champions tour golf order of merit

2024 PGA TOUR Champions Eligibility Ranking

Players within the top 54. from the previous year's final Official PGA TOUR Champions Money List, provided they are among the top 50 on such list..

• Steve Stricker
• Steven Alker
• Padraig Harrington
• Bernhard Langer
• Stephen Ames
• Jerry Kelly
• Miguel Angel Jiménez
• Brett Quigley
• Richard Green
• Vijay Singh
• Harrison Frazar
• Thongchai Jaidee
• Dicky Pride
• Rod Pampling
• Paul Broadhurst
• Paul Stankowski
• Darren Clarke
• Robert Karlsson
• Retief Goosen
• Justin Leonard
• Colin Montgomerie
• Mark Hensby
• Steve Flesch
• Ken Tanigawa
• Marco Dawson
• Billy Andrade
• Rob Labritz
• Paul Goydos
• Shane Bertsch
• Scott McCarron
• Kevin Sutherland
• Jeff Maggert
• Tim Petrovic
• Tim O'Neal
• Mario Tiziani
• Stewart Cink
• Scott Dunlap
• Scott Parel
• Stuart Appleby
• John Huston
• Rocco Mediate

Players with at least 5 PGA TOUR Points based on the system where a player gets 1 point for each PGA TOUR victory and 3 points for each PGA TOUR Major/Players Championship victory

• Jack Nicklaus
• Lee Trevino
• Gary Player
• Raymond Floyd
• Johnny Miller
• Davis Love III
• Greg Norman
• Lanny Wadkins
• Ben Crenshaw
• Fred Couples
• Curtis Strange
• Mark O'Meara
• Corey Pavin
• David Duval
• Larry Nelson
• Steve Elkington
• Mark Calcavecchia
• Craig Stadler
• Al Geiberger
• Kenny Perry
• Paul Azinger
• Dave Stockton
• Fuzzy Zoeller
• John Mahaffey
• Bruce Crampton
• Bobby Nichols
• Mark McCumber
• David Graham
• Frank Beard
• David Frost
• José María Olazábal
• Steve Jones
• Mark Brooks
• Scott Simpson
• Jeff Sluman
• Loren Roberts
• Jim Colbert
• Bob Charles
• Bruce Devlin
• Bill Rogers
• Tony Jacklin
• Joey Sindelar
• Ángel Cabrera
• Peter Jacobsen
• Bill Glasson
• Scott Verplank
• Billy Mayfair
• Jesper Parnevik
• Mark Wilson
• Dan Forsman
• D.A. Weibring
• Tom Purtzer
• Jim Gallagher, Jr.
• Blaine McCallister
• Charles Coody
• Danny Edwards
• Roger Maltbie
• Jerry Heard
• Johnny Pott

Players with at least 5 PGA TOUR Champions Points based on the system where a player gets 1 point for each PGA TOUR Champions victory and 2 points for each PGA TOUR Champions Major victory

• Allen Doyle
• Dana Quigley
• Doug Tewell
• Michael Allen
• Mark McNulty
• Kirk Triplett
• Graham Marsh
• Tom Jenkins
• Dave Eichelberger
• Tom Pernice Jr.
• Russ Cochran
• John Jacobs
• Gibby Gilbert
• Larry Mowry
• Brad Bryant
• Bobby Wadkins
• Denis Watson

The Top 10 available players from the current All-Time Money List.

• Robert Allenby
• Chad Campbell
• Woody Austin
• Chris DiMarco
• Lee Westwood
• John Senden
• Duffy Waldorf
• Freddie Jacobson
• Steve Lowery
• Olin Browne
• Heath Slocum
• Boo Weekley
• Brandt Jobe
• Tommy Armour III
• Shigeki Maruyama
• Gene Sauers

A maximum of two members aged 50 until their 51st birthday who have won at least four PGA TOUR tournaments awarding official victory status.

No players exempt in this category

The top five players from the previous year's PGA TOUR Champions National Qualifying Tournament.

• Cameron Percy
• Michael Wright
• Steve Allan
• David Bransdon

The players with the top 4 low scores from the Open Qualifying event for the selected tournament.

On invitation of the tournament, professional players.

On invitation of the tournament, selected players with a minimum of 1 PGA TOUR or PGA TOUR Champions official win and Veteran Member status..

Players with 70 or more All-Time Victories or those among the net top 70 on the All-Time Money List who have a minimum of 30 All-Time Victories including a minimum of one major championship (PGA TOUR or PGA TOUR Champions) and are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame..

