Here's why 50 is the new 30 on the PGA Tour: 'You're gonna play for a pile of money'

In the final round of the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship, Hideki Matsuyama played the last six holes in 5 under at TPC Southwind to shoot 65 and finish T-16.

For a past champion of the Masters, it won’t go down as one of his best weeks but it’s a round he’ll remember for another reason. The 32-year-old Japanese star has gained a reputation for hanging his head, dropping a hand off his club or drop-kicking the club in disgust – only for the shot in question to be a thing of beauty. But for Tom Alter, the PGA Tour official charged with informing Matsuyama the good news that he had done enough to shoot up to No. 47 in the FedEx Cup points standings and qualify for the BMW Championship, there was no mistaking Matsuyama’s reaction.

“It was the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on his face,” Alter recalled. “It really resonated with me.”

Had Matsuyama not finished with a flurry at TPC Southwind a year ago, he may not have been in the field at the Genesis Invitational, one of eight signature events, in February, where he shot a final-round 62 to claim his ninth Tour title.

The reason for Matsuyama’s glee is the goal this week for the 70-man field at the Tour’s first of three playoff events: making the top 50 and qualifying for the BMW Championship means being exempt into all of the signature events during the 2025 season. Given that those events have limited fields, play for significantly more money and elevated FedEx Cup points and often have no cuts, they offer a huge head start on retaining playing privileges for the following season and remaining in the top 50.

“Fifty is like the new 30,” said Mackenzie Hughes, who finished 51^st last season but ended up getting into the signature events this season when Jon Rahm departed for LIV Golf. “Outside of East Lake, that’s the number in the back of your mind. It’s that important and everyone knows it.”

But when Kevin Kisner was asked if 50 is the new 30 on Tour, he was taken aback. "Hell, no, the average age these days is about 25," Kisner claimed. But when informed this wasn't a reference to age but to position in the FedEx Cup list, he quickly understood. "Get in the top 50 and you're set for your schedule all year, you're gonna play for a pile of money, and you've got all the chances in the world," he said.

Tweaks are bound to be made to this latest iteration of the Tour’s reimagined schedule which already has evolved its nomenclature for its biggest tournaments from designated to elevated and now into signature events. Several players weigh in on what works and what needs to be changed and if top-50 status is too big of an advantage.

FedEx St. Jude: Photos | Thursday tee times

Mackenzie Hughes

I don’t think the signature events are the answer at all. I don’t think they’re very good. I don’t think limiting the field to the size that they are is the answer. I don’t think if you asked the average fan they’d say I want more 70-man fields.

If you keep putting the same guys together every week it becomes the same thing over and over again, rinse and repeat. I don’t think it’s the answer but they’re not listening to guys like me. They are going to keep making the top guys happy and that’s what they want and that’s what they’re going to get.

Asked to name some changes he'd like to see, he said, "Maybe a field of 100 with a cut to 50 or 60 and ties. What we have now is too small. When you have a 72-man field and cut to 50 and ties it feels too gimmicky. Make it 100 and it would still feel elite but you’re not closing the door completely to guys who might just be on the outside. I think it would be a better product. I don’t think we should have no-cut events. The PGA Tour is a meritocracy, you’ve got to go out there and earn it. I know you’ve earned it being in the 50 to get in those no-cut events but I feel like that’s what separates us from LIV. Add eight of those events and it’s like are we really that much different sometimes, you know? We criticize them for having no cut and then we add some of them. But that’s not happening next year and probably the year after that but probably at some point it will change like it does every year, it seems like now. We’ll see what happens. I don’t think I’m the only one who is saying that."

Kevin Kisner

"Get in the top 50 and you're set for your schedule all year, you're gonna play for a pile of money, and you've got all the chances in the world.

"I just think they're gonna have less cards in the future. There's no way we can keep coming to these events and playing 156 (man fields) and then they're going to those and playing 68 or whatever. I think the end game is to get it down to probably 100 (cards), that's my guess. But get it down to 100 and have smaller fields and a better product throughout. If you finished top 50, you had a hell of a year, and you deserve it. And I think the other thing worked great, the Swing 5 and the Aon 10, or whatever it was called. I really think that's a great way to get guys opportunities to play in those signature events."

Kevin Chappell

"I think we have to acknowledge that we have two different tours. There are guys buying airplanes and there are guys flying commercial in center seats. That’s the difference out here right now. Let’s function in that realm and let’s make everything better about that.

"The best events we had all year were full-field events. The Players Championship couldn’t have been better with a 144-man field; look at the majors.

"I don’t know what the turnover is going to be but they can’t be as high as they (the Tour) projected. [Heading into the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the Tour says 19 players are in the top 50 that were not last year, which converts to 62 percent retention vs 64 percent projected.]

"The points are skewed too much in favor of the top players. They’ll never do it but why can’t all the events be 500 points? It’s already a discrepancy in money."

Christiaan Bezuidenhout

"Obviously didn't really know what to think of the Aon 5 and Aon 10 at the start of the year and if a lot of the players are going to benefit out of it, but I was a guy that benefited a lot out of it. Obviously got off to a strong start at the beginning of the year with my runner-up finish at the American Express, and that put me into a great position to play my way into all the signature events for the rest of the year.

"It was nice to see that the system that the PGA Tour put in place for the Aon 5 and the Next 10 worked, and yeah, luckily I benefited out of that.

"I think all of the signature events are really strong events. You have your top 70 players on the PGA Tour playing in those events. You could just feel every time you pitched up at those events, you can just feel — it feels like a major. It feels like it's elevated."

Patrick Rodgers

"I say this having been in the signature events all year and being in the top 50 last year, but it still probably needs some tweaking. You need to have had a helluva year having not played in those events to compete with the guys who have. There needs to be something closer to a middle ground. I do like every year that guys who are in those played their way."

Stewart Cink

"I don't think the signature events are the right way to do it. It’s not a scientific study but my buddies at home that pay attention to golf don’t know the difference between a signature event or a 3M or John Deere. It doesn’t mean one thing to them if there are 70 players or 156 players other than if there's players up on the top of the leaderboard that they don't know who they are, they enjoy watching it and learning who they are. You don't get that at the signature events.

"What you miss out on you don’t gain back. It’s great to have the the top 10 players playing and Scottie Scheffler’s going to win a lot but it’s also good to have an influx of new players. We’re star building for the future. Golf backfills itself with stardom. Look at Bob MacIntrye. Golf will build itself new stars but we have to let it. Cutting fields in half is not a way to do it.

"We need to make it a manageable number so we're not finishing on Saturday to make a cut, in the 120 to 132 range. There are probably a lot of guys that would like to kick me in the teeth for saying this but we probably have to look at the No. 125 and determine whether it’s still viable as the number for being fully exempt. It seems to me like 115, 100 would be more reasonable. We've got players coming from the DP World Tour. Maybe we start sending some of our players in that direction. You finish Nos. 26-45 on Korn Ferry Tour this year and maybe we send those players to DP World Tour. You think they'll take it? I do and it will probably make them better players in the long run."

Zach Johnson

"I fully appreciate having events that are elevated, having a little bit more merit, have a little bit more substance for our sponsors and for TV and players' fans, I think there's a space. I think this is the first iteration. I look at the first year of the FedEx Cup and we didn't get it right the first time, didn’t get it right the second time, probably didn't get it right the third or fourth time but at some point, it just kind of, it just happens. And I think that's kind of where we're at right now. To what degree it will change or morph or nuance, I don't know. But I think there's a space for now.

"The only thing I would like to see is no sponsor exemptions, strictly merit. If we're going to promote meritocracy, remove them completely. And I say that I understand the history the tradition of like say Muirfield Village, Bay Hill, those two particularly, maybe even L.A., because there's a couple of rules you know that there's some attachments their sponsor sponsors exempted."

Gary Woodland

"Top 50 is so massive. I think it’s more important now than it’s ever been. It’s a massive advantage. The points are so much bigger. First time in a while that I couldn’t set my schedule. You’ve got to play your way in.

"You have these sponsors spending $25 million so they’re going to want some of their own guys.

"Early in my career, top 30 got into the World Golf Championships. So, now they’re giving 20 more spots. Playing well takes care of everything.

"On whether changes should be made: They know that. They’ll make some adjustments. After next year, they’ll do something."

Billy Horschel

"I think it is working. I think it does allow players that play well throughout the year to work their way into signature events and then into the top 50. You have to have a really good year if you’re not inside the signature events. I was fortunate I played well in one of them. I played well in two majors. You have to play well at the right time. It’s a difficult thing to do but it’s possible. Yes, it’s an advantage to be in the top 50. At the same time, there’s enough opportunity throughout the year to work your way into the top 50.

"When I realized the pecking order, I told the Tour that Tour winners should go ahead of the Aon 10, and the Swing 5. That will allow even more opportunities to allow players into those categories. That’s the one change to the system I would make now."

Horschel on returning to an opposite-field event again: "I accepted where I was, that I hadn’t played well in 2023 and that there was a possibility I might need to play some opposite field events to get into the Swing 5 and Aon 10. I was fully of the mindset that I was going there for one reason only and that was to win. I didn’t have to swallow any pride. I had come to the realization that I had put myself in this position and I had to get myself out of it and fortunately it worked itself out."

He wrote or called tournament directors or sponsors at every event. He received invites from Memorial, where he won in 2022, and the Travelers, where he was 11^th in the Aon standings and missed qualifying by a few points. Horschel had this to say about sponsor invites: "There should be a limit. I almost feel there shouldn’t be any sponsor invites. You should be able to play your way into them. Sponsor invites get a little messy and we’ve seen that this year. I understand sponsors want to invite certain players who have looked after the event and may bring more attention to the event. Maybe there should be a cap on them. Maybe only four to the signature events. It’s just another way to give more opportunities to more players.

"I will study the FedEx Cup final standings in the next few weeks after the season is done with and circle back to the Tour to see how they think things worked out and how they are thinking of things going into next year."

Joel Dahmen

Fifty matters. I think the talent of the Tour, the depth of the Tour is so deep now that 50 is small. I’m on the outside of it so it is easy for me to say that. If I was on the other side, I’d be saying keep everyone out.

You have to have a really good year. I think (fields) should be 100-ish. I know we’re talking about cutting cards down to a hundred guys and all that stuff; we’re just making it hard to get out here and it’s already hard enough.

I think the point structure should change. I’m not smart enough to do all that math. If you want to keep 70-man fields, fine, but lessen how many points they get. The difference in points is staggering but you can always just play better. Peter Malnati did it. He won and he got in them. The difference in the points makes us feel like we’re not as important as maybe some of us think we are. And really we’re not that important. We feel important, we want to be important but we’re really not that important. They can run those 70-man events.

Asked about not getting any sponsor invites: My level in this game will never be higher because of Netflix unless I win a major. To not get one, to not even sniff one, it’s fine, just play better. It would’ve been nice to get one but they’re not keeping anyone out, you can always play your way in.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Here's why 50 is the new 30 on the PGA Tour: 'You're gonna play for a pile of money'