Top 25 players from the Web.com Tour will get PGA Tour cards from 2013 onwards
The United States Golf Association has offered some relaxation in the rules for aspiring young golfers. Under the revised policy, the top-25 players from the Web.com Tour can skip the earlier path of Q-school to become eligible to play on the PGA Tour.
The tour's Chief of Operations Andy Pazder made the announcement on Tuesday and confirmed that the Web.com Tour players will be making their way to the higher levels of the game if they succeed in listing themselves among the top-25.
He told that there were many options that were brought into consideration, such as awarding the card to only the top-15 players from the Web.com Tour or seeding the players from PGA Tour and Web.com Tour.
However, the idea of seeding the players was discarded later on because of the complications in the system. Moreover, it was absurd to compare performances on two totally different levels of the game.
"We looked at a dizzying number of potential options," Pazder said. "This one provided the best blend of continuing to recognize the seasonal performance of the Web.com Tour. At the same time, it creates a way for the cream to rise over three weeks of head-to-head
play".
Even if they do not make it to the top-25, they will still hold a chance to play on the PGA Tour. The top-75 players from Web.com tour and top-75 outside the top-125 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings will participate in a tournament called "The Finals"
at the end of each season.
Among the 150 players, the top-50 players will be awarded with the full-time PGA Tour cards. However, the top-25 regulars from the Web.com Tour will not have to necessarily list among the top-50 in the Finals’ money list.
Pazder told that the new system was announced in order to make things simple for the players and the PGA Tour officials by selecting the top players based on their money-list status.
"The motivating factor was a system that would identify the best 25 players in those fields," he said. "And the best way to do that is head-to-head competition. Everyone starts on a level playing field. It's not based upon subjective seeding. It's based
on results”.
He also admitted that the field will not showcase all the150 eligible players because of the probability that some players will miss The Finals because of their earlier statuses on the tour.
The new system will be applicable from 2013 onwards.
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