish in the final Fortinet Cup Standings.

Eligibility:

The Latin America Swing will feature 144-player fields, incorporating the results from the 2023 season across both international tours. Eligible players include the top-60 from both the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Totalplay Cup points list and the PGA TOUR Canada Fortinet Cup points list, in addition to medalists from First Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, additional finishers from Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, the top-3 finishers from the Latinoamérica Developmental (Dev) Series, and the highest finisher on the APGA season-long points list. Open qualifiers, sponsor exemptions, current Korn Ferry Tour members and the 2023 PGA TOUR University class will round out the field.

Upon the close of the Latin America swing, the field will increase to 156 for the North America Swing. The top-60 finishers from the first swing will earn membership, in addition to the 2024 PGA TOUR University graduating members (finishers 6-25), the NCAA DII Player of the Year and finishers one through nine from the six PGA TOUR Americas Q-School sites conducted across the month-long stretch between swings. Full eligibility for the North America Swing features similar categories to the Latin America Swing, including open qualifiers, sponsor exemptions and eligible Korn Ferry Tour members.

Points List:

The official points list used to conduct rankings throughout the season is a system used diligently in past seasons by PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, PGA TOUR Canada, Korn Ferry Tour and the PGA TOUR. The formula is designed for success specifically towards those who evince consistent play of high finishes and made cuts.

Each PGA TOUR Americas tournament winner will receive 500 points for the victory. A solo runner-up finish will generate 300 points. If there is a tie in any position (barring a tie for first, which is remedied by a playoff), the points will be evenly distributed amongst the players in that position. (E.g., in a five-way tie for second place, the points allocation for finishers 2-6 will be added together and divided by five, with each second-place finisher receiving an equal points distribution.)

Points for the limited-field Fortinet Cup Championship will be higher, with 600 points awarded to the winner.

Additional Benefits:

Each PGA TOUR Americas event offers a $225,000 (USD) purse, with the winner earning $40,500 (USD). For a majority of events, this marks an approximate $50,000 increase over 2022 purses.

Players who earn Korn Ferry Tour cards (up to 15) through the PGA TOUR Americas season will be guaranteed a spot in the Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, post-PGA TOUR Americas season, for a chance to earn PGA TOUR membership.

Not only do top performers garner these benefits, but all PGA TOUR Americas members will gain access to Q-School in some capacity. Finishers 11-25 on the season-long points list, finishers 3-10 from the Latin America swing and finishers 4-10 from the North America Swing will earn direct access to Second Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School.

All remaining members will be exempt into First Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School, bypassing the pre-qualifying stage.

Up-to-date news and information can also be found on PGA TOUR Americas social channels:

Instagram - @PGATOURAmericas (English) or @PGATOURAmericasESP (Spanish)

Twitter - @PGATOURAmericas (English) or @PGATAmericasESP (Spanish)

Facebook - @PGATOURAmericas

FAQ:

Why are the two PGA TOUR international tours combining?
- PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and PGA TOUR Canada have always presented another opportunity for players to gain access to the Korn Ferry Tour through high-level performance. The PGA TOUR recently decided to combine these Tours in an effort to create a more consistent, cohesive and effective pathway for skilled players who were looking for a way to showcase their abilities and, in return, earn a spot on the next level.
What kind of status is earned via the 15 Korn Ferry Tour cards?
- The top-10 finishers from the season-long points list receive “exempt” Korn Ferry Tour membership. The top-two finishers from the Latin America swing receive “conditional” Korn Ferry Tour membership. The top-three finishers from the North America swing receive “conditional” Korn Ferry Tour membership.
What is the difference between exempt and conditional?
- Exempt status earns a player access into any open tournament on the Tour’s schedule. Certain players have guaranteed starts for the entire season and can choose their schedule as they see fit.
- Conditional players will be placed in a category that allows limited access to events after their allotted number of guaranteed starts. Members who have surpassed their allotted number of guaranteed starts move into a conditional eligibility category based on their position on the season-long standings.
How are points evenly distributed in a tie?
- Given the finishes of the tied players, the points that are compiled of those positions will be added together and divided among the number of players in said position. (Ex: If six players tie for sixth in an event, the total points for solo finishes 6-11 are added together and divided by six, with each player receiving equal points distribution.) via How it works: Korn Ferry Tour Points List
How does PGA TOUR Americas Q-School work?
- Upon the conclusion of the Latin America swing and prior to the start of North American events, there will be a “mid-season” Americas Q-School series that will offer PGA TOUR Americas membership. Six sites, spread across the United States and Canada, will offer exempt status for the North America swing to finishers one through nine from each location with finishers 10-25 (and ties) earning conditional status.