Every year, the PGA Tour issues a peer-voted award for the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. However, sometimes there's confusion about which players are considered rookies and which players are beyond their maiden season on the biggest golf tour in the world.
So, when is a PGA Tour player considered to be in their rookie season?
According to the PGA Tour, a player is in their rookie season when they have not yet played seven official events in a single season.
Kitayama is in his first season as a PGA TOUR member but is not considered a rookie because he played in more than seven official events in a previous season (8, 2019-20).
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) February 24, 2022
In other words, a player isn't in their rookie season until they play at least seven events in that season. Otherwise, they're just considered a passer-through of sorts because they haven't played enough events to outlive their non-member exemption status.
The PGA Tour allows non-members to accept up to seven sponsor exemptions to compete in various events, so, as far as they're concerned, players who fall short of that mark aren't members yet.