Exempt Members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

• Ian Woosnam

A winner of a PGA TOUR Champions cosponsored or approved tournament in the past 12 months.

• Doug Barron
• Richard Bland
• Ricardo Gonzalez

Players who have been granted a Major Medical Extension.

Player finishing 10th place or better in the immediately preceding PGA TOUR Champions cosponsored event who is not otherwise exempt.

Players within the top 54 on the Prior Year Charles Schwab Cup Points list in order of their rank on that list, followed by any players on the Prior Year Official Money List not already included in the exemption in order of their ranking

The Top 30 avaialble players from the current All-Time Money List.

A maximum of four members aged 50 until their 52nd birthday who have won at least two PGA TOUR tournaments awarding official victory status.

55 to 72 off the prior year Charles Schwab Cup Money list

• David McKenzie
• David Branshaw
• Wes Short, Jr.
• Arjun Atwal
• Michael Jonzon

Members who have won a PGA TOUR or PGA TOUR Champions official tournament.

• Morris Hatalsky
• Carlos Franco
• Leonard Thompson
• Keith Fergus
• Bob Eastwood
• Larry Ziegler
• Homero Blancas
• Cameron Beckman
• Jay Don Blake
• Esteban Toledo
• Andrew Magee
• Vicente Fernandez
• David Edwards
• Michael Bradley
• Gary Hallberg
• Tim Simpson
• Notah Begay III
• Phil Blackmar
• Butch Baird
• Deane Beman
• Jacky Cupit
• Bruce Summerhays
• Robert Gamez
• Ed Dougherty
• Willie Wood
• Hugh Baiocchi
• Kermit Zarley
• Howard Twitty
• Mike Hulbert
• Fulton Allem
• Walter Morgan
• Nolan Henke
• Tommy Aaron
• Walter Zembriski
• Bob Dickson
• Mike Sullivan
• Sammy Rachels
• Billy Ray Brown
• George Burns
• Jack Renner
• Billy Kratzert
• Rik Massengale
• Don Fairfield
• Dudley Hart
• Frank Lickliter II
• Jonathan Kaye
• Daniel Chopra
• Craig Parry
• Will MacKenzie
• Mike McCullough
• Brent Geiberger
• David Peoples
• Len Mattiace
• Todd Hamilton
• José Coceres
• Gary McCord
• Brian Henninger
• Donnie Hammond
• Ronnie Black
• John Schroeder
• Roger Chapman
• Mike Springer
• Keith Clearwater
• Wayne Grady
• Gabriel Hjertstedt
• Ian Baker-Finch
• Mac O'Grady
• Babe Hiskey
• Victor Regalado
• John Fought
• Greg Chalmers
• Chris Riley
• Joe Ogilvie
• Peter Lonard
• Shaun Micheel
• Dean Wilson
• Brett Wetterich
• José Maria Cañizares
• Walter Hall
• Chris Perry
• Neal Lancaster
• Robert Damron
• Mike Goodes
• Chris Smith
• Grant Waite
• Joel Edwards
• Chris Couch
• Dennis Paulson
• Jerry Smith
• John Riegger
• Garrett Willis
• Brian Bateman
• Rod Spittle
• Brandel Chamblee
• Doug Garwood
• Jim McGovern
• Craig Perks
• Michael Campbell
• John Harris
• James Mason
• David Ogrin
• Spike McRoy
• Bobby Clampett
• Frank Nobilo
• Trevor Dodds
• Bruce Vaughan
• Larry Laoretti
• Rodger Davis
• Fred Gibson
• Mike Heinen
• Clarence Rose
• Michael Clark II
• Richard Zokol
• Mike Donald
• Mike Standly
• Bill Britton
• Steven Veriato
• Paul Lawrie
• Mark Johnson
• Rex Caldwell
• Tom Sieckmann
• Andre Stolz
• Barry Jaeckel
• Tom McGinnis
• Greg Twiggs
• Sam Randolph
• John Brodie
• Kohki Idoki
• Stephen Dodd
• Pete Oakley
• Mike Morley
• Mike Nicolette
• Allen Miller
• David Ishii
• Phillip Hancock
• Larry Hinson
• Terry Diehl
• Bob Shearer
• Jeff Mitchell
• Pat Lindsey
• Labron Harris
• Woody Blackburn
• Fred Wadsworth
• Don Iverson
• Steve Spray
• Pat Fitzsimons
• Marty Fleckman
• Randy Glover
• Richie Karl
• William Mitchell
• Brian Davis

Players who have made 150 career PGA TOUR cuts and/or 100 PGA TOUR Champions Top 48 finishes.

