Ryan Fox is the defending champion, but it’s Matt Fitzpatrick (4), Justin Rose (6), Tommy Fleetwood (7) and Collin Morikawa (10) who are the top draws. Morikawa hasn’t played in this event since 2019. PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai is playing as well, coming off a 19th-place tie at the Memorial.

Like Morikawa, Brooks Koepka is playing in Canada for the first time since 2019 as he looks to continue to claw his way into some of the bigger events on the PGA Tour. Viktor Hovland was a late addition to the field and is playing in the Canadian Open for the first time.

Other notables playing include Robert MacIntyre, Sam Burns, Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark, Tony Finau and Max Homa. The last two men missed out in qualifying for next week’s U.S. Open earlier this week.

Top Canadians playing in their national open include Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, Mackenzie Hughes and Nick Taylor.

Check back here Sunday after play is complete for updates.

Here’s the payout in Canada

WIN: $1.764 million

2: $1.0682 million

3: $676,200

4: $480,200

5: $401,800

6: $355,250

7: $330,750

8: $306,250

9: $286,650

10: $267,050

11: $247,450

12: $227,850

13: $208,250

14: $188,650

15: $178,850

16: $169,050

17: $159,250

18: $149,450

19: $139,650

20: $129,850

21: $120,050

22: $110,250

23: $102,410

24: $94,570

25: $86,730

26: $78,890

27: $75,950

28: $73,010

29: $70,070

30: $67,130

31: $64,190

32: $61,250

33: $58,310

34: $55,860

35: $53,410

36: $50,960

37: $48,510

38: $46,550

39: $44,590

40: $42,630

41: $40,670

42: $38,710

43: $37,750

44: $34,790

45: $32,830

46: $30,870

47: $28,910

48: $27,342

49: $25,970

50: $25,186

51: $24,598

52: $24,010

53: $23,618

54: $23,226

55: $23,030

56: $22,834

57: $22,638

58: $22,442

59: $22,246

60: $22,050

61: $21,854

62: $21,658

63: $21,462

64: $21,266

65: $21,070

66: $29,874

67: $20,678

68: $20,482

69: $20,286

70: $20,090

71: $19,894

72: $19,698

73: $19,502

74: $19,306

75: $19,110

76: $18,914

77: $18,718

78: $18,522

79: $18,326

80: $18,130

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The Australian Open announced it was extending its co-sanctioning agreement with the DP World Tour for three years. The 2026 Australian Open will be played at Kingston Heath on the famed Melbourne Sandbelt in December with Rory McIlroy the headliner for a second straight year.

More significantly, perhaps, the event revealed a historic partnership PGA Tour within the announcement. Never before had the PGA Tour formally partnered with the governing body, Golf Australia. Sources told Golf Digest that the PGA Tour will support the Australian Open in several ways, including financially. The release detailed that the tournament will receive a “significant” boost in prize money from the 2027 edition.

There will also be an encouragement for PGA Tour pros to tee up in Australia.

With three tours backing the event founded in 1904, the purse is set to grow from the AUD $2 million (US $1.33 million) that was offered at Royal Melbourne last year when McIlroy was among those who teed up. Exactly how much is yet to be determined.

The DP World Tour co-sanctions 17 national opens around the world. The Australian Open’s list of past champions includes McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Greg Norman, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

“To have a national open of the stature of the [Capital.com] Australian Open amongst that number and to have it commit to us for another three years is great news, and further illustrates the strength of the partnership we enjoy with Golf Australia and the PGA Challenger Tour of Australasia,” Ben Cowen, chief tournament and operations officer for the DP World Tour, said in a statement.

“Today’s news also reinforces the Strategic Alliance we enjoy with the PGA Tour and the opportunity to work with them alongside the Australian organisations to help grow the stature of this tournament globally is an exciting one.”

All of this is interesting in the context of LIV’s approach to the Australian Open. National Opens have been part of LIV’s future plans. CEO Scott O’Neil said, in April, that “we are looking to blend a version of LIV and the national Opens, the great national Opens around the world. We think they’re the most underappreciated, undermarketed, underdeveloped assets in golf, and the reason is it gets us on the ground to grow the game of golf.”

