PGA Tour Details Full 2028 Championship Series Eligibility

The PGA Tour has published the complete eligibility rules for its new two-tier competitive structure, which splits the Tour into a roughly 120-player Championship Series and a secondary Challenger Series starting in 2028. The release, following months of committee meetings and votes, spells out exactly how players will qualify and which existing exemptions carry over.

How will players qualify for the Championship Series?

The core mechanism is straightforward: the top 90 players in the Championship Series standings at the end of the 2027 season retain their membership, while the top 20 finishers on the Challenger Series earn promotion. The No. 1 player from PGA Tour University following that season's NCAA Championship also earns a card, and players can be promoted mid-year by winning multiple Challenger Series events in the same season. A separate fall "last chance" series will offer three additional cards, though how many of those will be open to DP World Tour members is still under review.

Winning a Championship Series event locks up playing rights for the rest of that season plus the following two years, but the Tour is eliminating the old practice of stacking multiple wins into extra years of exemption.

Which existing exemptions were grandfathered in?

Because the new system takes effect a year and a half out, several categories of players already have their 2028 status locked in.

The Tour Championship exemption guarantees spots for players such as Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay, Robert MacIntyre and Sam Burns, while this year's winners eligible for a berth include Justin Rose, Collin Morikawa, Michael Thorbjornsen and Jackson Koivun. Among Career Money List members who would need to hit the 15-event minimum are Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Matt Kuchar, Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau, Lucas Glover and Billy Horschel.

Major wins will still carry extra weight through 2028, but only because of exemptions earned under the old rules — going forward, a major victory locks up the same two years as any other Championship Series title.

Why are cuts coming back?

The Tour is also reversing course on the no-cut Signature Events introduced in response to LIV Golf. Cuts will apply across every Championship Series event, and the points system has been reweighted to reward players for consistently making cuts rather than for a handful of high finishes, the pattern the old FedExCup structure tended to favor.

Majors will also be worth the same points as any other Championship Series event under the new system, rather than carrying extra weight.

What is still unresolved?

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said the pathway from the DP World Tour into the Championship Series has not been finalized, saying the Tour "haven't made any decisions on how the DP World Tour will fit into that." He added that a smaller number of cards than the 10 currently available is likely. The Tour also said it is not currently in discussions with players still under contract to LIV Golf about a return path, leaving the 2028 status of golfers like Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau unresolved.