PGA Tour Pro Qualifications

[westerndevon]

How does handicapping work for PGA pros?

Obviously they are all scratch and playing on a level playing field yet there a lots of players consistently hitting high over par and missing the cut but a long shot

So at what point would they be deemed 'too high a handicap' to be competing at such a high level and have to be reassessed before being able to stay on tour?

[MSchott]

Aren't tour pros actually plus handicaps,generally +5-6 strokes meaning they would give a scratch golfer 5-6 strokes/round? The difference between the best and worse tour pros is pretty subtle but consistent. As this week shows, even the best like Spieth can have bad rounds. All are capable of consistently destroying the average PGA tour course, Spieth and the best players are more consistent in all parts of their games.

[ccotenj]

How does handicapping work for PGA pros? Obviously they are all scratch and playing on a level playing field yet there a lots of players consistently hitting high over par and missing the cut but a long shot So at what point would they be deemed 'too high a handicap' to be competing at such a high level and have to be reassessed before being able to stay on tour?

at the end of the year when they haven't accrued enough points/money to keep their card for the following season, they are no longer good enough to stay on the tour... it doesn't make sense to talk about handicap in relation to tour pros "staying on tour"... number 1, they don't use them, and number 2, they have a defined set of rules of who "keeps their card"...

[RandallT]

So at what point would they be deemed 'too high a handicap' to be competing at such a high level and have to be reassessed before being able to stay on tour?

http://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/pga-tour-priority-ranking.html

Professional tours all have criteria to be on that tour, but they don't look at scoring average or say "your handicap is too high."  They have qualifications like on that page link above. Here's a sample of that (it's long)

20. Top 125 on previous season’s Official Money List through the Wyndham Championship

Mike Weir

Jim Renner

Nicholas Thompson

Charlie Beljan

21. Players who finished greater than or equal to top 125 on the 2013-14 PGA TOUR Official Season FedExCup Points List or top 125 on the 2013-14 Official Season Money List through the Wyndham Championship as non-members:

Francesco Molinari

Victor Dubuisson

Jamie Donaldson

22. Major Medical Extension: If granted by the Commissioner, if not otherwise eligible, and if needed to fill the field, Special Medical Extension.

Spencer Levin

Anthony Kim

Arron Oberholser

Dudley Hart

Blake Adams

Bob Estes

Ted Potter, Jr.

Chris Couch

Troy Kelly

Briny Baird

Chez Reavie

Harrison Frazar

23. Leading Money Winner from the previous season’s Top 25 regular season players using combined money earned on the Official Web.com Tour Regular Season Money List and Web.com Tour Finals Money List , Leading Money Winner from the previous season’s Web.com Tour Finals and Three-Time Winners from previous season Web.com Tour.

Adam Hadwin

Derek Fathauer

Carlos Ortiz

24. Leading money winner from Web.com Tour medical

25. Top 10 and ties, not otherwise exempt, among professionals from the previous open tournament whose victory has official status are exempt into the next open tournament whose victory has official status.

As you can see that's just a few of the criteria (#20 through #25). If you are on the PGA Tour, and you play poorly on whole during the season, you may find yourself meeting none of those criteria, and then you'll have to drop back and find another tour where you meet their criteria- try to work your way back up.  So while nobody will look directly at scores or handicap, your overall performance obviously factors in to staying on tour.  Rough business- the guys we see year in/year out make it look easy to stay on tour.