Matt Kuchar Reflects on the Future on the PGA Tour
Matt Kuchar, after completing his nineteenth consecutive season on the PGA Tour, finds himself at a crossroads. He finished in 118th place in the FedEx Cup, a position that, in previous years, would have guaranteed him his full card. However, due to the changes implemented by the circuit, which now reduces the cut to the top 100 instead of 125, Kuchar must carefully consider his next steps. The current state of professional golf is different from when Kuchar joined the PGA Tour in 2002. With eight elite events, four majors, the Players Championship, and three FedEx Cup playoff events, Kuchar is not qualified for any of them in 2026.The main question is whether his conditional status, being ranked 118th in the FedEx Cup, will allow him to participate in a similar number of tournaments compared to using a career earnings exemption. PGA Tour officials estimate that players ranked between 101st and 110th in the FedEx Cup, maintaining that position throughout the year, will be able to participate in approximately 16 of the 19 tournaments, in addition to all FedEx Cup Fall events, except the one in Japan. Kuchar is eight positions below that group and could be affected if he doesn’t perform well at the start of the season.I don’t know how many starts I’ll have. I’m not sure if using an exemption will give me different opportunities. It’s complicated, as it doesn’t guarantee you entry into any elite event.
Matt Kuchar
Despite this, Kuchar has time to decide how to use his two exemptions. Thanks to his outstanding career, he is ranked number 15 in career earnings, with $61,538,738. This gives him room to wait one more year before using the exemption for the top 25.
Kuchar will have to make a decision in the next month, before the Sony Open in Hawaii. This year, Kuchar earned only one top 10, a tie for fifth place at the John Deere Classic, and missed only two cuts in 18 appearances.It’s not the 2025 I was expecting. It was a frustrating year. I think I only missed two cuts, but I couldn’t string together weeks where I played well and also putted well.
Matt Kuchar