O’Neil wasn’t wrong on the national opens front. Months before that, Augusta National and the R&A jointly announced that the winners of six national Opens around the world—the Australian Open, Scottish Open, South African Open, Spanish Open, Japan Open and Hong Kong Open—would receive a place in the 2026 Masters field under new invitation criteria, as well as qualifying for the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

In February, at LIV Golf Adelaide, O’Neil held a meeting with Golf Australia chief James Sutherland. Had the Australian Open partnered with LIV, the tournament purse would have surged, and a group of the league’s stars likely would have added it to their schedule. There were discussions about the possibility of moving the Australian Open from its typical early December slot to the week before or after the highly successful LIV Golf Adelaide, which has been held in February.

But with LIV Golf’s future uncertain given Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund no longer funding the league after 2026, the Australian Open continuing its partnership with the DP World Tour—and creating a new one with the PGA Tour—was a logical move.

The development is also relevant to the ongoing discussions between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour to continue their Strategic Alliance.

The Australian Open is part of an effort to clear the stage for the DP World Tour to shine in the last four months of the year. From early fall, the circuit moves through continental Europe—with treasured tournaments such as the Irish Open, BMW PGA at Wentworth and Spanish Open—and into the Middle East for its season finals. It quickly moves onto Australia in late November for the beginning of the new DP World Tour season which kicks off with the Australian Open and PGA.

Says Sutherland: “This agreement with the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia strengthens the global relevance of the championship and gives us another important platform to keep growing the event year-on-year.”

Sources indicate that shining a brighter light on the DP World Tour in that window is among the objectives discussed as DP World Tour and PGA Tour officials talk daily, and formally meet weekly. The aim is to extend the Strategic Alliance created in 2020 (and enhanced in 2022).

Those involved in the discussions include, from the DP World Tour side, CEO Guy Kinnings, as well as Cowen, chief revenue and content officer, Richard Bunn, and chief strategy and finance officer, Jonny Hine. On the PGA Tour’s end, that includes CEO Brian Rolapp, chief commercial officer, Dhruv Prasad, chief legal officer, Neera Shetty, and senior vice president of international, Christian Hardy.

The centrepiece of the alliance is that the top 10 points earners on the DP World Tour each season are given cards on the PGA Tour for the following season, while the agreement also includes the PGA Tour owning a 40 percent stake in European Tour Productions as well as boosting prize purse purses and several co-sanctioned events including the Scottish Open.

“[The PGA Tour is] thrilled with this agreement between our Strategic Alliance partners, the DP World Tour and the Capital.com Australian Open,” Hardy said. “The Capital.com Australian Open remains one of the most prestigious events in global golf, and our members have long valued the opportunity to compete in Australia. We look forward to continuing to build on this relationship in the years ahead.”

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However, Rocket declined an option to renew for 2027. In a statement the tour said it remains “interested in the Detroit market and will explore options for a new sponsor.”

Lashley tips his hat to fans during the 2019 trophy ceremony on Sunday at Detroit Golf Club. (Ben Jared/Getty Images)

The news comes as the PGA Tour is expected to announce a new two-tiered system beginning in 2028, a move that will ultimately push multiple current tour stops into the lower track that will be without the top 90 or so players on the circuit.

The announcement is believed to come the week after the U.S. Open at the Travelers Championship.

MORE: LIV Golf CEO deflects question on upcoming events as LIV faces uncertain future

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Covering 2027, 2028 and 2029, the new agreement will enable the national championship to again be co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, continuing the tournament’s momentum following a significant period of growth.

It also marks the first time the PGA TOUR has formally partnered with Golf Australia, with the agreement set to ensure the Capital.com Australian Open will receive a significant boost in prize money, a distinct window in the global golf calendar and optimise the opportunity to attract the world’s best players. More details on these developments will be shared at the 2026 Capital.com Australian Open.

Back-to-back Masters champion Rory McIlroy will return to the 2026 Capital.com Australian Open which will again headline the start of the DP World Tour season alongside the BMW Australian PGA Championship, along with providing the highlight of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australia’s summer of golf schedule.

