Ranking of golf tours

Tried searching but couldnt find the correct words to fin my answer.

IMHO

US PGA Tour

Euro Tour

Asian PGA tour

Korn Ferry

Latin Tour

Asian Tour

MacKenzie tour

Which of the other tours feed to most player to the US PGA Tour?

Any other tours I am missing?

A couple big ones you’re missing are the Japan Tour and Euro Challenge. There are more than a dozen in total recognized by the OWGR, including the Australian Tour, the South African tour, etc

I agree with your ranking on the first two; beyond that I don’t know.

PGA

European

Korn Ferry

Japan

Asian

Challenge

What are you ranking? The quality of play? Prize money? Path to one of the major tours?

I found out about a tour I had never heard of this year - the [Alps Tour](https://alpstourgolf.com/ "Alps Tour").

I think KF is a “better” tour than the Asian tour. Players coming off owgr exemptions from the Asian tour seem to perform very poorly for the most part. I’m not sure why, but to me the Asian tour and the LPGA are very similar- dominated by very young players who make splashing headlines that are nowhere to be found just a few years later.

My research is limited to the diminishing amount of golf I’ve watched the last 2 years though so my position might be flawed.

Hooters Tour still exist?

The real question to me is always wins. I don't count any that aren't PGA or Euro, but what is the difference between PGA and Euro?

Eurro vs KF could make for an interesting debate.

Assuming the goal is to get to the Big Show what tour is more lucrative.

The end goal of every single KF player is to make the PGA Tour. This isn’t true for the Euro Tour membership, most are happy to play full careers in Europe and aside from a WGC, Ryder Cup, a major or the week before a major....never set foot in the US. The top players will join the pga tour and play a full or some sort of hybrid schedule but for Euro players 20-150 they are staying in Europe full time. It’s hard to argue that the Euro Tour is weaker than the KF tour when Europe thrashes the USA in the Ryder Cup nearly every time. A few years ago Jerry Foltz was on the bandwagon of the Euro Tour being the 3rd strongest tour because more Web.com grads were winning pga tour events. But he gave that up when he realized that most Euro Tour winners weren’t playing the pga tour in subsequent years.

> @c7015 said:

> Eurro vs KF could make for an interesting debate.

>

> Assuming the goal is to get to the Big Show what tour is more lucrative.

>

>

I notice very few forum friends have the patience to type out Korn Ferry in their posts.

> @cdnglf said:

> A couple big ones you’re missing are the Japan Tour and Euro Challenge. There are more than a dozen in total recognized by the OWGR, including the Australian Tour, the South African tour, etc

>

> I agree with your ranking on the first two; beyond that I don’t know.

>

>

>

>

> @jdl said:

> What are you ranking? The quality of play? Prize money? Path to one of the major tours?

>

> I found out about a tour I had never heard of this year - the [Alps Tour](https://alpstourgolf.com/ "Alps Tour").

I was actually trying to determine an approximate rank of the players on the Mac Kenzie tour.

> @MaddMaxx said:

> > @cdnglf said:

> > A couple big ones you’re missing are the Japan Tour and Euro Challenge. There are more than a dozen in total recognized by the OWGR, including the Australian Tour, the South African tour, etc

> >

> > I agree with your ranking on the first two; beyond that I don’t know.

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

> > @jdl said:

> > What are you ranking? The quality of play? Prize money? Path to one of the major tours?

> >

> > I found out about a tour I had never heard of this year - the [Alps Tour](https://alpstourgolf.com/ "Alps Tour").

>

> I was actually trying to determine an approximate rank of the players on the Mac Kenzie tour.

This might help:

http://www.owgr.com/about

> @c7015 said:

> Eurro vs KF could make for an interesting debate.

>

> Assuming the goal is to get to the Big Show what tour is more lucrative.

>

>

Euro by a landslide. It’s not even close. Top 50 in OWGR gets you into 12-16 PGA Tour events a year without being a member. Way easier to get top 50 and the money is about 8x greater in Europe

> @iteachgolf said:

> > @c7015 said:

> > Eurro vs KF could make for an interesting debate.

