The PGA Tour Q-School Final Stage brings so much pressure. After all, it makes you #TOURBOUND. The 2025 edition runs from December 11 to 14. A structural shift in the recent season rewards the top five finishers with immediate PGA Tour membership cards.

You might expect a massive check for winners, as this is an integral event, but the 2025 Q-School offers a total purse of just $510,000.  The winner takes home $50,000, which is less than the standard 18 percent share. The payout structure rewards the top 45 finishers and ties with at least $6,000. The field isn’t playing for the purse; they are playing for the more important thing: a PGA Tour card.

And even if they miss the top five, players can earn money and Korn Ferry status. Here is the full breakdown of what every player is battling for—

Now, let’s take a look at the heavyweights for their survival in the tournament.

Doug Ghim enters this week as the strongest player in the field, as per the record. He ranks 146th in the world and finished his season with a brilliant T7 finish at The RSM Classic. Ghim ranked 17th on Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach during the 2025 season. Justin Lower also joins the fight, having missed six cuts in his last ten starts, with his best recent finish being third place in Utah.

Taylor Moore stands out as a proven winner and has won a PGA Tour title previously, but now he fights for his professional life. Moore has struggled lately and missed six of his last ten cuts. Japanese player Ryo Ishikawa and American-born Chan Kim just added some international flair to this deep roster. Chan Kim comes to the battleground amidst his emotional personal battles. 

Previous winners of this very event return to the scene. Lanto Griffin won this exact event just last year with a 9-under score but finds himself back in the crucible. Griffin knows the exact secret to conquer the Dye’s Valley and Sawgrass Country Club. Plus, there are several other recognizable names in the Florida course as well, including PGA Tour winners such as Camilo Villegas, Cameron Champ, Adam Hadwin, Russell Knox, and Luke List.

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The Rules: Cards, points, and the ‘no tie’ rule at the PGA Tour Q-School Final Stage 2025

The format presents a 72-hole stroke play marathon across two very different golf courses. And according to the 2025 rules, only the top five players earn PGA Tour cards, and ties are no longer enough. If players tie for the fifth spot, they must face a sudden-death playoff to finalize the last spot. So the difference between finishing 5th and 6th is not just financial, as the 5th-place finisher heads to the Sony Open in Hawaii with full access, while the 6th-place finisher heads to the Korn Ferry Tour for a year.

But winning here doesn’t bring the usual perks of a Tour victory, as the champion receives zero FedEx Cup points and zero Official World Golf Ranking points. So the real “win” is the exemption category of winning a full-field PGA Tour event, meaning cards, starts, and money are essentially what’s on the line ahead of the players in the future.

Don’t miss the drama this weekend, as the 2025 Q-School Final Stage is not just a golf tournament. It will witness a life-changing moment for five players who leave Ponte Vedra with a safe job for the next season, while others face a harder road with an uncertain year and limited starts. You can catch the moments on Saturday from 1:00 PM ET on the NBC Sports App, and the final round broadcasts live Sunday at 2:00 PM ET on the Golf Channel.