With the PGA Championship now penciled in for an August date in San Francisco, the PGA of America has amended the exemption criteria and cutoff dates to qualify for what is slated to be the first major of a bizarre 2020.
The new cutoff date to qualify for the PGA Championship in July 26, which is currently scheduled as the Sunday final round for the PGA Tour's 3M Open near Minneapolis. This cutoff impacts three eligibility categories for the tournament, which is to be played at TPC Harding Park, including the PGA Championship points list, from which the top 70 players are exempted; the playing members of the 2018 Ryder Cup teams to ensure they're still in the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking; and filling out the field of 156 with the next available players on the PGA Championship points list, as needed.
The PGA Championship points list based on the amount of official PGA Tour money earned from the 2019 AT&T Byron Nelson through July 26. The PGA Tour has not announced a formalized schedule for the remainder of the season, meaning the cutoff tournament could be different on July 26.
The PGA Tour did announce a revision to the back end of the 2019-2020 season, however, to accommodate moving the PGA Championship back to its old August date. The regular-season finale at the Wyndham Championship and the three FedEx Cup playoff events have moved back one week, with the Tour Championship set to conclude on Labor Day, Sept. 7.
The new entry deadline for exempt players is July 3, including past PGA champions, as well major winners from the last five years and the last three winners of The Players.
The published criteria also still carves out spots for the top 20 players in the 2020 PGA Professional Championship. The event was to be played originally at the end of April, but it has been postponed. New dates have not been announced. If this year's version cannot be played, the 20 PGA club professionals in the PGA Championship would be based on the top 20 eligible players listed in the final 2019 PGA Professional Player of the Year standings, which is based on finish in a variety of member tournaments.
2020 PGA Championship exemption criteria
- All former winners of the PGA Championship
- Winners of the last five Masters (2015-2019)
- Winners of the last five U.S. Opens (2015-2019)
- Winners of the last five Open Championships (2015-2019)
- Winners of the last three Players Championships (2017-2019)
- Winner of the 2019 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship
- The top 15 finishers and ties from the 2019 PGA Championship
- The top 20 finishers from the 2020 PGA Professional Championship
- The top 70 players who have earned the most PGA Championship Points from the 2019 AT&T Byron Nelson through the 2020 3M Open ending July 26, 2020
- Playing members of the last-named U.S. and European Ryder Cup teams (2018) provided they remain within the top 100 on the Official World Golf Ranking as of July 27, 2020
- Winners of PGA Tour co-sponsored or approved tournaments, whose victories are considered official, from the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge to the 2020 PGA Championship
- The PGA of America reserves the right to invite additional players not included in the categories listed above
- If necessary to complete the field, those players beyond the top 70 players who have earned the most PGA Championship Points from the 2019 AT&T Byron Nelson through the 2020 3M Open ending July 26, 2020 in order of their position on such list