> >

> > Assuming the goal is to get to the Big Show what tour is more lucrative.

> >

> >

>

> Euro by a landslide. It’s not even close. Top 50 in OWGR gets you into 12-16 PGA Tour events a year without being a member. Way easier to get top 50 and the money is about 8x greater in Europe

For sure Euro tour is a bigger tour. Talent wise Euro wins as well, top guys better than top KF guys, and lower tier guys probably also better than KF lower tier guys.

PGA

Euro

KF

all else I think is not that strong. Maybe Japan as you get the rare Hideki.

> @iteachgolf said:

> > @c7015 said:

> > Eurro vs KF could make for an interesting debate.

> >

> > Assuming the goal is to get to the Big Show what tour is more lucrative.

> >

> >

>

> Euro by a landslide. It’s not even close. Top 50 in OWGR gets you into 12-16 PGA Tour events a year without being a member. Way easier to get top 50 and the money is about 8x greater in Europe

So is it just the distance, why don't more people go the ET route to get their PGA card?

> @c7015 said:

> > @iteachgolf said:

> > > @c7015 said:

> > > Eurro vs KF could make for an interesting debate.

> > >

> > > Assuming the goal is to get to the Big Show what tour is more lucrative.

> > >

> > >

> >

> > Euro by a landslide. It’s not even close. Top 50 in OWGR gets you into 12-16 PGA Tour events a year without being a member. Way easier to get top 50 and the money is about 8x greater in Europe

>

> So is it just the distance, why don't more people go the ET route to get their PGA card?

Plenty do, 80 Americans did European Q School in 2016 and pretty sure that number has increased every year since. It’s harder to get through European Q School than KF Tour Q School. The KF is WAY better than the Challenge Tour. So you’d have get all the way to final stage and finish top 25 to get European Tour status which is a big commitment and you’d have to have a ton of travel or commit to staying in Europe for an extended period of time.

There isn’t a direct route to a PGA Tour card from the ET. Finishing, say 23rd in their money list won’t get you any pga tour status. You might get some sponsor exemptions and into a major or two but you would need to earn equivalent FedEx points to become a temporary member then exempt the following year. So finish high enough in 2019 to become a notable in 2020, play a limited schedule and if successful a pga tour member in 2021. Or play the KF tour in 2019, finish 23rd on their money list against weaker players and be exempt for 2020. Note that the 23rd exemption from the KF tour generally stinks and results in limited starts once January comes around. This player would need to play well in the fall events to move up in the reshuffle.

> @c7015 said:

> > @iteachgolf said:

> > > @c7015 said:

> > > Eurro vs KF could make for an interesting debate.

> > >

> > > Assuming the goal is to get to the Big Show what tour is more lucrative.

> > >

> > >

> >

> > Euro by a landslide. It’s not even close. Top 50 in OWGR gets you into 12-16 PGA Tour events a year without being a member. Way easier to get top 50 and the money is about 8x greater in Europe

>

> So is it just the distance, why don't more people go the ET route to get their PGA card?

> @golfandfishing said:

> There isn’t a direct route to a PGA Tour card from the ET. Finishing, say 23rd in their money list won’t get you any pga tour status. You might get some sponsor exemptions and into a major or two but you would need to earn equivalent FedEx points to become a temporary member then exempt the following year. So finish high enough in 2019 to become a notable in 2020, play a limited schedule and if successful a pga tour member in 2021. Or play the KF tour in 2019, finish 23rd on their money list against weaker players and be exempt for 2020. Note that the 23rd exemption from the KF tour generally stinks and results in limited starts once January comes around. This player would need to play well in the fall events to move up in the reshuffle.

>

>

>

> > @c7015 said:

> > > @iteachgolf said:

> > > > @c7015 said:

> > > > Eurro vs KF could make for an interesting debate.

> > > >

> > > > Assuming the goal is to get to the Big Show what tour is more lucrative.

> > > >

> > > >

> > >

> > > Euro by a landslide. It’s not even close. Top 50 in OWGR gets you into 12-16 PGA Tour events a year without being a member. Way easier to get top 50 and the money is about 8x greater in Europe

> >

> > So is it just the distance, why don't more people go the ET route to get their PGA card?