Together with the landmark partnership with Capital.com and the recent confirmation that the redeveloped North Adelaide Golf Course will host three men’s Capital.com Australian Opens from 2028-2034, the renewed co-sanctioning agreement and PGA TOUR partnership is another important step in Golf Australia’s broader strategy to elevate the championship.

“The Australian Open has a proud history going back to 1904 and is recognised globally as one of the great national championships of world golf,” Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland said.

“Our ambition is clear. We want the men’s Capital.com Australian Open to be recognised among the top 10 most prestigious golf tournaments globally, and everything we are doing for the event flows from that ambition.

“Getting the Australian Open right is about securing the total mix. That means world-class venues, strong host-state partnerships, commercial partners, sanctioning partners, broadcast reach, a great fan experience and the ability to attract strong international fields.

“This agreement with the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia strengthens the global relevance of the championship and gives us another important platform to keep growing the event year-on-year. 

“Together with our partnerships with Victoria, South Australia, Capital.com, our host venues and our other commercial partners, this puts us in the best possible position to realise our ambition of making the men’s Australian Open one of the world’s great golf events.”

Ben Cowen, Chief Tournament and Operations Officer for the DP World Tour, said: “We are delighted at today’s announcement which confirms that the Capital.com Australian Open will continue to feature on our schedule.

“Since our Tour’s inception over 50 years ago, National Opens have been, and will continue to be, critical for us; the fact we currently sanction 17 in total around the world merely emphasises the point that we are Golf’s Global Tour.

“To have a National Open of the stature of the Capital.com Australian Open amongst that number and to have it commit to us for another three years is great news, and further illustrates the strength of the partnership we enjoy with Golf Australia and the PGA Challenger Tour of Australasia.

“Today’s news also reinforces the Strategic Alliance we enjoy with the PGA TOUR and the opportunity to work with them alongside the Australian organisations to help grow the stature of this tournament globally, is an exciting one.”

With the DP World Tour co-sanctioning the event, PGA TOUR members will have the opportunity to more easily compete, further integrating the tournament into the international golf landscape.

“We are thrilled with this agreement between our Strategic Alliance partners, the DP World Tour and the Capital.com Australian Open,” said Christian Hardy, the PGA TOUR’s Senior Vice President, International. “The Capital.com Australian Open remains one of the most prestigious events in global golf, and our members have long valued the opportunity to compete in Australia. We look forward to continuing to build on this relationship in the years ahead.”

PGA of Australia and Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia CEO Gavin Kirkman said the agreement was an important outcome for Australian tournament golf and Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia members.

“The Capital.com Australian Open is the shop window for golf in Australia. If it’s strong, it elevates the entire Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and golf in this country.

“Golf Australia deserves great recognition for the work they are doing to secure the long-term future of the Australian Open, elevating it to one of the world’s premier international events. The combination of strong commercial support, world-class venues, host-state partnerships, and co-sanctioning alignment puts the Australian Open in a stronger position than ever to keep growing.”

“Played immediately after the BMW Australian PGA Championship in Sydney, we’re thrilled to be working alongside the DP World Tour as our co-sanction partner for our two biggest weeks on the Australian golf calendar, bringing together some of the world’s best golfers to compete for two of the oldest and revered trophies in world golf,” he said.

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But folding never entered his mind.

“I’m not a quitter, so I hung in there,” Poston said after consecutive bogeys on Nos. 12 and 13 left him three over par in the final round and trailing for the first time since Thursday. “I just told myself … I mean, I hit a great putt on 13, right where I wanted and just didn’t fall. But I told myself on 14 tee I was one back with five to go, still felt like I had a chance. I needed to play the last five holes really well. And I told myself I knew I was going to be shaking Mr. Nicklaus’ hand walking off 18 no matter what, and I want to be proud of the effort when I did. So just to do it the way that I did, birdieing three of the last five, is a dream come true and something I’ll certainly carry with me the rest of my career.”

