FORT WORTH, Texas – The PGA Tour is poised to end its secondary-cut experiment in exchange for a new policy that would limit the number of players who advance to the weekend to the top 65 and ties.
In March, the Tour’s policy board preliminarily approved a new measure that would reduce the cut size to the top 65 players and ties, down from the current top 70 and ties, and requested that the player advisory council (PAC) review the secondary-cut regulation, which began in 2008 and requires a 54-hole cut if 78 or more players advance to the weekend.
During its meeting this month at the Wells Fargo Championship, the PAC reviewed the new regulation and supported the new cut size as well as removing the secondary-cut rule based on the limited number of times 78 or more players advanced to the weekend.
The PAC also addressed an adjusted purse breakdown based on the proposed cut rule. The two options the council reviewed included distributing a greater percentage of the purse to the winner or allocating a higher percentage of the purse to a wider group of players. The PAC supported a greater percentage of the purse to the winner (20 percent, which is up from the current model of 18 percent).
Final approval for the new cut size is expected to occur at the next policy board meeting on June 24 at the Travelers Championship. If approved the new cut standard will go into effect for the 2019-20 season.