PGA Tour Q-School, presented by Korn Ferry: What you need to know about the final card race

Five PGA Tour cards (plus ties) are available this week in PGA Tour Q-School, presented by Korn Ferry.

No less than 166 players will leave empty-handed from TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley and Sawgrass Country Club.

The field of 171 players will begin Thursday at both courses for four rounds of non-stop, high-stress golf, with their 2025 jobs on the line.

Even the No. 171 player in the final rankings Sunday will walk away with conditional Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas status. But the higher the ranking, the more potential for departures, and the more departures, the more chance of progress.

Here’s what you need to know about the second year of Q-School held in the backyard of PGA Tour headquarters:

Who plays in the PGA Tour Q-School?

A mix of young and veterans, ranging from multiple PGA Tour winners such as Nick Watney, Sean O’Hair and Martin Laird to the best college players of recent years. They all have one thing in common: They need the qualifier to achieve PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour status.

PGA Tour Q-School first and second round groups, tee times

Some players had an automatic place in the final. Others had to go through a qualification process that could have involved up to three tournaments: a pre-qualification, then stage one and stage two qualifiers.

Where is the PGA Tour Q-School played?

The course will take two rounds each at Dye’s Valley and Sawgrass Country Club. There is no break.

Dye’s Valley was designed by Pete Dye, Bobby Weed and player consultant Jerry Pate, and named after Dye, the architect of the Players Stadium Course. The Valley has hosted the Senior Players Championship, the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, the PGA Champions Qualifier and numerous college events.

The Sawgrass County Club, originally designed by Ed Seay, with a 2015 renovation by Robert Walker, hosted the Players Championship from 1977 to 1981.

Is there a scholarship for PGA Tour Q-School?

It’s not life-changing money, but the winner will receive $50,000 out of a total purse of $510,000. For comparison, Pate earned $60,000 for winning the first Players Championship held at the Stadium Course in 1982.

Are there tickets available for PGA Tour Q-School?

Yes, and they’re free…but only for rounds at Dye’s Valley, since Sawgrass is a private course. Fans must register at the tournament website ticketmaster.com to obtain tickets. Enter through one of the two doors at TPC Sawgrass, tell the attendant you are going to Q-School, and you will be directed to the parking lot.

Is PGA Tour Q-School televised?

Yes, the weekend. The NBC Sports app will broadcast portions of the rounds on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. Golf Channel will air Saturdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

What are the rewards for Q-School?

• The top five, plus ties, earn PGA Tour cards for the 2025 season.

• The next 40, plus ties, will earn Korn Ferry Tour status for 2025 with a guaranteed number of departures.

• The next 20, plus ties, will win the entire PGA Tour Americas for 2025, with a guaranteed number of starts.

• All other players who complete 72 holes will earn conditional Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas status for 2025.

What happened to last year’s top five?

None of them retained their PGA Tour status. Q-School medalist Harrison Endycott, Blaine Hale Jr. and Jacksonville University graduate Raul Pereda finished outside the top 200 on the FedEx Cup Fall points list and had to return to qualifying for the second stage. Hale and Pereda returned to Q-School.

Hadyn Spring and Trace Crowe earned a spot straight to Q-School by finishing in the top 165 in FedEx Cup points. Springer almost kept his card. He finished 127^thtwo spots ahead, after making three bogeys on the back nine in the final round of the RSM Classic at Sea Island and posting an even par 70 to tie for 30th.^th.

PGA Tour Q-School course, how they qualified

Top 40 contenders below top 125 in FedEx Cup fall standings

Tyson Alexander, Paul Barjon, Erik Barnes, Joseph Bramlett. Ryan Brehm, Hayden Buckley, Pierceson Coody, Austin Cook, Trace Crowe, Kevin Dougherty, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Tyler Duncan, Wilson Furr, Lanto Griffin, Garrick Higgo, SH Kim, Martin Laird, Ryan McCormick, Matt NeSmith, Seungyul Noh, Sean O’Hair, Scott Piercy, Chez Reavie, Robby Shelton, Roger Sloan, Austin Smotherman, Hayden Springer, Justin Suh, Callum Tarren, Ben Taylor, Alejandro Tosti, Nick Watney, Tom Whitney, Brandon Wu, Norman Xiong, Carl Yuan.