Poston somehow summoned something he had been searching for all year—“grit” is what he called it—as well as some rock-steady belief and rallied to forge a playoff against Ryan Gerard with birdies on three of his last five holes, including a stellar approach to seven feet on the tough par-4 18th. Poston then won it on the second extra hole, also at 18, with a three-foot par putt to claim his fourth PGA Tour title and the biggest check of his career, a $4 million bonanza.

That wasn’t the only prize. Poston collected the lone exemption to the 154th Open via the Open Qualifying Series and he also avoided Monday’s 36-hole final qualifying for the U.S. Open by moving from 94th in the world to No. 39. Players in the top 60 not otherwise exempt after this week’s RBC Canadian Open earn a spot at Shinnecock Hills for the 126th U.S. Open.

He surely earned all of that, going 33 holes on Sunday at Muirfield Village after thunderstorms washed out most of Saturday’s third round.

“It sounds like a dream,” said Poston, 33, of Hickory, N.C. “Just incredibly proud, incredibly humbled. This is one of the events that we have circled on our calendar at the start of the year every year, and it just feels amazing to get it done, and just to be a part of the rich history here. We were talking about the past winners. It’s a good bunch, and to be able to add my name to that list is incredible.”

It was an incredible finish to what was perhaps the biggest late-game logjam in the history of the Memorial, which this year celebrated its 50th anniversary. It seemed apropos that this one should end in a playoff after the inaugural edition also went extra holes.

With just two holes remaining, five players were tied for the lead. Even Nicklaus, the tournament founder and host was in awe of what was unfolding, the sheer drama. “That was some really, really good golf,” the Golden Bear marveled.

Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns and 2025 FedEx Cup champion Tommy Fleetwood also were part of the scrum at 11 under par. But Burns and Fleetwood bogeyed the 17th hole, and Clark, who won two weeks prior at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, made two pars coming home. He finished alone in third at 277 after a 67. Fleetwood, who briefly leapfrogged into the lead with a four-foot eagle at 15, shot 68 to share fourth place at 278 with Burns, who had a 69.

Poston’s birdie, just the fifth on the home hole in the final round, gave him a closing 72. Gerard shot a 68 to make up the four shots he spotted Poston after finishing up their third round Sunday morning. The pair had completed just five holes on Saturday, and Poston, building off an immaculate 65 in round two, added a 69 for a 12-under 204 total, while Gerard bogeyed two of his final three holes for even-par 72.

Playing in the final group for the second week in a row, Gerard, 26, looked like he might have cracked open the tournament when he holed a 38-foot left-to-right birdie putt on the arduous 17th hole for a one-shot lead. He let out a loud roar when the putt fell. “But I didn’t think I had the tournament won,” he said after settling for his third runner-up finish of the year.

Nevertheless, it was looking good. Poston still faced a downhill 11-footer for par. He drained it. “After Ryan made his putt that made that [par] putt honestly a little easier. I knew exactly what I needed to do. I had to make it.”

That kept Poston in the hunt, and when he stuck his 8-iron approach from 162 yards on 18 and sank another must-make putt, he and Gerard were headed to the 11th playoff in Memorial history—and seventh in the last 13 years.

Poston had a chance to win it on the first extra hole, but pushed his winning birdie try from eight feet. On the second, Gerard knocked his birdie attempt from 54 feet almost six feet past the hole. Then he fanned the par putt, missing on the low side. Poston ended it with his successful two-putt from 33 feet.

Vying to equal Tiger Woods’ record with a third straight win at Muirfield Village, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler closed with a 71 and settled for T-12 at four-under 284.

Poston admitted earlier in the week that he had never been in a rut of such a long duration, mostly caused by a putting stroke that had left him. He entered the Memorial ranked outside the top 100 in strokes gained/putting for the first time since his rookie season of 2016-17. But he changed putters last week at Colonial and what has long been a strength of his game returned. He ranked third in putting at Muirfield Village, gaining +6.865 on strokes gained/putting to offset the -1.683 strokes he surrendered to the field off the tee.

With his putting returning as a weapon, his confidence was restored. He gave nary a thought to the potential of facing 36 holes or more of U.S. Open qualifying on Monday. “Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, the goal was to have the trophy at the end of the day, and that was kind of what I just kept focusing on,” Poston said. “I didn’t allow myself to marinate in those negative thoughts. I just told myself … I mean, it’s natural for them to pop up, but when they did, I just tried to focus on the positive of I have a great opportunity to win an incredible golf tournament, and that was the goal starting the week.”

