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How many play on the PGA tour?

lopsta5

lopsta5

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I did a search on google and it says 125 players, but when watching tournaments it sometimes shows a player in the 200s in the FedEx cup. Or when a field is cut at 70 odd which would mean 140+ players playing.
Its just something ive always wondered while watching on tv.
 
lopsta5 said:
I did a search on google and it says 125 players, but when watching tournaments it sometimes shows a player in the 200s in the FedEx cup. Or when a field is cut at 70 odd which would mean 140+ players playing.
Its just something ive always wondered while watching on tv.
Click to expand...

It's hard to know for sure. There are 125 with a guaranteed Tour Card of the people who are younger. But then there are a host of others with lifetime exemptions. I'm not sure if that calculates into the 125.

Very good question, and I'd be interested to know as well.
 
Roughly 154 spots each week unless it's a limited field event like major, WGC
 
Thanks emart.
 
Not exactly sure what you are asking, which is one reason why you are getting different answers. There are 125 players who get a card giving them regular players status for the year. Each year the same number of cards are issued, but to whom changes. Players earn and lose their cards each year. Then there are exemptions for a bunch of different things. Some exemptions are for a specific tournament, others are for a period of time or a specific number or type of events. So, to answer your question we'd need to make sure we know what you are asking.

Do you want to know...
...How many different players play in at least one PGA Tournament each year?
...How many players have a regular PGA Tour card at any one time?
...How many players play in a typical PGA Tour event? [E.g.; average size of the field]
...How many players qualify to play in any PGA Tour event scheduled during the year? [This is a much smaller number]
...Some other question
 
leftshot said:
Not exactly sure what you are asking, which is one reason why you are getting different answers. There are 125 players who get a card giving them regular players status for the year. Each year the same number of cards are issued, but to whom changes. Players earn and lose their cards each year. Then there are exemptions for a bunch of different things. Some exemptions are for a specific tournament, others are for a period of time or a specific number or type of events. So, to answer your question we'd need to make sure we know what you are asking.

Do you want to know...
...How many different players play in at least one PGA Tournament each year?
...How many players have a regular PGA Tour card at any one time?
...How many players play in a typical PGA Tour event? [E.g.; average size of the field]
...How many players qualify to play in any PGA Tour event scheduled during the year? [This is a much smaller number]
...Some other question
Click to expand...

There's more than 125 guys with their tour card otherwise fields wouldn't be more than 125 every week. The top 125 keep their card and have full status, their there's another 25 guaranteed from web.com season and iirc another 25 from the playoffs where those with the first 25 from web.com can improve their seeding or guys in the 126-150/175 on tour who have limited status can improve theirs thru web.com playoffs
 
leftshot said:
Not exactly sure what you are asking, which is one reason why you are getting different answers. There are 125 players who get a card giving them regular players status for the year. Each year the same number of cards are issued, but to whom changes. Players earn and lose their cards each year. Then there are exemptions for a bunch of different things. Some exemptions are for a specific tournament, others are for a period of time or a specific number or type of events. So, to answer your question we'd need to make sure we know what you are asking.

Do you want to know...
...How many different players play in at least one PGA Tournament each year?
...How many players have a regular PGA Tour card at any one time?
...How many players play in a typical PGA Tour event? [E.g.; average size of the field]
...How many players qualify to play in any PGA Tour event scheduled during the year? [This is a much smaller number]
...Some other question
Click to expand...

Answers to all those would be cool.
So to get the fields of over 125 would that just mean all the regular pro's in the top 125 money list plus anyone that has one of the many exceptions?
With 25 guys getting a card from the web.com each year does that mean 25 leave the pga each year and go back to the web?
So if a guys doesnt make the 125 FedEx play offs does that mean they lose their card for next year?

Sorry about all the dumb questions just something ive never understood that much.
 
lopsta5 said:
Answers to all those would be cool.
So to get the fields of over 125 would that just mean all the regular pro's in the top 125 money list plus anyone that has one of the many exceptions?
With 25 guys getting a card from the web.com each year does that mean 25 leave the pga each year and go back to the web?
So if a guys doesnt make the 125 FedEx play offs does that mean they lose their card for next year?