>

>

And 23rd on Euro money list is about $2,000,000 vs $200,000 on KF Tour.

The Euro Tour has appearance money is you're a big enough name.

> @cdnglf said:

> > @MaddMaxx said:

> > > @cdnglf said:

> > > A couple big ones you’re missing are the Japan Tour and Euro Challenge. There are more than a dozen in total recognized by the OWGR, including the Australian Tour, the South African tour, etc

> > >

> > > I agree with your ranking on the first two; beyond that I don’t know.

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> >

> > > @jdl said:

> > > What are you ranking? The quality of play? Prize money? Path to one of the major tours?

> > >

> > > I found out about a tour I had never heard of this year - the [Alps Tour](https://alpstourgolf.com/ "Alps Tour").

> >

> > I was actually trying to determine an approximate rank of the players on the Mac Kenzie tour.

>

> This might help:

> http://www.owgr.com/about

Thanks for the link. Very interesting and so many tours I have never heard of.

> @c7015 said:

> Eurro vs KF could make for an interesting debate.

>

> Assuming the goal is to get to the Big Show what tour is more lucrative.

>

>

Anyone would think you Yanks had just won the Ryder Cup? Whilst the PGA is indeed above the European Tour, the gap isn't a tenth as significant than European > Korn Ferry or whatever stupid name it has

> @Foreputts said:

> > @c7015 said:

> > Eurro vs KF could make for an interesting debate.

> >

> > Assuming the goal is to get to the Big Show what tour is more lucrative.

> >

> >

> Anyone would think you Yanks had just won the Ryder Cup? Whilst the PGA is indeed above the European Tour, the gap isn't a tenth as significant than European > Korn Ferry or whatever stupid name it has

>

>

While that is indeed true, also true that I am a fan of the European Tour, the Korn Ferry may streamline players into the PGA Tour more than the European Tour would. Now, that has nothing to do with the quality of play, or courses, or OWGR, or money.

Or even the Ryder Cup.

Was more the original poster's 'Big Show' comment that ticked me off a little> @Vindog said:

> > @Foreputts said:

> > > @c7015 said:

> > > Eurro vs KF could make for an interesting debate.

> > >

> > > Assuming the goal is to get to the Big Show what tour is more lucrative.

> > >

> > >

> > Anyone would think you Yanks had just won the Ryder Cup? Whilst the PGA is indeed above the European Tour, the gap isn't a tenth as significant than European > Korn Ferry or whatever stupid name it has

> >

> >

> While that is indeed true, also true that I am a fan of the European Tour, the Korn Ferry may streamline players into the PGA Tour more than the European Tour would. Now, that has nothing to do with the quality of play, or courses, or OWGR, or money.

>

> Or even the Ryder Cup.

> @Foreputts said:

> Was more the original poster's 'Big Show' comment that ticked me off a little> @Vindog said:

> > > @Foreputts said:

> > > > @c7015 said:

> > > > Eurro vs KF could make for an interesting debate.

> > > >

> > > > Assuming the goal is to get to the Big Show what tour is more lucrative.

> > > >

> > > >

> > > Anyone would think you Yanks had just won the Ryder Cup? Whilst the PGA is indeed above the European Tour, the gap isn't a tenth as significant than European > Korn Ferry or whatever stupid name it has

> > >

> > >

> > While that is indeed true, also true that I am a fan of the European Tour, the Korn Ferry may streamline players into the PGA Tour more than the European Tour would. Now, that has nothing to do with the quality of play, or courses, or OWGR, or money.

> >

> > Or even the Ryder Cup.

>

It's a term derived from the baseball system in the USA. Big Show is the Major Leagues; minor leagues are not the Big Show.

The Euro tour is definitely second, but I don't think anyone on the planet would argue that it's bigger than, or equal to, the PGA Tour. I think that's why people call the PGA Tour the Big Show, or The Show. I don't view the term as a zero-sum slight at the Euro Tour, which, I agree is closer to the quality of the PGA Tour than some think, but not quite there.