No. 31-60, Korn Ferry Tour 2024 points list

Matt Atkins, Wil Bateman, Zach Bauchou, Sam Bennett, Davis Chatfield, Myles Creighton, Brandon Crick, Roberto Diaz, Alistair Docherty, Tommy Gainey, Emilio Gonzalez, Tano Goya, Austin Hitt, Nelson Ledesma, Pontus Nyholm, Alvaro Ortiz, Trent Phillips , Doc Redman, Seth Reeves, Ross Steelman, Thomas Walsh, Dalton Ward, Joe Weiler, Richy Werenski, Kyle Westmoreland.

Top five, 2024 PGA Tour University rankings

Matthew Riedel, Austin Greaser, Christo Lamprecht, Nick Gabrelcik.

Disability Exemption

Shad Tuten.

Top 10 on PGA TOUR Americas 2024 Fortinet Cup Points List

Barend Botha, Ryan Burnett, Will Cannon, Clay Feagler, Harry Hillier, Ian Holt, John Keefer, Sandy Scott.

2024 PGA TOUR Americas Segment 1 Points List

Matthew Anderson.

Japanese Golf Tour Order of Merit

Kensei Hirata.

List of Korean circuit points

Yubin Jang.

Major and minor medical category

Bronson Burgoon, MJ Daffue, Tim Wilkinson.

Second stage qualifications

Savannah, Georgia.

Marcelo Rozo, Zack Fischer, Cooper Musselman, Christopher Crawford, Tain Lee, Rhein Gibson, Zach James, Jake Scott, Spencer Ralston, Ryan Blaum, Charles Huntzinger, Rayhan Thomas, Ben Carr, Cameron Huss, Bryson Nimmer, Derek Bard, Grant Hirschman , Luis Garza Leon, Brandon Berry, Jake Hall (a).

Dothan, Ala.

Ashton Van Horne, Owen Stamper, John Augenstein, Marcus Plunkett, Chase Sienkiewicz, Evan Brown, John Houk, Jacob Bergeron, Blake McShea, Connor Howe, Jack Maguire, Callum McNeill, David Longmire, Billy Tom Sargent, Will Chandler, Jin Chung, Ryan Davis, David Perkins, Sam Choi, Gavin Cohen.

Hammock Beach

Luke Guthrie, Mateo Fernandez de Oliveir, Brandon Hoelzer, Andi Xu, Runchanapong Youprayong, Zecheng Dou, Dan McCarthy, Hank Lebioda, Cody Blick, Brendon Jelley, Drew Doyle, Dawson Jones, Lance Yates, Charles Reiter, Caleb VanArragon, Davis Shore, Jérémy Gandon, John Houchin.

Valdosta, Georgia.

Samuel Anderson, Aman Gupta, Blaine Hale, Chris Korte, James Nicholas, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Dawson Armstrong, Bryce Lewis, Ryan Hall, Kyle Cottam, Brett White, Cole Sherwood, Steffen Smith, Derek Hitchner, Sebastian Szirmak, Luke Gifford, Travis Trace .

Valencia (California)

Petr Hruby, Takumi Kanaya, Raul Pereda, David Gazzolo, Corey Shaun, Riley Lewis, Nate Stember, Jonas Baumgartner, Sangmoon Bae, Thomas Longbella, Tanner Napier, Dylan Menante, Nicolo Galletti, Jeffrey Kang, SeungTaek Lee, Johnnie Greco.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: PGA Tour Q-School begins at TPC Dye’s Valley, Sawgrass. What to know