Here we go. The Korn Ferry Tour will be the first pro golf circuit to start its 2026 season, doing so on Sunday in the Bahamas.
Here we go. The first pro golf tournament of 2026 tees off Sunday.
The PGA Tour would be heading to its final round of the Sentry on Jan. 9, but the Sony Open in Hawaii next week is now the lid-lifter. The DP World Tour also starts that same weekend (Jan. 15-18) and then the PGA Tour Champions and LPGA get going near the end of the month but it's the Korn Ferry Tour that has honors to be the first to tee it up in this new year.
Here's a closer look at some of the things you should know about the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season.
What is the first event on the Korn Ferry Tour schedule?
The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island kicks things off at the Ocean Club at Paradise Island. The scheduling of the tournament is a bit unusual, as it starts on Sunday, Jan. 11, and concludes on Wednesday, Jan. 14. Hank Lebioda is the defending champion.
It's actually the first of two consecutive events in the Bahamas, as the circuit stays for The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club at The Abaco Club on Winding Bay. That one also a Sunday to Wednesday format.
Who are some of the key players on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2026?
Some of the notable names in the field are 18-year-old Blades Brown, Hayden Buckley, Cameron Champ, Harry Higgs, Ryo Ishikawa, Chan Kim, Matt NeSmith, Jeff Overton, Chez Reavie, Doc Redman, Hayden Springer, Justin Suh, Brendon Todd and Camilo Villegas.
While everyone wants to win every time out, the big carrot for golfers on the Korn Ferry Tour is earning a promotion to the big leagues. This season, the top-20 finishers will earn a ticket to the 2027 PGA Tour.
Who were some of the names who were promoted to PGA Tour in 2026?
Last October, a new batch of 20 earned PGA Tour status. That was a new number as in 2024 (for the 2025 season) there were 30 promotions.
How do the Korn Ferry Tour Finals work?
This year will mark the 14th Finals on the circuit and there are four tournaments, each with a dwindling number of entries from the week before, that make up the postseason.
The Korn Ferry Tour notes that:
The reimagined system is similar to the FedEx Cup Playoffs in the sense that overall field size is reduced after each event as the series progresses. In the previous iteration of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, all participants were eligible for all events, with no field reduction between events.
| Dates | Tournament | Location | Field |
| Sept. 10-13 | Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation | Franklin, Tennessee | 156 |
| Sept. 17-20 | Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship | Columbus, Ohio | 132 |
| Oct. 1-4 | Compliance Solutions Championship | Owasso, Oklahoma | 100 |
| Oct. 8-11 | Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by Virginia’s Richmond Region | Glen Allen, Virginia | 60 |
Players can also earn a 2027 PGA Tour card with three wins during the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. Matt McCarty in 2024 was the 13th and most recent player to advance to the big leagues via the Three-Victory Promotion.
What kind of money is there to be won on the Korn Ferry Tour?
Regular-season Korn Ferry Tour events all have total prize money purses of $1 million with $180,000 going to the winner. In the four-event playoffs, the prize pool grows to $1.5 million with $270,000 headed to the winner's bank account.
In 2025, Johnny Keefer was the circuit's money leader. His season-long haul was $831,686. He was one of four golfers to win twice. Seven golfers cleared a half million dollars in earnings in 2025. The tour average was $118,737 with 90 players breaking into the six figures.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Korn Ferry Tour 2026 season starts in Bahamas. What you need to know
Category: General Sports
