Proposed changes in qualifying structure in PGA Tour may benefit the European Tour
PGA Tour Player Advisory Council has now been advised of a new plan to bring changes in the qualifying process for the mainstream PGA Tour. The council was briefed about the proposed changes at Torrey Pines, the venue of this week’s Farmer’s Insurance Open.
According to the new proposal, the Nationwide Tour will be made the primary qualifying criteria for the aspiring PGA Tour contenders while the Qualifying School will no more be available to earn a tour card. Rather, the Qualifying School will be used to
sort out players for the Nationwide Tour circuit.
The decision, although yet to be approved, will have far reaching effects on the PGA Tour where players may opt to switch over to European Tour to play professional golf.
For the moment, any professional player, who might have fallen off the top-100 on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), can apply for a tour card at the closing sessions of the qualifying rounds each year.
A player fortunate enough to perform well, regardless of his form and calibre, gets a chance to play with top-ranked players in the world. This, at times, seriously undermines the credibility of the event.
Going through the new setup, a player will have to go through the Qualifying School to play on the Nationwide Tour after turning professional. His performance on the Nationwide will further determine his status to move over to the coveted PGA.
Top-25 on the Nationwide Tour Money list normally earn their PGA cards for the next year and no changes have been proposed in this qualifying criteria.
The move, if recommended, is likely to seriously damage the inflow of quality players on PGA and European Tour will end up reaping the benefits of the new rules.
Players are likely to opt for the Challenge Tour on the European Tour to possibly earn a card to play on the primary circuit, with more world ranking points and swelled up purses.
Former US Amateur champion, Peter Uihlein, is one of the examples who have opted to start his professional debut at the Challenge Tour and is currently part of the field at Gujarat Kensville Challenge in India.
Uihlein’s agent Chubby Chandler said, “Are you better off learning around the world and then going back to the PGA Tour? My guess is yes,” Chandler said. “I won’t be surprised if you don’t see 20 Americans at European Tour Q-School this year”.
The proposal will be doing its rounds before it will finally be approved or ditched by the PGA Tour advisory committee.
PGA Tour and European Tour often follow rules which do not have adverse effect on the progress of each individual tour.
They have also been following a schedule where the top events on both sides do not collide which may severely affect the income of both tours.
Tags: