OPEN GNN RADIO MINI PLAYEREvery week on the PGA Tour, the world's best golfers come together to battle each other for the trophy and big money. However, the PGA Tour field size each week varies, depending on a number of conditions. Some weeks, there are 156 players. Some weeks, there are 144. Sometimes a tournament has 120 players.
So, how does the PGA Tour determine its field size? We walk you through each scenario.
Most people think of events on the PGA Tour as being considered open tournaments. However, they're not that frequent these days. These events are available to any player who qualifies for the event through the PGA Tour qualifying criteria, including players who get through a Monday (sometimes weekend) qualifying tournament and those non-members who scored a top-10 finish in the prior open tournament. These fields, by policy, should be 156 players, provided it's possible to get through 36 holes with morning and afternoon waves of 78 players going off in threesomes off two starting holes.
If they cannot, then the field size is reduced to 144 players or fewer -- a choice made at the discretion of Tournament Director that week. For example, the Phoenix Open has a 132-player field because of daylight and timing issues. Usually the numbers come in increments of 12: 156, 144, 132.
Then there are invitational tournaments. These events have a starting field determined in conjunction by the PGA Tour and the tournament itself. These events include the Memorial Tournament, Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Genesis Invitational. These events typically have a starting field of 120 players.
The tournaments at Colonial (Charles Schwab Challenge) and Harbor Town (RBC Heritage) aren't technically invitationals, but they do have a 132-player field.
These tournaments also get to pick their specific criteria for setting their fields outside of the usual PGA Tour priority list. These events include the FedEx Cup playoff events and The Players Championship.
The Players Championship has a 144-player field, but it's not open. Starting in 2023, the fields for the FedEx Cup playoff events go from 70 players down to 50, then 30 for the Tour Championship.
The Masters field is determined purely by invitation criteria set forth by Augusta National Golf Club.
The remaining three majors have pre-determined field sizes of 156, but the U.S. Open and British Open Championship have a portion of the field set aside through open qualifying tournaments, while the PGA Championship is closed to amateur players.
Figuring out the PGA Tour field size is not as easy as it seems, and each tournament has a unique way in determining how players get into a field.
PGA Tour event field sizes
| EVENT | PLAYERS |
|---|---|
| Sanderson Farms Championship | 144 |
| Fortinet Championship | 144 |
| Shriners Open | 144 |
| Houston Open | 144 |
| The CJ Cup | 78 |
| Zozo Championship | 78 |
| Butterfield Bermuda Championship | 144 |
| World Wide Technology Championship | 132 |
| The RSM Classic | 156 |
| Sentry Tournament of Champions | N/A |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | 144 |
| The American Express | 156 |
| Farmers Insurance Open | 156 |
| Waste Management Phoenix Open | 132 |
| AT&T Pebble Beach Pro | 156 |
| The Genesis Invitational | 120 |
| Puerto Rico Open | 120 |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | 120 |
| The Players Championship | 144 |
| Valspar Championship | 144 |
| WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play | 64 |
| Corales Puntacana Championship | 120 |
| Valero Texas Open | 144 |
| Masters Tournament | N/A |
| RBC Heritage | 132 |
| Zurich Classic of New Orleans | 160 |
| Wells Fargo Championship | 156 |
| AT&T Byron Nelson | 156 |
| PGA Championship | 156 |
| Charles Schwab Challenge | 120 |
| Rocket Mortgage Classic | 156 |
| the Memorial Tournament | 120 |
| RBC Canadian Open | 156 |
| U.S. Open | 156 |
| Travelers Championship | 156 |
| Barracuda Championship | 120 |
| John Deere Classic | 156 |
| The Open Championship | 156 |
| Barbasol Championship | 120 |
| 3M Open | 156 |
| Wyndham Championship | 156 |
| FedEx St. Jude Championship | 70 |
| BMW Championship | 50 |
| Tour Championship | 30 |