Winning always is the goal, even when you haven’t given yourself any chances for more months than you care to realize. Poston isn’t a poster boy for the power of positive thinking, just a very good golfer who thought to remind himself that he was positive he could still be a good one.

It’s more than belief. It’s faith. With a dash of will thrown in.

“I think it’s natural to have some doubts, and I think it’s certainly something that I’ve been working on and something that I’ve tried to work on this year,” Poston said. “It’s tested my patience more than any other year out here for me. I think this is just great validation that if I keep my head down and keep working on it and keep doing what I know is the right thing to do to play my best golf, then I can win big golf tournaments.”

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Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at the 2026 Memorial Tournament

J.T. Poston – Stavy Revere

J.T. Poston and Ryan Gerard share the lead at nine under par at Muirfield Village Golf Club, but they face a long slog on Sunday with 31 holes remaining in the $20 million signature event.

Ryan Gerard – Stuart Franklin

Sam Burns is one shot back at eight under par through six holes, while Eric Cole was six under, also through six holes.

Thirty-two of the 53 players who made the cut had not completed their third round when play was suspended for the day at 5:55 p.m local time.

The tournament is scheduled to resume at 7:30 a.m. EDT Sunday, and then the final round is estimated to begin around 11 a.m. with groups of three going off both Nos. 1 and 10 tee.

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It’s been a tough few days for the No. 1 player in the world at Muirfield Village Golf Club, where he came in as the two-time defending champion at Jack Nicklaus’ tournament but has shown only a glimpse of the form that earned him a pair of coveted Sunday handshakes with the host.

Fortunately, that glimpse arrived just in time.

Trolling the cutline at four over par, Scheffler birdied three of his last six holes for an even-par 72 and a one-over 145 total to ensure weekend tee times for a 77th consecutive PGA Tour event.

One day after microphones captured him ranting to caddie Ted Scott about the windy conditions that had him confused and frustrated after he found the water at the par-3 16th hole, Scheffler battled gamely, even birding the 16th by holing a 40-footer that felt like “stealing one.”

How did he turn it around? “I’m about to go find out,” he said. In other words, he didn’t quite know but he was heading to the practice range to figure something out while inside the top 25 but trailing clubhouse leader J.T. Poston by 10 shots.

Scheffler found himself fighting to make the cut when he suffered three straight bogeys starting at the par-3 eighth hole. He finally made his first birdie at the par-4 13th after a wedge to three feet and followed up with a 21-footer for another at No. 15 before the unexpected bonus at 16. His one-over 145 total is his highest opening 36 holes at the Memorial since he began with 149 in 2023 before surging to a third-place finish.

“I don’t know if you were out there on the course, but I was going to be hard to find if you were out watching my group,” said Scheffler, the four-time major winner, who was paired with PGA champion Aaron Rai. “I felt like I got my first birdie putt of the day on the 13th hole. I maybe had one on 11, but I couldn’t imagine I hit more than six or seven greens today. So around this golf course, with heavy rough and deep bunkers, you got to be hitting the ball in the right spots and for a long time today that was definitely not the case for me.”

Poor starts continue to dog Scheffler in 2026 after he began the year with his 20th tour title at The American Express in Palm Springs. On Friday at Muirfield Village, the Texan hit just seven fairways and eight greens in regulation. When he finished, he was losing more than two strokes to the field in strokes gained/approach the green over 36 holes, but he was saved by his short game and putting.

He remained undaunted in his belief that he was far from out of the tournament with 36 holes remaining.

“That’s maybe some of the worst I’ve hit it in a couple years out there, and I still managed to shoot even par around a golf course that requires to you strike the ball really well. Yeah, I’m definitely very proud of stuff like that,” Scheffler said, finding some solace. “This tournament was one that definitely could have got away from me, but right now I’m only nine shots back and still have a chance going into the weekend. With the conditions the way they are, you never really know what’s going to happen around this golf course and just getting inside the cut line you still have a chance.”

