And so another season on the PGA Tour has come to an end. For those who finished in the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings, 2026 represents an opportunity to earn much gold. They are all guaranteed places in the tour’s prestigious Signature Events.
For those who ended the year-long slog in positions 51 to 100 there is job security for another 12 months, the chance to make dreams come true.
But for those who finished outside the top 100 there is a future filled only with uncertainty. And there are some very high-profile names in that list, many of whom will come as a surprise to you.
They include Matt Kuchar, Matt Wallace, Zach Johnson, Joel Dahmen, Lanto Griffin, Kevin Kisner, Justin Lower, Cameron Champ, Camillo Villegas, Nick Hardy, Martin Laird, Carson Young, Brandt Snedeker, Jason Dufner, David Lipsky, Luke List, Scott Piercy, Adam Svensson, Dylan Frittelli and Beau Hossler.
Not so long ago, Max Homa and Tom Kim were both in the top 10 in the world rankings. Both men suffered horrific seasons in 2025 but retain their cards on the back of previous victories.
Kisner will not be losing much sleep over his failure to keep his playing rights. He is carving out a decent niche for himself as a TV pundit. He only kept his card in 2025 due to being in the top 50 of the PGA Tour career money list. A missed cut at the RSM Classic was his 14th in 17 starts this year, and he finished the year in 194th place.
Zach Johnson also has options. A 12-time PGA Tour champion, including two majors, and a Ryder Cup player and captain, he finished 141st in the FedEx Cup and has no playing rights next year – unless he turns to his career money status. But the former Masters and an Open champion turns 50 in February and is likely to opt for life on the Champions Tour.
But there are others who have no such choices.
Matt Wallace
(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)
The Englishman skipped the DP World Tour Playoffs to play in the Fall Series to secure his PGA Tour playing rights for next season, but three missed cuts and a tie for 51st at the season-ending RSM saw him fall to 103rd place and lose his card. Wallace, who narrowly missed out on Ryder Cup selection, will be devastated. Expect to see him playing a lot of his golf on the DP World Tour next season.
Matt Kuchar
The nine-time PGA Tour champion kept his card in 2024 by finishing in the top 125, but arrived at the RSM Classic needing to do something special to retain his playing privileges this time. However, a tie for 67th saw him end the season in 118th place. But every player in the top 50 of the career money list is allowed to use that status to claim one year of playing rights. And that option is open to the American.
Cameron Champ
How the mighty have fallen! Champ was once seen as the next big hope. A huge hitter, he won three times in his first four seasons on the PGA Tour. But he has failed to win in more than four years, ended the year in 147th place and has no status. A year on the Korn Ferry Tour beckons. And then? Who knows?
Camilo Villegas
The Colombian won his fifth PGA Tour title in 2023 which ended a nine-year trophy drought. It was a hugely emotional victory for a golfer who had lost his daughter and for whom the sport had ceased to matter very much. His exemption from that victory has run out and Villegas was unable to save it after a missed cut at Sea Island saw him drop to 155th in the rankings.
Joel Dahmen
Nobody should be especially surprised to see Dahmen losing his card. He kept it by the skin of his teeth last year, with a tie for 35th at last year’s RSM Classic being good enough. A split from his caddie mid-season did not help the cause. He missed 16 cuts and finished in 122nd place. So he now must head off to the second-tier circuit, where he will be competing against hungry young golfers.
Brandt Snedeker
Snedeker won the FedEx Cup in 2012. For many years he was regarded as being one of the best putters on the planet but his magical touch has deserted him. He finished 2025 in 126th place in the FedEx Cup standings. The bad news for Snedeker is that he has already used his career money list status. The good news is that, as Presidents Cup captain, he is likely to get as many starts as he wants.
There has been much controversy surrounding the reduction in exemptions from 125 to 100, so you could expect Lee Hodges, who finished in 101st place to be feeling pretty bitter. It is bad enough that he missed out by one spot but just to rub it in, his exemption from his victory at the 2023 3M Open has also expired. But he remains pretty philosophical about it all. He said: “I don’t know if I’m going to ruffle some feathers, but the guys that come in here and feel sorry for themselves, I have no pity for because you played it. You played every shot this year. Same as me. I’m where I am because of my golf, nobody else’s golf. Nobody put me there. I put myself there. Go take the road that gets you where you want to be.”
Open champion Francesco Molinari has also lost his PGA Tour card for next season after finishing in 185th place. And former Masters winner Danny Willett, who kept his rights on a major medical exemption in 2025, finished 169th and will be heading back to Europe.
And Rikuya Hoshino, Kevin Streelman, and Brendon Todd will all need to rely on medical exemptions in 2026.
Derek Clements is a seasoned sports journalist and regular Golfshake contributor, specialising in tour coverage, opinion pieces, and feature writing. With a long career in national newspapers and golf media, he has reported on the game across Europe, the United States and Australia. A passionate golfer, he has played and reviewed numerous renowned courses, with personal favourites including Pebble Beach, Kingsbarns, Aldeburgh, Old Thorns and the K Club. His love of the game informs his thoughtful commentary on both professional golf and the wider golfing community.
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