The threshold for college golfers earning a tour card via the PGA Tour Accelerated program is substantial, and that didn’t change when tour officials announced some subtle tweaks to the program on Thursday that go into effect starting in 2025. Florida State junior Luke Clanton and Auburn sophomore Jackson Koivun still remain three points shy of the 20 that undergrads must accumulate, points that are obtained through various means: claiming major college golf awards, playing your way inside the top five in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, winning high-profile amateur events, and performing well in PGA Tour tournament and major championships.

Now, however, there are more ways to earn those points with the tour adding a handful of new criteria that count toward the 20-point total. For instance, it’s not just the winner who’ll benefit from a top performance at the NCAA Championship but any player who claims a top-10 finish. And winning prestigious amateur events like the Jones Cup and Northeast Amateur now also are worth a point.

Meanwhile, top finishes in PGA Tour events now come with more points, and here is where Clanton might actually have been an influence. Previously, players earned one point for making the cut in a PGA Tour event and one more point for a top-10 finish. Starting in 2025, players get one more additional point if they record a top-five finish.

Those points could have come in handy for Clanton. The 21-year-old played in eight PGA Tour events as an amateur in 2024 (including the U.S. Open), making the cut in seven and posting three top-10 finishes. But all three of those top-10s were also top-five finishes, including a T-2 at the RSM Classic. Unfortunately for Clanton, points earned in the new criteria can’t retroactively be added to a player’s total, otherwise Clanton would have gotten his 20.

Below is a list of the additions/changes to past criteria:

• Lifetime 26 weeks as No. 1 in WAGR: 1 point (this is in addition to 5 points for reaching No. 1)• Lifetime 52 weeks as No. 1 in WAGR: 1 point• Top-5 in an official PGA TOUR event or select DP World Tour events: 1 point (this is in addition to 1 point for a made cut and 1 point for a top-10 finish)• Top-10 & ties at D-I NCAA Individual Championship: 1 point• Jones Cup winner: 1 point• Northeast Amateur winner: 1 point• Southern Amateur winner: 1 point• African Amateur winner: 1 point (previously 2 points)• Asia-Pacific Amateur winner: 1 point (previously 2 points)• D-I NCAA Individual Champion: 2 points (previously 3 points)• European Amateur winner: 1 point (previously 2 points)• Latin America Amateur winner: 1 point (previously 2 points)• British Amateur winner: 2 points (previously 3 points)• U.S. Amateur winner: 2 points (previously 3 points)• Western Amateur winner: 1 point (previously 2 points)

Here’s how Clanton has gotten his 17 points so far:

5 = Best WAGR rank (first)1 = PGA Tour made cut (2024 Procore Championship)1 = PGA Tour made cut (2024 Wyndham Championship)1 = Top-10 in PGA Tour event (2024 Wyndham)1 = PGA Tour made cut (2024 ISCO Championship)1 = PGA Tour made cut (2024 (John Deere Classic)1 = Top-10 in PGA Tour event (2024 John Deere)1 = PGA Tour made cut (2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic)1 = Top 10 in PGA Tour event (2024 Rocket Mortgage)1 = Major made cut (2024 U.S. Open)1 = Major start (2024 U.S. Open)1 = PGA Tour made cut (2024 RSM Classic)1 = Top-10 in PGA Tour event (2024 RSM Classic)

Koivun, 19, racked up his 17 points in an impressive freshman campaign with the Tigers in 2023-24. Here’s how he got his 17:

1 = Palmer Cup (2024)4 = Best WAGR rank (second)1 = PGA Tour made cut (2024 Memorial)3 = D-I Nicklaus Award (2024)2 = D-I Outstanding Freshman Award (2024)3 = Haskins Award (2024)3 = Hogan Award (2024)

To date only one golfer has earned the 20 points needed to claim a PGA Tour card: Vanderbilt junior Gordon Sargent. He can accept his tour membership following the conclusion of the stroke play portion of the 2025 NCAA Championship in late May.

Tour officials also announced that all top 10 finishers among eligible seniors in the PGA Tour University ranking at the end of the college season will earn full Korn Ferry Tour status for the remainder of the season, an increase from only the top five in past years.

“Today’s announcement builds on the success PGA Tour University has experienced over the past four years and continues to evolve the program’s offerings to properly identify and reward elite collegiate talent,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan in a press release. “Advancing opportunities for emerging stars is a tenet of our competitive platform, and PGA Tour University plays a critical role in that process.”

One other subtle change is the allowance of a second player off the PGA Tour University ranking to receive a full PGA Tour card at the end of the college season. Beginning with the final 2026 PGA Tour U. ranking, the second-place finisher will also earn PGA Tour membership provided his points average is equal to or exceeds 1,300. The change was enacted to account for seasons in which there might be two exceptional players in same graduating class. According to the tour, since the launch of PGA Tour U in 2021, no No. 2 finisher has yet to surpass that mark, and it would have only happened twice in the last decade. In the four years of PGA Tour U., the No. 2 finisher has averaged 1,176 points.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com