8 notable names who could win PGA Tour cards this week

It’s all happening at Ponte Vedra Beach this week. 

As bosses at the PGA Tour’s Florida HQ race to finalise a definitive agreement with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund bankrolling LIV Golf, 168 players will tee it up round the corner in the hope of securing membership on the US circuit.

The top five and ties in the PGA Tour’s Qualifying School across TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course and Sawgrass Country Club this weekend will earn their card for the 2024 season.

It is the first time these golden tickets have been available via the final stage of Q-School since 2012.

• PGA Tour winners glad ‘rushed’ TGL is delayed

• Tony Finau denies reports that he joining LIV Golf

The 72-hole tournament will not have a cut and the next 40 finishers after those who guarantee their PGA Tour cards will secure their status on the Korn Ferry Tour next season.

A host of previous PGA Tour winners and rising stars are in the field in what could be a life-changing week at Sawgrass.

Here’s are some of the notable card contenders at PGA Tour Q School…

Scott Piercy

The veteran from Nevada has four wins on the PGA Tour. He is closing on 400 appearances on the circuit, but was woefully short of form this year and will need to use all of his experience this week after narrowly failing to preserve his full status for another year.

Russell Knox

The Florida-based Scot will enjoy home comforts this week as he looks to regain his full PGA Tour card. The two-time Tour winner, who has accumulated nearly $17million over a decade on the US circuit, finished outside the top 125 in the FedEx Cup fall list.

• PGA Tour pros submit lawyer’s letter to Policy Board

Wesley Bryan

Bryan, one half of the “Bryan Bros” golf Youtube channel, was one of the 21 players who signed a lawyer’s letter to the PGA Tour Policy Board demanding more transparency from the circuit about its future this week. He finished once inside the top-30 once in 19 Tour events in 2023, with a T6 at the Puerto Rico Open.

Sam Bennett 

Most of us will remember Bennett’s emergence at this year’s Masters in April. Then an amateur, he returned to college in Texas having played in the final group on Saturday and finishing T16 at Augusta. His best finish on tour since was a T20 in the RBC Canadian Open, and he has entered final qualifying through placing in the top five in the 2023 PGA Tour University Rankings.

Kevin Chappell

After trying his hand at playing on the LIV Golf tour in 2024 via the enterprise’s Promotions event in Abu Dhabi, Chappell is back Stateside to fight for his card. The 37-year-old finished 175th in the Fall Rankings and needs a big week in Florida.

• PGA Tour selects potential US investor ahead of Saudi merger deadline

Patton Kizzire

Another PGA Tour winner who suddenly needs a big week. Kizzire has earned $11.7million since joining the circuit seven years ago, notably winning the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in 2017 and the 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii. He agonisingly finished 128th in the Fall rankings.

Matthias Schwab

The talented Austrian who cut his teeth on the DP World Tour wants to test himself against some of the best in the world again by securing his Tour card for 2024. Schwab had a disastrous Fall season, missing three cuts.

Harry Higgs

Higgs has battled technical issues with his swing throughout a torrid year on Tour. His season has been dominated by missed cuts and he now has one last chance to find something at Sawgrass. As one of the game’s most jovial characters on and off the course, he’d sure be a popular qualifier this week.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.