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Suffice it to say, times have changed.

With the 50th anniversary of the tournament that Jack Nicklaus’ built going on this week, the now PGA Tour signature event has a $20 million purse with the winner claiming a $4 million prize money payout.

In fact, with the cutline at Muirfield Village set at the top 50 and ties or any player within 10 shots of the 36-hole leader, no player who plays all four rounds will walk away with less money than Maltbie earned five decades ago. And every player finishing 24th or better will make more than the entire purse that was offered back in Year 1.

Entering this year’s tournament, two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler is trying to join Tiger Woods and the only golfer to win the Memorial in three consecutive years. Woods won it five times (1999-2001, 2009, 2012) during his career, but did it in an era where the prize money wasn’t as inflated as it is today. Woods’ career earnings in 18 Memorial starts come in at $5.4 million, which is paltry compared to the $10.09 million that Scheffler has made in his five career starts (it helps when your two wins earned you $8 million).

Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer this week in Ohio. We’ll update this listing when play is over on Sunday to include names and individual payouts.

Win: $4 million

2: $2.2 million

3: $1.4 million

4: $1 million

5: $840,000

6: $760,000

7: $700,000

8: $646,000

9: $600,000

10: $556,000

11: $514,000

12: $472,000

13: $430,000

14: $389,000

15: $369,000

16: $349,000

17: $329,000

18: $309,000

19: $289,000

20: $269,000

21: $250,000

22: $233,000

23: $216,000

24: $200,000

25: $184,000

26: $168,000

27: $161,000

28: $154,000

29: $147,000

30: $140,000

31: $133,000

32: $126,000

33: $119,000

34: $114,000

35: $109,000

36: $104,000

37: $99,000

38: $94,000

39: $90,000

40: $86,000

41: $82,000

42: $78,000

43: $74,000

44: $70,000

45: $66,000

46: $62,000

47: $58,000

48: $56,000

49: $54,000

50: $52,000

51: $51,000

52: $50,000

53: $49,000

54: $48,000

55: $47,000

56: $46,000

57: $45,000

58: $44,000

59: $43,000

60: $42,000

61: $41,000

62: $40,000

63: $38,000

64: $37,000

65: $36,000

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The PGA Tour is expected to announce sweeping schedule changes at the Travelers Championship in three weeks, with implementation targeted for 2028. General frameworks have been pitched to players and the advisory council in recent weeks, centred on a new two-tiered system. The top circuit would feature roughly 20-plus events (majors included), fields of around 120 players, and purses of $20 million. The bottom 20-30 finishers at season’s end would be relegated to the second tier; the top performers there would earn promotion back up. As Golf Digest’s Tod Leonard reported earlier this week, Torrey Pines would open the 2028 season, with the calendar wrapping in late summer.

None of this arrives without resistance. Rolapp signalled consequential change at his Players Championship press conference in March, but pushback has come from multiple directions — players, sponsors, and tournaments alike. Some players see the proposal as little more than the existing PGA Tour/Korn Ferry structure with a smaller event count. Tournament officials likely slotted into the second tier are asking why they’d offer substantial prize money for what amounts to a feeder league. Media partners want clarity on what they’re actually paying for under their current deals.

Nothing has been officially decided. At Memorial on Wednesday, Rolapp briefly addressed the media, offering only that his future committee’s work has been “going really well.”

“I’ve been incredibly impressed with the players about how much time and thought they have put into it. And I think we have a lot of work to do before the (announcement),” Rolapp said outside Columbus. “I think we’ll update you more where we are on the 22nd. But the amount of change and the questions we’re asking ourselves are not easy by design. But I think we’re making substantial progress.”

One of the points still being discussed is playoff format. There’s a chance the postseason is reduced to two events, with match play being implemented. Rolapp said everything is still up for discussion.

“We’re getting there. We have a meeting on the (June) 9th,” Rolapp said. “We’re going to talk a lot about that. It was a subject of our meeting last time. So we have more work to do. I think what has been most encouraging about those discussions is we’re talking about different formats, but I’ve been a big believer that you can come up with any format you want, if it doesn’t feel authentic to the players, like it’s real authentic competition, it’s not going to feel authentic to anybody. And most of the ideas now about how to actually think about formats for the playoffs are coming from the players, which is great.”

