NAPA, Calif. – Beyond the Ryder Cup hoopla that has gripped the PGA Tour’s fall lid lifter, there is a cloud looming over the circuit’s fall schedule that is impossible for many in the field at Silverado Resort to ignore.
Starting next season, the number of fully exempt players via the Tour’s FedExCup points list will be slashed from 125 to 100, a move that will make this year’s fall slate even more daunting for those hovering around the top-100 bubble.
“We all know there’s fewer spots and we all know what we’re playing for. It’s a smaller number than it used to be,” Peter Malnati said. “My situation is I’m exempt next year because of my win [at the 2024 Valspar Championship] and I’m happy I have that in my back pocket because otherwise the task in front of me would be incredible.”
To put the added pressure in context, the difference between No. 125 on the current points list and No. 100 is 114 points, which is roughly a top-5 finish in a non-major, non-signature event.
“That’s a big difference,” Malnati, currently 179th in points, said. “Does it feel more stressful, of course it does because there are less positions. But the feeling is the same, it’s just a little magnified now.”
Lanto Griffin was in a similar position last fall when he was 171st on the list and posted just a single top-10 finish to close out the year before winning Q-School to regain his status.
This year, however, with the new top-100 benchmark, the pressure has intensified.
“With everything going smaller it feels like the walls are a lot tighter, but everybody has to do it,” said Griffin, who opened with a 65 on Day 1 at the Procore Championship and was inside the top 5. “There will be guys who had a pretty good year and finish 105, 110 [on the points list].”
Griffin, who plans to play six of the seven fall events, also pointed out that there are unknowns that come with the new standard. Previously, those who finished 126th through 150th on the final points list would have conditional status the next season and could count on getting into a decent number of events. With the top-100 now being the line it remains to be seen how many events those who finish 101st to 125th will get in 2026.
“I don’t think anybody really knows what 110, 120 will get you. They [the Tour] say it will give you starts and they’ve been pretty accurate. The top 100 is the goal but 110 will get you a decent amount of starts next year,” said Griffin, who finished the regular season 142nd on the points list. “It’s so separated, the points between 150 and 70, you obviously need to play well.”