Sorry about all the dumb questions just something ive never understood that much.
Click to expand...

Yes there are a number of guys that lose their cards that would be those in the 176+ range on the money list. Exemptions vary on how many events someone can play and there is a priority list as show in previous links. The higher up on the list you are the more tournaments you qualify for as does where your rank in the official world golf ranks. This goes for LPGA and Euro tours as well.
 
lopsta5 said:
Answers to all those would be cool.
Click to expand...

How many different players play in at least one PGA Tournament each year?

This number is going to be different every year and I don't know of a source that tracks that information. It's very complex. As emart said, the top 125 money winners get to keep their tour card for the next year. The top 25 money winners on the Web.com Tour earn a PGA Tour card for the next year. But you can lose your card for other reasons, such as not playing a prescribed number of events each year, and you can gain entry in events through sponsor's exemptions, medical exemptions, Monday qualifying events, being a defending or past champion of an event.

How many players have a regular PGA Tour card at any one time?

I think the number is 150 (emart reminded me about the web.com players that earn cards on that tour). However, this is a soft number, because of all of the circumstances that can add or detract from that number.

How many players play in a typical PGA Tour event? [E.g.; average size of the field]

This varies greatly from event to event. The FedEx Championship will have a field of 30. Some tournaments have a field of 156. Typical sizes are 156, 144, and 132. Why do they vary? Well putting aside select championship fields like the FedEx Cup Championship and the Tournament of Champions, the number of hours of daylight, expected weather at that time of year, and other logistical concerns cause tournaments to change the field size. Obviously, a tournament in Boston in early July is going to have more daylight hours in a given day then one in January, even if it is in a more southern state.

How many players qualify to play in any PGA Tour event scheduled during the year? [This is a much smaller number]

I don't know exactly, but it's less than 40 players. The Tournament of Champions is an invitation tournament where you have to be a winner of a PGA Tour event over the last year to qualify.
 
lopsta5 said:
Answers to all those would be cool.
So to get the fields of over 125 would that just mean all the regular pro's in the top 125 money list plus anyone that has one of the many exceptions?
With 25 guys getting a card from the web.com each year does that mean 25 leave the pga each year and go back to the web?
So if a guys doesnt make the 125 FedEx play offs does that mean they lose their card for next year?

Sorry about all the dumb questions just something ive never understood that much.
Click to expand...

Know that certain events, such as the AT&T at Pebble-Spyglass-MPCC (three courses, large field) , the regular Tour events which are held at the same times as a Major (most all big name players not playing),the Fall events (most all big name players not playing), is an opportunity for web.com players and others to play a regular PGA Tour event. However, there are less than 10 of these opportunities per year, which is typically not enough starts for a player to earn enough to finish the year within the top 125 money winners (and become exempt for next years Tour).
 
DG_1234 said:
I guess that number is about 200.
Click to expand...

My guess would have been in the 200-250 range. But that's what we are doing, guessing. I think you are in the ballpark.
 
DG_1234 said:
Know that certain events, such as the AT&T at Pebble-Spyglass-MPCC (three courses, large field) , the regular Tour events which are held at the same times as a Major (most all big name players not playing),the Fall events (most all big name players not playing), is an opportunity for web.com players and others to play a regular PGA Tour event. However, there are less than 10 of these opportunities per year, which is typically not enough starts for a player to earn enough to finish the year within the top 125 money winners (and become exempt for next years Tour).
Click to expand...

The AT&T also has a lot of amateurs playing Thursday through Sunday in the Pro-Am. Not sure if we'd count them in the numbers of those playing in a PGA Tour event or not. Guys like Craig Nelson and Bill Murray aren't exactly pros, but they do play in a PGA tournament.
 
leftshot said:
The AT&T also has a lot of amateurs playing Thursday through Sunday in the Pro-Am. Not sure if we'd count them in the numbers of those playing in a PGA Tour event or not. Guys like Craig Nelson and Bill Murray aren't exactly pros, but they do play in a PGA tournament.
Click to expand...

Those and don’t count because it’s an extended pro am and they are only competing in the pro-am portion and not as an amateur in the tourney field
 
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