The Korn Ferry Tour Doubles Its Promotions to 40 for a 2027 Season With Everything on the Line

For the last several seasons, the Korn Ferry Tour has sold one thing: 20 golden tickets. For 2027, that number doubles.

The PGA TOUR released the 2027 Korn Ferry Tour schedule on Wednesday, a 25-event season across seven countries and 15 states, and with it confirmed that the top 40 on next year's points list will earn promotion, per PGA TOUR (opens in a new tab). The top 10 move into the new PGA TOUR Championship Series in 2028, and Nos. 11 through 40 earn PGA TOUR Challenger Series membership. Korn Ferry Tour president Alex Baldwin called it the most competitive season in the tour's history, Golf Channel reported (opens in a new tab).

Why 40 is a big deal

Context matters here. This year's top 20 graduates, led by Ross Steelman and teenager Blades Brown, earned 2027 PGA TOUR cards but no early access to Signature Events. The 2027 class gets a different deal because the PGA TOUR itself is being rebuilt.

Starting in 2028, the Tour splits into two tiers, per PGA TOUR's explainer from September (opens in a new tab). The Championship Series is the top level, with 23 events including THE PLAYERS and the majors, and fields averaging about 120 players. The Challenger Series sits below it, with at least 20 events and 144-player fields. Promotion and relegation link the two each year: the top 90 in the Championship Series keep their spots, the top 20 in the Challenger Series move up, and everyone else in the top tier outside 90 drops down.

So a top-10 finish on the 2027 Korn Ferry Tour list does not just get a player a card. It puts that player straight into the top tier of the new structure. Finishing 11th through 40th lands a player in the Challenger Series, which Golf Channel notes will also include players who finish Nos. 91 to 175 on the PGA TOUR.

The schedule

The season opens Jan. 17 to 20 with The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island, the first of two Bahamas starts. A new stop arrives in South America, the 97 Scotiabank Abierto de Chile, March 4 to 7 at Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago. Visa takes over title sponsorship of the Visa Open in Bogota, Colombia, the first of five Latin American events. The Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro moves to Olivos Golf Club for Feb. 25 to 28, and the Evans Scholars Invitational moves to Stonebridge Country Club for July 22 to 25.

PGA TOUR University graduates join in June for the seventh straight year. Seniors finishing Nos. 2 to 10 in the final PGA TOUR University ranking get Korn Ferry membership starting with the Visit Knoxville Open, June 10 to 13.

The regular season ends Aug. 19 to 22 at the AdventHealth Championship in Kansas City, Missouri. Then come the four Korn Ferry Tour Finals events, with fields shrinking each week: the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation in Franklin, Tennessee (top 156), the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio (132 players), the Compliance Solutions Championship in Owasso, Oklahoma (100 players), and the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by Virginia's Richmond Region at The Federal Club in Glen Allen, Virginia, Oct. 7 to 10 (top 60).

Golf Channel puts regular-season purses at $1 million and Finals purses at $1.5 million. Ten events will air on Golf Channel, including the two Bahamas openers, all four Finals and the AdventHealth Championship.

Not everyone is cheering

The new math has a catch, and some players said so. Golf Channel reported that some players were disappointed that Korn Ferry members who kept full status this year but missed the top 20 are headed for what is effectively a third tier in 2028, and that it is not yet clear how many players will hold full Korn Ferry status that year.

Matt Atkins, 68th on this year's points list, did not hold back. "I think it's borderline absurd to think that No. 41 out here is worse than No. 175 on the PGA Tour," Atkins told Golf Channel. Atkins also said the Korn Ferry Tour is "the PGA Tour overflow, not a developmental tour."

Q-School is changing, too. Golf Channel reports that the top 10 at the final stage of 2027 PGA TOUR Q-School will earn Challenger cards, and that finishing inside the top 75 on the Korn Ferry points list will be one exemption into the final stage. Full eligibility rules are expected next month.

The last word

For years, the Korn Ferry Tour has been a 20-man lifeboat. In 2027 it becomes a 40-man one, and the top 10 seats lead straight to golf's new first class. That will make every Finals event feel like a major for the players on the bubble, and it should make the points list the most refreshed page in golf. The players stuck at No. 41 have a fair gripe, but for everyone else, there has never been a better year to be good on this tour.

Sources: PGA TOUR and Golf Channel. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo Credit: PGA TOUR.