The double tour life: Ben Kohles bets on FedExCup Fall for PGA Tour card, skips Korn Ferry Tour Championship

Splitting time across the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour is hardly a new phenomenon since the latter was established in 1990, but few have lived as extreme a double touring life as Ben Kohles.

The 36-year-old, who posted the low round of Friday (9-under 62) at the Baycurrent Classic, came to Yokohama, Japan, with 14 events on each respective tour under his belt this year. Through 25 of those tournament starts, Kohles found himself No. 96 in the FedExCup and No. 14 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, both firmly in the “bubble-boy” range, as the top 100 on the former retain full status and the top 20 on the latter secure PGA Tour cards for 2027.

The five-time Korn Ferry Tour champion, who first achieved a PGA Tour card a year after turning professional in 2013, took his game to the opening Korn Ferry Tour Finals event in Nashville, Tennessee (Sept. 10-13), and the opening FedExCup Fall tournament in Asheville, North Carolina (Sept. 17-20). A T27 in the first of the two dropped him to a more precarious No. 17 position, whereas a T15 in the second bumped him up six spots to No. 90 in the FedExCup.

Having more cushion and more opportunities to earn full PGA Tour privileges on the grandest circuit – eight fall events compared to four Korn Ferry Tour Finals events – Kohles has opted to put all his chips on the table toward the FedExCup Fall. He was the lone qualifier not to tee it up this week at The Federal Club for the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by Virginia’s Richmond Region.

“I really haven't had much of an off-week, with some guys not getting in the (FedExCup) Playoffs, having five weeks off, I played a couple Korn Ferries after Wyndham (Championship) and a Korn Ferry before Asheville, so I feel like I'm just in mid-season form,” Kohles said after his bogey-free round Friday. “Obviously been playing a lot of golf this year, probably more than I ever have. Yeah, it's been fun to obviously keep playing well. Yeah, feeling really good with my game and happy to see the scores continue to follow that.”

Another top-15 finish at the Bank of Utah Championship (T13) saw the Dallas, Texas, native move up another six spots to No. 84 entering Baycurrent. The crossroads decision seems to be paying off again at Yokohama Country Club, as Kohles sits two shots behind 36-hole co-leaders Keith Mitchell and Jacob Bridgeman (11 under). Kohles' Friday was punctuated by a 50-foot bomb for birdie on the par-3 16th.

At T3 through two rounds, Kohles is projected to jump eight spots to No. 76. Five fall tournaments remain this season, and more than the possibility of cracking the top 60 to earn entry into 2027’s first two Signature Events at Pebble Beach and Riviera, Kohles is still striving for a breakthrough PGA Tour victory in his 127th career start. His fifth Korn Ferry Tour title in June at the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX is keeping that internal belief as alive as it has ever been.

“Yeah, I think always when you get a win, it's so hard to win no matter what tour you're playing on, so getting that win on the Korn Ferry really kind of catapulted this whole second half of the year for me,” said Kohles, who defeated Logan McAllister by four shots. “I played awesome golf pretty much every week since, so it's been fun to see a few weeks here and there not what I wanted but for the most part really happy with everything and just going to keep riding the wave.”

When a player leads the PGA Tour in Driving Accuracy Percentage (79.34%) and Greens in Regulation Percentage (74.19%) and pairs that with being No. 2 in Proximity to Hole (33 feet), it usually is a good formula for winning. For Kohles, the right “wave” may still be on the horizon. Perhaps even before the last leaf falls off the trees this year.