The PGA Tour Q-School is the event that can grant one a direct PGA Tour membership for a season. The final stage of the PGA Tour Q-School (Qualifying School) presented by Korn Ferry unraveled at TPC Sawgrass (Valley Course) & Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach of Florida, this Thursday on December 11. It’s the event where top amateurs get the opportunity to compete against pros eyeing a direct PGA Tour membership.

The pre-qualifying stages began back in September 2025. Now, after the qualifiers followed by two stages, the time has come for the final stage. The Q-School process consists of four stages, with players potentially earning an exemption into a later stage based on prior performance or status. Top-five finishers would get direct entry into the PGA Tour. But now that the top performers have now reached the playoffs, one question is constantly in the minds of golf enthusiasts. ‘What would happen in case of ties?’

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What are the PGA Tour playoff rules for tiebreakers?

The top-5 players of the Q-school tournament final are eligible to earn a PGA Tour membership. After the completion of 72 holes, if there is a tie, a playoff is conducted to decide the winners. However, that’s not the end. The next 40 players get a guaranteed start on the Korn Ferry Tour to showcase their talents. Meanwhile, among the 40 players, the top 25 ties enjoy 12 guaranteed starts while the rest of the lot get eight starts.

Next up, the rest of the 20 and ties will be participating in the PGA Tour Americas, along with the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and PGA Tour Canada schedule, through the Latin America swing. Lastly, the Q-school golfers qualifying to the finals will also get a conditional status to play in the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas status.

Now, coming further to the details, a playoff will be held in case any players tie for cards that go beyond the fifth place. In such a situation, a sudden-death playoff will be conducted following the tournament to sort out the cards. However, 2025 has seen a few more changes in the PGA Tour Q-School Tournament’s format.

2025 PGA Tour Q-School introduces notable format and regulation changes

Notably, this year, the format of the Q-School tournament has seen quite a few changes in its regulations. The event follows a 72-hole format. Players compete in threesomes while the course is divided into morning and afternoon waves for the initial two rounds. The first two rounds of the event are held in two courses, the Dye’s Valley Course and the Sawgrass Country Club.

Generally, after two rounds are conducted a cut is made. However, for PGA Tour Q-School, every golfer who begins the tournament is allowed to play all rounds, regardless of their score. While there is no mid-way elimination, the pairings and tee times are based on total score.

The golfer with the highest total, aka the lowest score, tees off first. The golfer with the lowest total score after all 72 holes is declared the winner. The winner is granted the largest portion of the total purse for the 2025 PGA Tour Q-School Finals. Alongside that, the winner also gets a ticket to the  Players Championship.