When compiling a piece on which Korn Ferry Tour pros have earned PGA Tour cards for 2026, it really struck me just how good the PGA Tour's relegation and promotion system is.
I was getting excited for next year as I put together the list of the players making the step up, which features the likes of Johnny Keefer (a two-time KFT winner in his rookie season), Neal Shipley (the 2024 Masters and US Open low amateur) and Christo Lamprecht (the 2023 British Amateur champion and Open silver medallist who is 6'8" and hits it miles) all graduating up to the PGA Tour next season.
Then there's Austin Smotherman, Bryson DeChambeau's former SMU teammate, and Viktor Hovland's former OSU roommate Zack Bauchou also making the leap.
Former Japan and Korea PGA Champion SH Kim is another prospect as well as Belgium's Adrien Dumont de Chassart, who shot 33-under-par last week (!), among the 11 who are already confirmed, with nine more to come.
And that's not even considering the DP World Tour.
The PGA Tour will welcome ten players from the European circuit next year, highlighted by the monster-hitting Marco Penge as well as the impressive Kristoffer Reitan and BMW PGA Championship runner-up Adrien Saddier.
In total, there will be 30 new faces from the Korn Ferry and DP World Tours looking to make their way on the PGA Tour in 2026 - that is a remarkable number.
While a good amount of them will find life tricky as they move up a level, a handful or more will taste plenty of success and progress further on their journeys to becoming household names.
It's great for the players but it's great for the Tour, too, as fans have the chance to get to know a new wave of world class golfers and follow their journeys.
Scottie Scheffler, Sungjae Im, Robert MacIntyre and Matthieu Pavon all made their way to the PGA Tour via these routes in recent years and there are dozens more who have competed for titles and gone on to have success.
This past season has seen a number of Korn Ferry Tour graduates have big success in their rookie seasons, too, which is more evidence that the pathways work.
Brian Campbell has won twice, while Aldrich Potgieter, Karl Vilips, William Mouw, Steven Fisk and Matt McCarty all tasted victory. They might not have won the biggest events but give them a few years and I'm sure one or two will have gone on to achieve some very impressive things.
This is where LIV Golf really needs to improve.
The league's relegation system was bolstered this year under new CEO Scott O'Neil, who is surely trying to appease Trevor Immelman at the Official World Golf Ranking.
One player will earn their golden ticket to LIV Golf via the International Series Rankings, the LIV-backed Asian Tour elevated series, while at least one more will make their way to the 54-hole circuit via LIV Golf Promotions.
A date and full format has not been released yet, but last year's tournament took place in December at Riyadh Golf Club and saw Chieh-po Lee advance. Lee, who won the International Series Thailand last year, had two top-13 finishes to end the season in 47th-place.
For LIV Golf to keep pressing forward it needs OWGR points, badly, and it also needs to continue finding and growing emerging players.
David Puig has been a good example of this and both Tom McKibbin and Jose Luis Ballester are surely set for big things, but it simply cannot compete with the PGA Tour's talent production line right now when there is such a small turnover each year.
The Asian Tour is one of the world's greatest and most historic circuits with the likes of Thongchai Jaidee, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Kevin Na, Anirban Lahiri, Cameron Smith and Tom Kim coming through it as the game continues to grow in the region, so I believe it should be used more for helping LIV Golf with its roster.
I would propose an improved LIV Golf relegation system when perhaps 8-10 players were dropped each year and replaced via the Asian Tour or International Series rankings.
It would strengthen the Asian Tour fields via players looking to earn their way to LIV and relegated LIV Golfers trying to make it back, and give LIV Golf a better chance of plucking out potential stars who have earned their way onto the circuit via the scores they shoot and not simply their commercial value.
Do you think this is realistic? Or do you propose another idea? Let me know your thoughts in the comment box below.
