Q-School’s rule change could bring chaos to the board full of leaders

As the stars of the PGA and LPGA Tours come together in a fun offseason event at the Grant Thornton Invitational, hosts of aspiring PGA Tour pros are battling it out for their careers in the Q-School Final Stage.

Q-School has always been an intense battle, with only a few PGA Tour cards going to the top finishers. But thanks to a rule change this yearTHERE even fewer tournament cards up for grabs this week.

And with a crowded table halfway through the tournament, the rule change could lead to some serious chaos on Sunday.

Here’s what you need to know.

Q-School’s tight-knit board invites weekend drama

There are 169 pros left in this week’s PGA Tour Q-School semi-finals. And the stakes are high: PGA Tour cards for the top 5 finishers. With 36 holes left in the Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrassthe competition couldn’t be tighter.

A total of thirteen players are within one stroke of the lead.

At the top of the pack are five players tied for the lead at 7 under: Trevor Cone, AJ Ewart, John Pak, Michael Feagles and Kota Kaneko.

But those leaders are just one stroke ahead of a group of eight chasers tied at six below: Chad Sewell, Camilo Villegas, Marcelo Rozo, Brett White, Adam Svensson, Ian Holt, Ben Kohles and Chan Kim.

The picture doesn’t get any clearer as you head further down the leaderboard, with six other pros sitting two shots back at five under.

All of this means that anything can happen during the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday. Some players’ dreams will be dashed, perhaps for good. While a select few pros will punch their tickets to the PGA Tour and potential career renaissance.

But because of the aforementioned rule change, that “pick few” is even smaller this year.

The Q-School playoff could decide the PGA Tour card winners

Ahead of the 2025 PGA Tour season, The Tour adopted a host of new rules regarding membership and how players earn their way onto the Tour. The biggest change was a reduction in total PGA Tour cards from 125 to 100.

But a less dramatic change included in the new rules could have a big impact this weekend at Q-School.

Before the new changes took place, top-5 finalists and ties the Q-School Final Stage will award full PGA Tour cards for the upcoming season. Under the new rules, only the top 5 players on the leaderboard will receive Tour cards. Full stop. Ties not included.

Given that there are nearly 20 players within two shots heading into the third round, it is possible that there will be a tie between the top 5 on the leaderboard at the end of the tournament.

It is even possible after 72 holes ANY of PGA Tour card winners are decided, for example, if there will be a six-way tie or more for first place.

If this occurs, PGA Tour card recipients will be determined through a playoff.

In the event of ties within 5 top 5, a hole-by-hole playoff will take place immediately following the final round. In other words, the hopes of some PGA Tour card pros may come down to a single hole in the twilight.

Stay tuned.

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