PGA Tour pro tears into ‘crazy’ new Fall Series format

PGA Tour pro Dylan Wu is exasperated with the “wrong and unfair” changes made to the circuit’s new Fall Series schedule.

Wu, who finished 86th in the FedEx Cup standings to narrowly miss out on this year’s playoffs, was not exempt for the Shriner’s Children’s Open this week in Las Vegas, an event with a 144-player field.

“There’s a lot of things wrong or unfair with these fall changes,” he wrote on X. “The fall is supposed to be guys fighting for the 125, but what if guys who are in the top 125 and can’t get into tournaments?”

The 27-year-old was responding to Monday Q Info’s Ryan French raising concerns that Wu and four-time PGA Tour winner Aaron Baddeley did not qualify for the Shriners, despite both finishing in the top 100 in the 2023 FedEx Cup standings.

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The new revamped Fall Series has replaced the traditional wraparound season, with these events in the calendar year schedule effectively determining which players keep their tour card for next season.

But with PGA Tour exemption categories prioritising the “prior year’s FedEx Cup points list”, rather than the current season, there is a bizarre scenario where players fighting for their tour card may miss out on Fall Series events.

“Luckily my job is safe because I played well this season to lock Top 125,” Wu, currently 83rd in the standings, said. “If I was around that number and not getting into tournaments, that’s crazy.

“The fall should have went down the Fedex list to fill the field and lowered # of exemptions and qualifiers to protect its members!”

Even more unusually, Wu and Baddeley are in the field for next week’s limited-field Zozo Championship in Japan. There are only 78 players in that event, but the qualification criteria is different.

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Rather than using the PGA Tour priority ranking, the top 60 players available in the current FedEx Cup standings are eligible to play, with Wu’s spot in the field secure due to a number of big name players deciding not to enter.

“We are in next week in Japan because it’s off current year points list,” Wu clarified. “Why would you have the best event in the fall based off current year and the rest of the events going off categories from over a year ago?”

Despite his clear bewilderment with the tour’s changes, Wu also acknowledges that he can take all these issues out of his hands.

“But the goal is to continue to play better so I don’t have to experience these problems ever again,” he concluded. “That will still always be the answer to everything in professional golf. Just play better.”