Significant changes will indeed be coming to the PGA Tour for the 2026 season, with a number of proposals concerning field sizes being approved after much deliberation.
While the bigger picture concerns what the entire golfing landscape is going to look like once the main tours strike a deal, the PGA Tour is seemingly preparing in case it continues down its own path for the foreseeable future.
Ahead of the 2026 season, proposals were put forward which focused around addressing slow play. The number of players set to automatically keep their cards will be reduced from 125 to 100, while many tournaments are set to reduce their field sizes. The Korn Ferry Tour meanwhile, will see 20 players promoted each year rather than 30.
Unsurprisingly, the changes have divided opinion. Nevertheless, they have been approved for 2026. And speaking on Golf Channel, Johnson Wagner admitted that he is very conflicted about the proposals given that he has a foot in both camps.
Johnson Wagner reacts to PGA Tour changes for the 2026 season
“I’m looking at it from two different perspectives. The player, and talking here at the RSM to my friends on the golf course; I was a guy that always lived in the 80 to 150 range on the PGA Tour FedEx Cup points list. So as a player, I hate seeing all these jobs be cut. I think a lot of players feel that way,” he said.
“Now, on the media side perspective of it, I think it makes a lot of sense. I think it’s ridiculous when we have beautiful weather and you cannot finish the field on a Thursday or Friday because there’s too many people playing. So I get that aspect of it.
“Cutting from 125 to 100 I don’t really like. But the Korn Ferry Tour has been built up with million dollar purses this last season, so you can go out there and still earn a living and work your way back. And I think what I appreciate the most about these changes is the fact that I think 20 to 30 on the Korn Ferry Tour has a real disadvantage starting the season. I think of a guy like Trevor Cone for next year, I think he finished 27th, he’s behind the eight ball already. So with less people earning their cards, I think there’s more opportunities for rookies to have success early on in their career.”
How others have reacted to controversial PGA Tour proposals
There has definitely been some strong reaction to the changes. Brandel Chamblee said it was a ‘sad day for the tour’ upon hearing that the proposals had been approved.
Meanwhile, Padraig Harrington labelled the changes ‘terrible’. And it is hard not to think that the players who benefit most from the changes will be the players who are already near the top and potentially would have been vulnerable had they continued to face greater competition.
The concern will be that it does little to help those lower down the pecking order in the long run. The problem will then be getting players on the PGA Tour to approve amendments which open the pathway up again.
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