Still, for that change to come, Rolapp said it’s very much coming down to the wire, specifically the time between the Memorial and Travelers.

“It depends how much work we do between now and then. That’s how much real time we’re doing. We’ll give an update exactly where we are. Depending upon what we do in the next handful of weeks will determine how substantive that is.”

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With that, the 23-year-old from Milford, Conn., secured a PGA Tour card through the 2027 season, becoming eligible to make his pro debut as a tour member at next week’s RBC Canadian Open.

James entered the NCAA Championship 61 points ahead of Texas senior Christiaan Maas in the PGA Tour U rankings, meaning there was a chance Mass could rally to No. 1 with a strong finish. But Maas wound up one stroke back of James in a tie for 19th.

The PGA Tour University program is open to golfers competing in their final year of college golf, with results from the past two years used to accrue points.

James finished his college career at UVa with seven victories and 35 top-10s in 46 starts. He helped lead the Cavaliers to the program’s first two ACC Championships (2025, 2026) and a national runner-up finish in 2025. He also earned first-team All-American honors for the fourth season, becoming only the fifth player in men’s college golf history to accomplish the feat. The others: Gary Hallberg (Wake Forest), Phil Mickelson (Arizona State), David Duval (Georgia Tech) and Bryce Molder (Georgia Tech).

“I had a really good fall my junior year, played great all junior year, and then it’s reality when you see your name on the rankings. I’m just really happy with how I handled it, because it’s difficult,” said James, ranked No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking behind Jackson Koivun. “It’s an amazing opportunity that PGA Tour U lets us college guys have a pathway to the PGA Tour and looking forward to getting out there.”

While Maas could not pass James and secure the lone PGA Tour card available for 2026, by finishing second he did earn full Korn Ferry Tour status through the remainder of the 2026 season as well as an exemption into the final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School. That same reward goes to Nos. 3-5 on the final PGA Tour U points list.

Players who finished Nos. 6-10 also earned KFT status in 2026 and exemptions into the second stage of PGA Tour Q School. Players who finished Nos. 11-25 earned PGA Tour Americas membership for the remainder of the 2026 season and exemptions into PGA Tour Q School second stage. (See the final points list standings below.)

This is the sixth year of the PGA Tour University program, and 129 players have earned performance benefits since 2021. With the addition of James, PGA Tour membership for the 2026 season features 25 PGA Tour U alumni, and 31 alumni have combined for 55 professional victories worldwide. James joins Texas Tech’s Ludvig Åberg (2023), Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen (2024) and North Carolina’s David Ford (2025) as players who earned their PGA Tour cards by finishing No. 1 in PGA Tour U.

He has made nine starts on the PGA Tour as an amateur, including qualifying for the U.S. Open twice (2024, 2025), and his best finish was T-33 at the 2025 Valero Texas Open.

PGA Tour University Class of 2026 Final Rankings

1: Ben James, Virginia

2: Christian Maas, Texas

3: Jase Summy, Oklahoma

4: Filip Jakubcik, Arizona

5: Luke Potter, Texas

6: Tommy Morrison, Texas

7: William Sides, SMU

8: Mahanth Chirravuri, Pepperdine

9: Frankie Harris, South Carolina

10: Wells Williams, Vanderbilt

11: Lance Simpson, Tennessee

12: Michael Alexander Mjaaseth, Arizona State

13: Paul Chang, Virginia

14: Tom Fischer, Mississippi

15: Cameron Tankersley, Mississippi

16: Matthew Kress, Florida

17: Bryan Lee, Virginia

18: Zachery Pollo, Arizona

19: Daniel Svard, Northwestern

20: Ethan Evans, Duke

21: Mesa Falleur, New Mexico

22: Brady Siravo, Pepperdine

23: Garrett Endicott, Mississippi State

24: Cohen Trolio, Mississippi

25: Ryan Voois, Illinois

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The post This college standout finished T-16 at NCAAs, but now has a PGA Tour card through 2027. appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.