Fifteen more tour cards are officially on the line as PGA Tour University unveiled its first ranking for the Class of 2022.
Topping the list is Texas standout Pierceson Coody, who holds about a 67-average-point lead on second-ranked Sam Bennett of Texas A&M. Coody is one of three Longhorns in the top 25, joined by No. 7 Cole Hammer and No. 23 Parker Coody, Pierceson’s twin.
In last season’s inaugural class, Florida State’s John Pak, Georgia’s Davis Thompson, Arizona State’s Kevin Yu, Oklahoma State’s Austin Eckroat and Oklahoma’s Garett Reband all earned Korn Ferry Tour cards by finishing in the top five. Reband was the only one of those players who began the season ranked outside the top five, as he passed Texas Tech’s Sandy Scott, who didn’t compete for the majority of last season because of a wrist injury and took a medical redshirt.
Scott is back in the PGA Tour U mix this season and debuts at ninth in the rankings. Scott’s ranking period will not include last season, and will begin with Week 24/2019 and end Week 23/2020 before picking up Week 24/2021 through May 30, 2022, the final day of stroke play at the NCAA Championship. All non-medical-redshirt players will have points pulled beginning Week 24/2020 through this coming spring’s NCAA stroke play.
Some other notable announcements for the Class of 2022:
- There is a new minimum divisor of 18, which will be applied this April.
- Players must have played at least five eligible events from Week 24/2020 to Week 23/2021 to be in this class’ ranking.
As was the case in Year 1, the top five players at the end of this season will earn KFT cards and be exempt into the final stage of KFT Q-School. Players finishing Nos. 6-15 will have the option of membership on one of the Tour’s international tours, plus they will be exempt into second stage of KFT Q-School. Players who finish in the top 15 cannot use their COVID year to re-enter the PGA Tour U program. However, players have the option of opting out and re-classifying by a certain date in the spring.
Here is a look at the first Class of 2022 ranking:
1. Pierceson Coody, Texas
Events: 11
Points average: 1,322.787
Junior year highlights: Coody posted eight top-10s in 11 starts, including a victory and four other top-3 finishes. Two of his top-10s came at conference and regionals, though Coody was forced to withdraw with illness after one round of the NCAA Championship. He recently qualified for the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and prior to that missed the cut in his PGA Tour debut at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
2. Sam Bennett, Texas A&M
Events: 11
Points average: 1,255.105
Junior year highlights: Bennett won three times last spring, including at the Cabo Collegiate, a victory that earned him a spot in the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open, where he missed the cut. The Aggies didn’t qualify for the NCAA Championship last season as a team, and Bennett finished second at regionals but missed out on a national berth, too.
3. Ryan Hall, South Carolina
Events: 11
Points average: 1,146.855
Junior year highlights: Hall finished T-13 or better with two wins in all but two of his 11 starts last season. He will also make his PGA Tour debut this week at the 3M Open on a sponsor exemption.
4. Alex Fitzpatrick, Wake Forest
Events: 8
Points average: 1,131.303
Junior year highlights: The younger brother of Matt Fitzpatrick battled a back injury last spring, but he was still able to post four top-4 finishes, including a victory at the Valspar Collegiate, which will earn him a spot in the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship this spring.
5. Eugenio Chacarra, Oklahoma State
Events: 12
Points average: 1,122.323
Junior year highlights: After transferring from Wake Forest before last season, Chacarra had eight top-10s last season, all coming in the spring. He didn’t win, but he had runner-up finishes at Timuquana and the NIT, and he placed eighth at the NCAA Championship.
NEXT 20
- 6. Logan McAllister, Oklahoma (11 events). . .1099.535
- 7. Cole Hammer, Texas (14). . .1087.142
- 8. Noah Goodwin, SMU (9). . .1077.684
- 9. Sandy Scott*, Texas Tech (6). . .1054.072
- 10. Jacob Bridgeman, Clemson (9). . .1046.629
- 11. Jackson Suber, Ole Miss (9). . .1006.236
- 12. Joe Highsmith, Pepperdine (12). . .973.418
- 13. Joey Vrzich, Pepperdine (9). . .959.439
- 14. Hugo Townsend, Boise State (8). . .915.298
- 15. Trent Phillips, Georgia (10). . .906.86
- 16. Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Illinois (10). . .900.653
- 17. Albin Bergstrom, South Florida (9). . .885.399
- 18. RJ Manke, Washington (7). . .881.611
- 19. Ford Clegg, Mississippi State (10). . .877.101
- 20. Kieran Vincent, Liberty (9). . .871.216
- 21. Aman Gupta, Oklahoma State (9). . .869.132
- 22. Sam Choi, New Mexico (8). . .862.71
- 23. Parker Coody, Texas (9). . .832.032
- 24. Soren Lind, San Francisco (9). . .831.878
- 25. Hunter Wolcott, Tennessee (11). . .830.385
*medical redshirt in 2020-21