Matt Kuchar and the Future on the PGA Tour: A New Landscape
Matt Kuchar, after completing his nineteenth consecutive season on the PGA Tour, faces an unprecedented scenario. He finished in 118th place in the FedEx Cup, a position that, in previous years, would have secured his full card. However, the tour has reduced the cut to the top 100, which complicates his situation. The next option for Kuchar, 47, would be to use one of his career earnings exemptions, but the situation is not that simple. The PGA Tour has changed since Kuchar joined in 2002. Now, there are eight signature events, four majors, The Players Championship, and three FedEx Cup playoff events. Kuchar is not qualified for any of them in 2026.The uncertainty lies in whether his conditional status as number 118 in the FedEx Cup will allow him to participate in a similar number of events compared to using a career earnings exemption. PGA Tour officials estimate that players between 101st and 110th in the FedEx Cup, maintaining that ranking throughout the year, will be able to participate in approximately 16 of the 19 tournaments, in addition to all FedEx Cup Fall events, except in Japan. Kuchar is eight places below that group and could drop if he doesn’t perform well at the start of the season. He still has time to decide on his two exemptions. Despite the era of big prizes, Kuchar has had an outstanding career, ranking 15th in career earnings with $61,538,738. This gives him a considerable advantage over the player in 25th place, meaning that waiting one more year to take the top 25 exemption will not cost him. Kuchar will have to resolve this situation in the next month, before the Sony Open in Hawaii. This year, Kuchar only achieved one top-10, a tie for fifth place at the John Deere Classic, but only missed two cuts in 18 appearances. “It’s not the 2025 I expected. It was a frustrating year,” Kuchar said. “I think I only missed two cuts, but I couldn’t string together weeks where I played well and also performed well in putting.”“I don’t know how many starts I’ll have,” Kuchar commented after finishing T-67 at the RSM Classic. “I don’t know if using an exemption will give me different opportunities. It’s complicated. It doesn’t guarantee you entry into important events.”
Matt Kuchar
