New alliance gives 10 European tour players PGA Tour cards

The PGA Tour is awarding cards to the leading 10 players from the European tour and bringing back a direct path to the PGA Tour through Q-school.

The changes were outlined Tuesday as part of an extended partnership between the PGA Tour and European tour through 2035. As part of the joint venture, the PGA Tour has increased its share in European Tour Productions from 15% to 40%.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan last week outlined significant changes to the schedule that will feature a January-to-August season starting in 2024 and create purses of $20 million on average for eight elite events.

The recent changes give European tour players immediate access to the PGA Tour. The leading 10 players — excluding those already on the PGA Tour, such as Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm — will have full cards for the following year.

The tour now offers 25 cards to the top players on the Korn Ferry Tour, with an additional 25 cards from a three-tournament Korn Ferry Tour Finals series.

Starting in 2023, the top 30 players from the Korn Ferry Tour will move on to the PGA Tour. The qualifying tournament will offer PGA Tour cards to the top five and ties, and everyone else gets some variety of Korn Ferry Tour access.