• George McNeill
• Bo Van Pelt
• Briny Baird
• Skip Kendall
• Jay Williamson
• Peter Senior
• Craig Barlow
• Omar Uresti
• Jay Delsing
• Chien Soon Lu
• Frank Conner
• Robin Freeman
• Lennie Clements
• Dave Rummells
• Kelly Gibson
• Larry Rinker
• Dick Hendrickson
• Bobby Walzel
• Pat McGowan
• Bill Sander
• Harry Toscano
• Doug Dalziel
• Jim Nelford
• Wally Armstrong
• Greg Powers
• Richard Crawford
• Dwight Nevil

Anglo Carson, a Certified Golf Instructor, embarked on a remarkable journey, driven by his unwavering love for golf. He founded The Golf Mine with a singular mission - to create a golfing haven where passion knows no boundaries. His lifelong love affair with golf, combined with his expertise as a Certified Golf Instructor, turned into a vision to share his extensive knowledge, inspire, and promote the game he holds dear.

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Why does Rory McIlroy continue to play the DP World Tour? His lifelong goal tells all

Despite the logistical challenges, Rory McIlroy continues to play on both the PGA and DP World Tours. He explained why in Abu Dhabi.

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Rory McIlroy is all but a lock to win a sixth DP World Tour Order of Merit, the award given to the season-long champion on the circuit formerly known as the European Tour.

He has dominated the DP World Tour in recent years despite playing on it part-time. Look no further than the 2024 season, which includes a victory at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and three runner-up finishes. You cannot forget his close call at Pinehurst No. 2 as well. In addition to the four majors, McIlroy made 15 starts on the PGA Tour in 2024—20 altogether if you count the Olympic Men’s Golf Competition, where he tied for fourth.

But after the Tour Championship in August, McIlroy flew across the Atlantic to play in the Irish Open at Royal County Down , the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, and then, most recently, the Alfred Dunhill Links at St. Andrews in October. He played a loaded schedule across the world, despite the fracas outside the ropes between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Of course, McIlroy has been caught in that crossfire over the past few years, saying that he “hates LIV” and felt like a “sacrificial lamb” after the shocking framework agreement became public. He changed his course in the months that followed, opting to support a global tour with the best players from both circuits. But McIlroy then resigned from the PGA Tour Policy Board in November 2023. Yet, he still wanted to have a role in golf’s future, so he has since joined the policy board’s Transaction Subcommittee, hoping to resurrect the pro game through a concrete agreement. All of this is to say that the Ulsterman has been a busy—and you have to figure a stressed—man.

He also faced some personal issues at home between the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open , perhaps related to his global treks and accentuated talks with the Saudis. Being a professional golfer of his pedigree is not easy in this day and age.

So, despite all of these various balls in the air, McIlroy continues to make it a priority to play on the DP World Tour.

“I pride myself [on being] a European player,” McIlroy said at a Wednesday press conference ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the DP World Tour’s first playoff event .

“I would like to go down as the most successful European of all time.”

McIlroy has won four major championships and has helped Europe win the Ryder Cup on five occasions. If he walks away from the game right now, he would go down in history as one of the best Europeans ever. But he has no plans to do that, which explains why McIlroy is well on his way to achieving his goal—something he hopes to accomplish within the next decade. After all, as it currently stands, only five Europeans have won more majors than McIlroy in their careers. Harry Vardon—who the Order of Merit trophy is named after—leads the way with seven major titles, all coming between 1896 and 1914. Nick Faldo has six. Seve Ballesteros has five, as does Scotsman James Braid and Englishman John Henry Taylor, the latter two winning all five of their majors before World War I.

“I’m very proud to be from Europe... and play on this tour consistently,” McIlroy added.

“It’s something that I’m very proud of, and I just think of the greats of European golf that I grew up watching, whether it was Faldo or Woosie or Langer or just sort of the real heyday of The European Tour in the ‘90s, I guess.”

The European Tour has changed since the 1990s, when Scotsman Collin Montgomerie dominated the circuit. It’s no longer a rival tour of the PGA Tour, which gave the Ryder Cup plenty of competitive juice and helped turn the biennial competition into what it is today. Nevertheless, pundits view the now-DP World Tour as a feeder tour to the PGA Tour, something Europeans could have never envisioned 30 years ago. Tiger Woods played a role in that. So did Corporate America.

