Kuchar has choices to realize again full card for '26

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Matt Kuchar completed his nineteenth consecutive season on the PGA Tour and ended it at No. 118 within the FedEx Cup, which might have been sufficient to maintain his full card any yr however this one, with the tour dropping the cutoff to the highest 100 as a substitute of the highest 125.

The subsequent step for the 47-year-old Kuchar would appear to be taking certainly one of his exemptions for profession cash, solely it isn’t that easy.

It is a completely different PGA Tour from when he first joined in 2002. There are eight signature occasions, 4 majors, The Gamers Championship and three FedEx Cup playoff occasions. Kuchar goes into 2026 not eligible for any of them.

“I do not know what number of begins I am going to get,” Kuchar stated after he completed T-67 on the RSM Traditional. “I do not know if utilizing an exemption will get me any completely different begins. It is a tough one. It is not going to get you into any elevated occasions.”

The query is whether or not his conditional standing as No. 118 within the FedEx Cup will get him into roughly the identical variety of occasions as taking a profession cash exemption.

“We’re in considerably unchartered territory,” he stated. “I am guessing they’ve run the numbers, however I do not understand how properly their eventualities work out.”

PGA Tour officers estimate that gamers between No. 101 and No. 110 within the FedEx Cup — they maintain that rating all yr — will get into about 16 of the 19 tournaments, after which have the entire FedEx Cup Fall aside from Japan.

Kuchar is eight spots beneath that group, and topic to drop if he would not play properly out of the gates.

He has time for his two exemptions. Even on this period of huge purses, Kuchar has performed so properly for thus lengthy that he’s No. 15 in profession earnings at $61,538,738. That is simply over $15.4 million forward of the participant at No. 25, so ready one other yr to take the highest 25 exemption will not value him.

That is what Kuchar should type out within the subsequent month earlier than the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Kuchar had just one top-10 end this yr, a tie for fifth within the John Deere Traditional, however he missed solely two cuts in 18 begins.

“It is not the 2025 that I hoped for. It was a irritating yr,” Kuchar stated. “I feel I missed solely two cuts, however I did not appear to place collectively the weeks the place you hit it properly and putt it properly.”