How it works: PGA TOUR University at the NCAA Championship
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The stroke play portion of this week’s NCAA Championship (May 26-29) is the final tournament for players in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2023. The top 20 players in the final PGA TOUR University Ranking will be announced Monday, May 29, after the final round of stroke play at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
For players in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2023, the points distribution for the NCAA Championship is based on a WAGR Power of 1000. Additionally, players in the current season PGA TOUR University Ranking will receive bonus points if they finish in the top 10 of the final stroke-play leaderboard, with the champion earning 15 bonus points. With these provisions, a current-year player will earn 40 points if he wins the individual NCAA Championship.
PGA TOUR University Bonus Points:
| 1st – 15 points | 6th – 5 points |
| 2nd – 10 points | 7th – 4 points |
| 3rd – 8 points | 8th – 3 points |
| 4th – 7 points | 9th – 2 points |
| 5th – 6 points | 10th – 1 point |
The NCAA Championship field includes 30 teams and six individuals, and 17 of the top-20 players in PGA TOUR University are on teams that qualified. The pre-tournament projections outlined below are based on fixed Points Averages at Nos. 5, 10 and 20. However, the Points Average of all players will change based on how they play at the NCAA Championship, so the projections will continually change throughout the tournament.
Updated projections based on daily results will be published after each round during the NCAA Championship.
No. 1 Scenarios
At Stake: The player who finishes No. 1 will earn PGA TOUR membership in 2023 and 2024, and he will be eligible to make his pro debut at the RBC Canadian Open (June 8-11).
• 1st-ranked Ludvig Aberg can finish with a Points Average no worse than 1318.3371.
• 2nd-ranked Adrien Dumont de Chassart’s maximum Points Average is 1209.4888.
• 3rd-ranked Fred Biondi’s maximum Points Average is 1220.5300.
Top-5 Scenarios
At Stake: Players who finish in the top five will earn exempt membership on Korn Ferry Tour, starting with the BMW Charity Pro-Am (June 8-11). Additionally, top-five finishers may accept unlimited PGA TOUR sponsor exemptions in 2023 and 2024, and they are exempt into the Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.
Pepperdine’s William Mouw is currently No. 5. In order to pass his current Points Average (1043.9480)…
• 6th-ranked Ross Steelman needs to finish 5th (solo) or better;
• 7th-ranked Patrick Welch needs to finish 3rd (solo) or better;
• 8th-ranked Ryan Burnett needs to finish 3rd (solo) or better;
• 9th-ranked Yuxin Lin needs to finish 2nd (solo) or better;
• 10th-ranked Ricky Castillo needs to finish 2nd (solo) or better.
Top-10 Scenarios
At Stake: Players who finish 6th-10th will earn conditional membership on Korn Ferry Tour. They will also earn exempt membership on PGA TOUR Canada and be exempt into the Second Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.
Florida’s Ricky Castillo is currently No. 10. In order to pass his current Points Average (952.0552)…
• 11th-ranked Travis Vick needs to finish 8th (solo) or better;
• 12th-ranked Reid Davenport needs to finish T7 (two-way) or better;
• 14th-ranked Sam Choi needs to finish 5th (solo) or better;
• 15th-ranked Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira needs to finish T4 (two-way) or better;
• 16th-ranked Derek Hitchner needs to finish T3 (three-way) or better.
Top-20 Scenarios
At Stake: Players who finish 11th-20th will earn exempt membership on PGA TOUR Canada, starting with the Royal Beach Victoria Open presented by Times Colonist (June 15-18). They are also exempt into the Second Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.
After finishing runner-up at the Morgan Hill Regional, NC State’s Maximilian Steinlechner is effectively No. 20 in PGA TOUR University. Because Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (currently 13th) has completed his season with 16 events on his PGA TOUR University record, he will finish with a Points Average of approximately 811 when the minimum divisor (18) is applied after the NCAA Championship.
Steinlechner did not qualify for the NCAA Championship and his PGA TOUR U record is complete.
To remain ahead of Steinlechner’s final Points Average (850.5952)…
• 18th-ranked Connor Howe needs to finish T150 (two-way) or better;
• All other top-20 players are mathematically assured of finishing ahead of Steinlechner.
In order to pass Steinlechner…
• Mason Nome needs to finish 4th (solo) or better;
• Pietro Bovari needs to finish 2nd (solo) or better;
• Carson Lundell, Julian Perico, Matthis Besard, Hunter Logan and Segundo Oliva Pinto need to win.