The PGA Tour has put numbers on its 2028 reset. Starting that season, the circuit splits into a Championship Series for the top tier and a Challenger Series for everyone fighting up—or back—with annual promotion and relegation deciding who plays where. The 2027 season is now a qualifier year: wins, FedExCup finish, Korn Ferry, Q-School, and college rankings will assign 2028 cards.

Here’s the membership map, the transition exemptions, and the new points scale.

How the Two Series Work

• Championship Series = Tour’s top players; season-long race to identify the world’s best.
  • Extra on-ramps: PGA Tour University and a fall “last chance” series (3 Championship cards).
• Challenger Series fields (144) mix Tour winners, players fighting back, college grads, and developmental breakouts.
  • Top 20 on the Challenger points list are promoted each year.

Championship Series Membership

Eligible for all Championship events (Majors and The Players Championship may keep their own rules). No alternate list; field size = number of committed players.

• Retained:** Top 90 from prior Championship season
• Promoted:** Top 20 from Challenger
• Two-time Challenger winners** that season
• Winner exemptions:** Championship / PLAYERS / major winners get current season + next two seasons (multiple wins in one year do not stack beyond two years)
• Limited medical extensions** (independent medical review)
• Career milestone:** one-time Championship card after losing status (must have been a Championship member the year before; use immediately) — 2028 version is in the transition rules
• Pathways:
  • PGA Tour University No. 1 → Championship that season + next
  • 3 cards from the last-chance series

Challenger Series Eligibility

144-player fields (can shrink), with an alternate list.

• Relegated Championship players
• Challenger points list Nos. 21–90
• 20** from prior Korn Ferry Tour points list
• Winner exemptions:
  • Challenger win → current + next season (multiple Challenger wins don’t stack)
  • Championship / PLAYERS / major winners from prior 4 years also exempt on Challenger
  • Extra Championship wins in one season can extend Challenger status up to 5 seasons
• PGA Tour University Nos. 2–5 (plus Accelerated acceptances)
• Q-School top 5
• Open qualifying: top 2 only when Challenger is opposite a Championship event
• Up to 2 designated exemptions
• Limited medicals

“Last Chance” Series (starts fall 2028)

Minimum 4 fall events after Q-School. Everyone eligible plays every event (no alternates). Must play the whole series to earn a card (medical exception). 3 Championship cards.

Eligible:

• Just-relegated Championship players
• Challenger Nos. 21–90
• 20 newly promoted from Korn Ferry
• Current-season PGA Tour University Nos. 2–5
• Immediate prior Q-School top 5

Transition: How 2027 Results Set 2028 Cards

Winners

• Pre-2027 Tour winner exemptions honored through their original term on Championship
• 2027 PLAYERS / majors / Signature Events → Championship through 2029, Challenger through 2031
• 2027 full-field regular-season wins → Championship through 2028, Challenger through 2029
• 2027 FedExCup Fall / opposite-event wins → Challenger through 2029

FedExCup

• 2026 top-30 two-year exemptions still cover Championship in 2028 (not awarded again for 2027 top 30)
• 2027 FedExCup through Playoffs: top 70 → Championship 2028 (locked after TOUR Championship)
• 2027 FedExCup Fall: top 95 → Championship 2028; 96–175 → Challenger 2028

Other 2027 paths

• Career money list top 25 and top 50 (if they played 15+ Tour events in 2027): one-time Championship card for 2028
• Korn Ferry 2027: top 10 → Championship 2028; next 30 (from No. 11, if not already exempt) → Challenger
• PGA Tour University 2027: No. 1 → rest of 2027 Tour + Championship 2028; Nos. 2–10 → rest of 2027 on Korn Ferry; top 5 performers among them → Challenger 2028
• PGA Tour Americas 2027 No. 1 → Challenger 2028
• Q-School Final Stage 2027 top 10 → Challenger 2028

2027 medicals into 2028

• Major medical on Championship only if, at injury: winner category, top-70 category, or 3-year average top-70 points
• All other 2027 medicals, plus all pre-2027 medicals → Challenger in 2028

Championship Points (2028)

Same distribution for every Championship event, including majors and THE PLAYERS. Flatter curve: more value on winning, top finishes, and making the cut. Non-members don’t earn Championship points. A non-member who wins a major (or a two-win Challenger promote) joins Championship but only scores points after that win. Challenger points system TBD in November.

Place | Pts
01 | 300
02 | 200
03 | 150
04 | 130
05 | 125
06 | 120
07 | 115
08 | 110
09 | 105
10 | 100

11th–65th: 84 down to 30 (one point per place)