Five new players joining PGA Tour in 2024 after LIV Golf exits
The PGA Tour has added five new players to the field for 2024 as part of its ongoing fight against LIV Golf dividing the sport. These players qualified through qualifying events.
Before the 2024 season, five new players have qualified for the PGA Tour, providing new talent to take the place of players like Jon Rahm, who left for LIV Golf.
For the last 10 years, Q-School served as a source of Korn Ferry Tour status rather than as a route to the PGA Tour. However, that changed earlier this year when the path to the professional arena was cleared for the first time since 2012, serving as a qualifier for the PGA Tour.
With the new season on the horizon amid the ongoing drama surround the merger with LIV Golf, PGA Tour Q-School concluded at Final Stage where a top-five finish guaranteed a spot on the main tour. Ultimately, Harrison Endycott took the win, shooting a final round of 67 on Monday at TPC Sawgrassā Dyeās Valley.
The final round was postponed Sunday due to significant rainfall in northeast Florida, but Endycott won by four strokes. A rookie on the PGA Tour last year, he was forced to reclaim his card after narrowly missing out on the top 125 in the FedExCup which would have secured his playing rights for 2024
As he already had clinched a conditional status for next year, Endycott could play with the security of a safety net. Without the burden of pressure, the Australian thrived; he made 16 birdies to just three bogeys.
This past season, Endycott struggled with inconsistency, missing 20 of 33 cuts. But he has had success before; he helped Australia to victory in the 2016 World Amateur Team Championship, partnering with PGA Tour star Cameron Davis and Korn Ferry Tour player Curtis Luck. Endycott turned pro in late 2017 and eventually worked his way to the Korn Ferry Tour after two seasons on PGA Tour Latinoamerica (2018 and 2019)
Finishing behind Endycott, Trace Crowe was in contention to earn his PGA Tour card at this yearās Korn Ferry Tour Championship, but he failed to deliver and slipped outside the top 30 on the points list. Crowe ensured he wouldnāt fall short a second time; he carded a bogey-free front nine and made four birdies down the stretch to finish 11-under-par – and tied for second.
Blaine Hale Jr. will be a new face on the Tour. Hale began Q-School with no status, having only made one PGA Tour-sanctioned event appearance in his career at the 2022 Veritex Bank Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Hale was a member of Oklahomaās 2017 NCAA Championship team as a sophomore before graduating in 2019. He attempted to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour through Q-School multiple times but never succeeded, although he performed well on the All Pro Tour this year with five top 10s in 10 events before finishing solo third at Final Stage.
Hayden Springer finished atop PGA Tour Canadaās points list this season. The Nashville native won two of his seven PGA Tour Canada starts this season – his first professional victories – and finished inside the top 10 in another two. They were Springer’s first two professional victories.
Springer attended Byron Nelson High School in Trophy Club, Texas, and went on to win the 2019 Big 12 Championship at TCU. The 26-year-old, who tragically lost his three-year-old daughter Sage just weeks ago, finished 8-under and tied for fourth to secure his spot on the PGA Tour.
Lastly, in 2024, Raul Pereda will be the only active player from Mexico competing on the PGA Tour. Before going pro, he played for four years at Jacksonville University. The last four seasons, he has mainly competed on the PGA Tour LatinoamƩrica.
Pereda gained notoriety at the Mexico Open at Vidanta in April by rising to the top of the leaderboard in his first PGA Tour appearance following a strong first round performance. 65 before reversing course. Pereda secured his PGA Tour card with two birdies on the back nine on Monday, winning by a single shot.
