How the Korn Ferry Tour Finals work in 2019 and beyond with a new points system
Korn Ferry Tour

How the Korn Ferry Tour Finals work in 2019 and beyond with a new points system

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The Korn Ferry Tour Finals have been in existence since 2013, when the PGA Tour moved to a wrap-around schedule and eliminated offering PGA Tour cards through Q-school. However, with the start of the 2019 season, the Korn Ferry Tour Finals is changing in a substantial way.

The now-three-event series runs concurrently with the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs, and it determines the fate of 50 PGA Tour cards. The big change is that the fate of these cards is no longer determined by money earned but by points.

The Korn Ferry Tour created a points structure so that almost every regular season event offered the same benefits to players looking to earn a PGA Tour card. Korn Ferry Tour wins now mean 500 points toward the season-long points list, regardless of the purse. The points increase for the final regular season event, the WinCo Foods Portland Open, with the winner getting 600 points. For the three Korn Ferry Tour Finals events, the points are double regular-season tournaments, with the winner getting 1,000 points.

A total of approximately 150 players qualify for the series: the top 75 players on the Korn Ferry Tour regular season points list and the players who finished 126th through 200th on the PGA Tour regular season FedEx Cup points list (that is, the first 75 players who didn't qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs). There are others who can earn spots through medical extensions and non-member FedEx Cup points.

While the fate of 50 PGA Tour cards are decided in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, the recipients of 25 of those cards is already known before the series starts. The top 25 players on the Korn Ferry Tour regular season points list automatically earn PGA Tour status for the next season. Ultimately, then, 125 players are competing in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals for another 25 PGA Tour cards, and those are determined based on the total points earned during the four Korn Ferry Tour Finals events.

As for the top 25 in the Korn Ferry Tour regular season points list, they are playing in the series to determine their priority order for the start of the next PGA Tour season. Priority order dictates the order in which players gain entry into most PGA Tour events. The better a player's priority ranking, the more likely they are to get into a tournament that isn't considered an invitational.

The top 25 on the Korn Ferry Tour regular season points list are tracked through a separate points list for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. Instead of starting at 0 like the other 125 players on the Korn Ferry Tour Finals points list, those players start with all the points they earned in the Korn Ferry Tour regular season, which can be added to their Korn Ferry Tour Finals points.

In addition, a player who finishes in the top 25 on the Korn Ferry Tour regular season points list can improve his priority order for next season by finishing higher on the Korn Ferry Tour Finals points list.

As a reward, two players earn fully exempt status for the next PGA Tour season, meaning their status is not subject to points-based priority reshuffles at key points through the season. Those players are the winner of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals points list and the player among the top 25 Korn Ferry Tour regular season money list to earn the most combined points between the regular season and the Finals. Both players are also exempt into The Players Championship.

Altogether, the priority order for the 50 cards alternates between players on the Korn Ferry Tour Finals points list and the top 25 players from the Korn Ferry Tour regular season points list, ranked based on their combined money between the regular season and the finals.

For example:

1. No. 1 in top 25 on combined Korn Ferry Tour regular season and Finals points list
2. No. 1 on Korn Ferry Tour Finals points list
3. No. 2 in top 25 on combined Korn Ferry Tour regular season and Finals points list
4. No. 2 on Korn Ferry Tour Finals points list
5. No. 3 in top 25 on combined Korn Ferry Tour regular season and Finals points list
6. No. 3 on Korn Ferry Tour Finals points list

As for the 100 players who don't earn enough money to earn PGA Tour cards, their playing privileges for the next season are determined this way:

  • Players 26-50 on the Korn Ferry Tour Finals points list earn fully exempt Korn Ferry Tour status for the next season
  • Players 51-75 on the Korn Ferry Tour Finals points list are exempt into the finals of Korn Ferry Tour Q-school
  • Players who finished No. 26-75 on the Korn Ferry Tour regular season points list are fully exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour for the next season, if they don't earn a PGA Tour card in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals
  • Players who finished Nos. 76-100 on the Korn Ferry Tour regular season points list will have conditional status for the next season on the Korn Ferry Tour and be exempt into the second stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-school
  • All players who make the Korn Ferry Tour Final at least earn conditional Korn Ferry Tour status
  • Players finishing Nos. 101-150 on the Korn Ferry Tour Finals points list are exempt into the second stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-school if they need to improve their status
  • Players who finished Nos. 126-150 on the FedEx Cup regular season points list have conditional PGA Tour status, no matter what happens in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, after the 50 card earners from the Korn Ferry Tour regular season and Korn Ferry Tour Finals points lists, and they're fully exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour for the next season

About the author

Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is the founder, owner and operator of Golf News Net.

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