The top-10 finishers from the DP World Tour—not otherwise exempt—now receive PGA Tour cards for the following season, depriving the European circuit of its talent and creating a more diverse talent pool in the United States. In addition, the DP World Tour has adjusted its schedule to cater to the PGA Tour. It now travels to Australia, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa from December through May before finally staging an event on European soil after the PGA Championship. The PGA Tour, meanwhile, stages the bulk of its Signature Events during this period. These no-cut events are designed to have the best players compete side-by-side for elevated purses, thus appealing to American fans and television audiences. Plenty of recent DP World Tour graduates, like Matthieu Pavon, have seen success in these tournaments, too. Pavon even finished solo third at Pebble Beach in his Signature Event debut, whereas 12 months earlier, he was busy racking up top-10s in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, to avoid competing with the NFL, the PGA Tour now ends its FedEx Cup Playoffs by Labor Day weekend, thus opening the door for the DP World Tour to stage marquee events in the fall. Its flagship event—the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth—is now in September, not May. The Irish Open, the French Open, and the Spanish Open, all of which have been held during the spring and early summer in recent years, have also moved to the fall, giving players like McIlroy a short offseason.

Hence, McIlroy believes the DP World Tour should adjust its schedule again.

“I think hopefully we’ll get more than just the patch at the end of the year,” McIlroy added.

“There has to be some tournaments dispersed throughout the year for the Tour to stay relevant, not just in a four-month window but a little bit more than that. Yeah, look, we’ll see what happens. I’ve articulated that I think The European Tour is in a good spot because it might have a couple of different options going forward.”

One of those options could be a direct investment from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), LIV Golf’s beneficiary. Should the PIF’s negotiations with the PGA Tour fall short, or the Department of Justice (DOJ) blocks the deal altogether, maybe the PIF will inject capital into the DP World Tour.

Regardless of what happens, McIlroy will never abandon the DP World Tour like so many others unfortunately have. His legacy means a great deal to him, and he is already a staple of the illustrious European contingent. So, maybe, in 10 years, when revisiting European golf history, one name will stand above all of the others. That could be Rory McIlroy, who, as it currently stands, is one of the best European players ever. But a couple more majors—and a few more Order of Merit titles—would supplant him as the best and fulfill his ultimate goal.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

Next Up In Golf

• Tommy Fleetwood makes putting change; perhaps it leads to 2025 success
• Padraig Harrington piles on PGA Tour for proposed changes, limited field events
• Donald Trump shockingly invites Bryson DeChambeau on stage, jokes with him during victory speech
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Inside the Field: the 16th PKBGT Invitational

We are five days away from the most prestigious event on the year-long PKBGT circuit: the 16th PKBGT Invitational . With players from 18 states and Canada– let’s take a look inside this year’s field of 66 at the 2024 PKBGT Invitational!

Strength of Field in a Class by Itself

The PKBGT Invitational is perennially top 25 ranked tournament in the country as ranked by Golfweek Junior Golf Rankings. While this event typically boasts a strong field, the 16 th playing of the Invitational will feature one of its highest-ranked fields yet, with 52 players inside the Top 1,000 on Junior Golf Scoreboard national rankings. Even more notably, 30 of these players rank inside the top 500, and 14 inside the top 250.

Every player that finished in the top 10 of last year’s PKBGT Invitational will return this year (not including those now playing collegiately) including the defending champion, Macie Rasmussen (Chesapeake, VA 2027). Macie won last year’s Invitational by six strokes highlighted by her first round 65 (-7)!

Past Champions Achieve Great Heights

13 different ladies have raised the championship bowl at the PKBGT Invitational in its 15 year history ( View the Event History ).  Inaugural Invitational champion Katherine Perry Hamski played professionally on the LPGA Tour and now is the assistant coach at her alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill.  2011 & 2012 champion Lucia Polo and 2013 champion Anna Redding are members of the LPGA Epson Tour.  The Wake Forest University duo of 2014 champion Emilia Migliaccio and 2015 champion Rachel Kuehn are two of the top amateur players in the world and helped lead the Demon Deacons to a National Championship.  2022 champion Macy Pate is another past champion who now plays for Wake Forest where she was named the 2024 ACC Freshman of the Year. 2017 & 2019 champion Amanda Sambach who is a junior at the University of Virginia and 2018 champion Anna Morgan, who is staring at Furman University have been named to the Annika Award watch list which is awarded to the best women’s collegiate player in the nation.  These are just a few of the impressive accolades of our past Invitational champions! We’re excited to watch these ladies as they continue their success at the higher levels!

A New Venue in 2024: 

We’re excited to head to a new venue this year: the Country Club of Landfall! The Country Club of Landfall is one of the finest private, member-owned clubs in the South with two championship courses with a total of 45 holes designed by Jack Nicklaus and Pete Dye, which will host the Invitational.