The OWGR gap from the noted expert on the internet Nosferatu

In other words, throw out the majors and WGCs and the Euro Tour awards 60% the OWGR points that the PGA Tour does.

He also has the $$$$$ breakdown from 2018

Great info.

Nosferatu needs to work on his chart skills a bit. Starting the y-axis at 5000 makes Edward Tufte cry.

Darth, I'm not sure how to look at that data. Does the Euro Tour get fewer OGWR points because the fields are weaker overall, or are the fields only "weaker" overall because the Euro Tour gets fewer OGWR points?

Either way, the third graph speaks volumes regarding why a lot of people call the PGA Tour "The Big Show."

> @golfandfishing said:

> There isn’t a direct route to a PGA Tour card from the ET. Finishing, say 23rd in their money list won’t get you any pga tour status. You might get some sponsor exemptions and into a major or two but you would need to earn equivalent FedEx points to become a temporary member then exempt the following year. So finish high enough in 2019 to become a notable in 2020, play a limited schedule and if successful a pga tour member in 2021. Or play the KF tour in 2019, finish 23rd on their money list against weaker players and be exempt for 2020. Note that the 23rd exemption from the KF tour generally stinks and results in limited starts once January comes around. This player would need to play well in the fall events to move up in the reshuffle.

>

>

>

> > @c7015 said:

> > > @iteachgolf said:

> > > > @c7015 said:

> > > > Eurro vs KF could make for an interesting debate.

> > > >

> > > > Assuming the goal is to get to the Big Show what tour is more lucrative.

> > > >

> > > >

> > >

> > > Euro by a landslide. It’s not even close. Top 50 in OWGR gets you into 12-16 PGA Tour events a year without being a member. Way easier to get top 50 and the money is about 8x greater in Europe

> >

> > So is it just the distance, why don't more people go the ET route to get their PGA card?

>

>

Triggering my initial statement that with the context of making it to the big show (PGA Tour) you could argue that the KF is the more lucrative tour as it has more potential to get to the PGA Tour > @Foreputts said:

> > @c7015 said:

> > Eurro vs KF could make for an interesting debate.

> >

> > Assuming the goal is to get to the Big Show what tour is more lucrative.

> >

> >

> Anyone would think you Yanks had just won the Ryder Cup? Whilst the PGA is indeed above the European Tour, the gap isn't a tenth as significant than European > Korn Ferry or whatever stupid name it has

>

>

no offence intended I just mean in terms of $$ made you could make the argument if that is the end goal to make the PGA because it's going to give you the most comfortable life would you prioritize the KF tour because its the "easier path"

> @"Ashley Schaeffer" said:

> Darth, I'm not sure how to look at that data. Does the Euro Tour get fewer OGWR points because the fields are weaker overall, or are the fields only "weaker" overall because the Euro Tour gets fewer OGWR points?

>

> Either way, the third graph speaks volumes regarding why a lot of people call the PGA Tour "The Big Show."

The first

The US PGA Tour and the Euro Tour get the same minimum amount of OWGR points at stake for each of their regular events, 24 for first place and less points on down. It doesn't matter how weak the field is. (looking at you Shot Clock Masters) Then it is just a matter of who shows up. The more players in the world top 200 that show up for an event (the World Rating) the higher the OWGR value of the tournament. If Rory, Francesco, Rose and friends played 15 times a year in Europe, the gap between the tours would shrink dramatically. The gap between European and American players is much smaller than the gap between the two tours.

The minimum amount for events actually keeps the OWGR value of the Euro Tour closer to the US PGA Tour than it should. In 2018 there were 20 European events that offered 24 first place points. The US Tour only had six such events. The US Tour's 20th worst event in 2018 was the Sony Open in Hawaii with a SoF of 311 and offering 48 first place points. Those values are about the same as this week's Irish Open and the rest of the European Tour's Rolex Series.

The best route to the PGA Tour, as Tiger, Phil, Jordan and a few others right up to Matthew Wolff have shown us, is to play the PGA Tour.