How it works: PGA Tour Challenger Series

Featuring emerging talent alongside players fighting to return to the top level of the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Challenger Series represents a compelling slate of high-stakes events played across familiar PGA Tour courses.

Approved by the PGA Tour boards among a series of recommendations from the Future Competition Committee, the PGA Tour Challenger Series will begin with the 2028 season as an important part of the Tour's new two-series model.

Let’s dive into how the PGA Tour Challenger Series will work, including its clear guidelines for promotion as players look to secure PGA Tour Championship Series status:

Structure

The PGA Tour Challenger Series will include at least 20 events, each boasting a prize purse of at least $4 million. The tournament schedule will run concurrently to the PGA Tour Championship Series, beginning in February and concluding in August.

Approximately seven PGA Tour Challenger Series events will be played during PGA Tour Championship Series off weeks, with increased competitive consequence, benefits and exposure.

The full schedule for 2028 PGA Tour Challenger Series will be announced at a later date.

Format

PGA Tour Challenger Series events will feature an average field size of 144 players, except when constraints such as daylight require a reduced field size. Each event will be contested across 72 holes with a 36-hole cut, trimming the field to the top 65 and ties (including amateurs), with consideration for special formats (i.e. pro-am).

The PGA Tour Challenger Series will feature a unique season-long points system, with bonus points offered for events contested during PGA Tour Championship Series off weeks and major championships. The PGA Tour Challenger Series points system will be separate from the one utilized for PGA Tour Championship Series events, as players will earn points only within each respective series.

The PGA Tour Challenger Series points system is set to be finalized at the November 16 Board Meeting.

Promotion and relegation

The PGA Tour Challenger Series will offer players direct paths for promotion to the PGA Tour Championship Series. Twenty players from the points list at the end of each season will be promoted to the PGA Tour Championship Series for the following year. PGA Tour Challenger Series members who finish outside the cutoff for promotion will also have an opportunity to earn PGA Tour Championship Series status through a “last chance” series, held in the fall.

Additionally, PGA Tour Challenger Series members can earn immediate promotions by either winning multiple PGA Tour Challenger Series events in the same season or by winning a major championship.

The top 90 players on the PGA Tour Championship Series points list will retain status for the following season. Players who finish outside the top 90 on the PGA Tour Championship Series points list could face potential relegation to the PGA Tour Challenger Series for the following season. The PGA Tour Challenger Series will also include a relegation component, the details of which will be released at a later date.

Eligibility

Similar to the current PGA Tour system, the PGA Tour Challenger Series will feature a priority ranking set at the beginning of the season. Eligibility will consist of exempt members, with access to all PGA Tour Challenger Series events, and conditional members who will be utilized to fill the fields.

The membership criteria include:

• PGA Tour Championship Series relegated – Players relegated from the PGA Tour Championship Series in the previous season.
• PGA Tour Challenger Series retained – Nos. 21-90 on the previous season’s PGA Tour Challenger Series Points List.
• Twenty (20) players promoted from Korn Ferry Tour
  • The top 20 finishers from the previous season’s Korn Ferry Tour Points List.
• Tournament winners exemptions
  • Winners of PGA Tour Challenger Series events receive PGA Tour Challenger Series membership for the current season and the following season. Winner exemptions do not extend beyond one year for multiple wins in a season.
  • In addition to their two-year exemption on the PGA Tour Championship Series, winners of PGA Tour Championship Series events, inclusive of THE PLAYERS and majors, in the previous four years are exempt on the PGA Tour Challenger Series.
  • Players who win multiple PGA Tour Championship Series events in the same season will have their winner's exemption on the PGA Tour Challenger Series extended for each additional win, up to a maximum of five seasons. Exemptions for multiple wins on the PGA Tour Challenger Series do not extend.
• PGA Tour University
  • Nos. 2-5 in the PGA Tour University Ranking earn PGA Tour Challenger Series membership following the conclusion of the NCAA Championship through the following season.
  • Players who achieve and accept PGA Tour University Accelerated earn PGA Tour Challenger Series membership and can join at the start of a future season.
• Q-School
  • The top five finishers from the previous season’s PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament (Q-School).
• Open qualifying
  • The top two finishers at Open Qualifying for PGA Tour Challenger Series events played the same week as PGA Tour Championship Series events.
  • There is no Open Qualifying for standalone PGA Tour Challenger Series events.
• Designated exemptions
  • Up to two designated exemptions.
• Medical extensions
  • Medical extensions will be granted on a limited basis for injury or conditions that materially prevent competition, as determined by an outside review committee of independent medical experts.

Major championships will not count toward the slate of 20 PGA Tour Challenger Series events, but members will earn points for participation in majors, should they qualify through the necessary eligibility criteria set forth by each tournament.

PGA Tour Championship Series members are not eligible to participate in PGA Tour Challenger Series events.

As the PGA Tour transitions to the new competitive structure, slightly different thresholds will be set for the 2027 season only. Those specifics can be found here.

Q-School

The PGA Tour will continue to contest an annual Qualifying Tournament, known as Q-School, to award access across the PGA Tour ecosystem. Q-School will conclude prior to the beginning of the “last chance” series and will offer the opportunity to earn access to the PGA Tour Challenger Series and the pathways developmental properties. The top five finishers will earn PGA Tour Challenger Series membership for the following season.

However, as part of the transition year in 2027, the top 10 finishers from the Final Stage of Q-School in 2027 will receive PGA Tour Challenger Series membership in 2028.