Kevin Kisner blasts ‘closed shop’ PGA Tour

On a huge day for the PGA Tour, Kevin Kisner has labelled it a ‘closed shop’.

The RSM Classic is the final regular event of the season, and several players are fighting for their playing rights in 2025.

After today’s final round, only the top 125 players in the FedEx Cup standings will retain their tour card for next season.

It comes hot on the heels of approved proposals from the PGA Tour that will reduce the number of exempt members from 2026.

And that’s why Kisner, 40, believes fans might never see certain players tee it up again.

“It will be a crazy day to watch the RSM Classic,” he wrote on X.

“And the 125 on the FedEx Cup, there will be guys that lose their playing privileges today that you will never hear from again because of how much of a closed shop [the] PGA Tour is becoming.”

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Kisner, a four-time winner on the circuit, missed the cut in Georgia this week and, at the time of writing, is 196th in the standings.

It means he wouldn’t retain any tour status for 2025, but Kisner could use a top 50 career money exemption to tee it up next year.

Kisner was quick to add how he could “care less” about the direction of the PGA Tour but is fascinated by how many careers would be impacted at Sea Island resort.

One player with much on the line is Joel Dahmen, who started the week at number 124 on the ladder.

Several other previous winners are fighting for their card, but Kisner argued those who haven’t won before could simply vanish.

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“I don’t think it matters how you do it,” he said of the PGA Tour’s future. “Ratings are very poor after we were sold on a “the best players need to play together more often model” for ratings.

“Now you will have people that have made 6-14 million dollars and never won that will no longer have a job and will never play golf on the tour again.”

The change to membership will see just the top 100 players secure full status, as opposed to 125.

It will be the first time the annual number of cards has been changed since 1983, ensuring a more cut-throat system.

Meanwhile, the number of PGA Tour cards on offer via the Korn Ferry Tour, it’s feeder circuit, will be reduced from 30 to 20.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.