The Country Club of Landfall annually hosts one of the top women’s collegiate events in the country, the Landfall Tradition each October. With the Landfall Tradition having been played just a couple weeks before hand, players will be able to directly compare themselves to the nation’s top collegiate players in a competitive environment!

Order of Merit Champs in the Field:

At each PKBGT event players earn season-long Order of Merit points based on their performance with events being weighted based on strength, size, and classification of the tournament. Through the standings, players are invited to the season-ending PKBGT Tour Championship at Pine Needles where the Order of Merit champion is decided for the season in each division. All of the 2024 Order of Merit Champions will be in the field next week at the PKBGT Invitational and aim to add another impressive title to their resume.  

Riley Grimm (Pinehurst, NC 2028) won the Bell National Order of Merit title in 2024 and joins Amanda Sambach as the only two players to have won the Bell National, Prep Preview, & Futures National Order of Merit titles in consecutive years! Grimm won three times in 2024 highlighted by her win at the inaugural LPGA*USGA Girls Golf National Championship! She also had four runner-up finishes including a T2 finish at the 2023 PKBGT Invitational.

Mallory Pitts (Greensboro, NC 2028) clinched a narrow Prep Preview Order of Merit victory with her T6 finish at the PKBGT Tour Championship. She had two wins on the Prep Preview series in 2024 at the PKB Foundation Classic and the Precision Jr. Girls Championship. This will be Pitts’ first Invitational appearance.

Arley Jennings (Spartanburg, SC 2030) clinched the Futures National Order of Merit victory with her win at the PKBGT Tour Championship. This was her first win of the year to go along with five additional top-10 finishes. This will also be Jennings’ first Invitational appearance.

The Best of the Best:

The 16th PKBGT Invitational has a star-studded field leading the pack are three players ranked inside the top 100 in the country by Junior Golf Scoreboard. Jenna Kim (Raleigh, NC 2027) comes into the Invitational as the highest ranked player in the field ranked #55 on Junior Golf Scoreboard. This will be the second PKBGT Invitational appearance for Kim who has had two Bell National victories at the PKBGT Masters & the Precision Jr. Girls Championship.

Zoe Cusack (Potomac, MD 2026) comes into the Invitational as the second highest ranked player in the field ranked at #57 on Junior Golf Scoreboard. Cusack recently committed to the University of Virginia and is the defending champion at the PKBGT Spring Bell Invitational.

Macie Rasmussen  (Chesapeake, VA 2027), the defending champion, comes into the weekend ranked as the #73 ranked player on Junior Golf Scoreboard. Macie looks to join Lucia Polo and Amanda Sambach as they only players to have won the PKBGT Invitational multiple times!

Highest Ranked Players

In addition to our featured players, 8 other players in the field are currently ranked inside the top 200 players in the country by the Junior Golf Scoreboard.  They are:

• Hannah Hall (Rockledge, FL 2026) — 113
• Yvette O’Brien (Greenwich, CT 2025) — 118
• Riley Grimm (Pinehurst, NC 2028) — 153
• Grace Ridenour (Raleigh, NC 2025) — 161
• Hallie Wilson (Winston Salem, NC 2027) — 166
• Ellie Hildreth (Wrightsville Beach, NC 2025) — 174
• Alexis Faieta (Tujunga, CA 2025) — 185
• Elsie MacCleery (Crozet, VA 2025) — 186

Verballed, Sealed, Delivered

17 players in the 16th Invitational field have verbally committed to play collegiate golf:

• Ava Cottis — University of North Florida
• Zoe Cusack — University of Virginia
• Leah Edwards — Western Kentucky University
• Alexis Faieta — UNC Wilmington
• Lillian Guleserian — Penn State University
• Hannah Hall — University of Kansas
• Hailey Han — University of Georgia
• Danielle Higbee — Augusta University
• Ellie Hildreth — NC State University
• Joelle Johnson — Bucknell University
• Grace Lindsey — Wofford University
• Hannah Lowery — Jacksonville University
• Elsie MacCleery — University of Virginia
• Yvette O’Brien — TCU
• Grace Ridenour — UNC Chapel Hill
• Karsyn Roberts — East Carolina University
• Lauren Paige Slatton — UAB

Follow the Action…

The first round of the 16th PKBGT Invitational, begins Saturday, November 9 th, at the Country Club of Landfall. We look forward to a great event!

• Official Invitational Field
• Official Tee Times by Round
• Follow the hole by hole live leaderboard here

Jeff Stewart

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