The School is like this. Always like this. On the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, Asian Tour or the Alps Tour. It makes no difference. When everything ends, there are only a handful of happy players and a large majority frustrated and disappointed. There is no middle ground. Either you get the card and have a job next year, or you have to keep grinding until the next opportunity. This Sunday the PGA Tour’s ended, played at the Stadium course and Dye’s Valley course at Sawgrass. Five, only five, got the spoils. The rest, a total of 169, will have to keep waiting to have a full category in the best circuit in the world.
Among those 169, there are stories of all kinds and conditions. Some lost all hope after a bad first day, some faded as the rounds went by, some only had one bad day, but it was devastating, those whom the pressure prevented from delivering the golf they often show in practice rounds, others withdrew seeing that there was little they could do and then, as every year, there is some heart-wrenching story. The protagonist of this year’s is Ben Kohles.
He is a 35-year-old player born in Dallas. A familiar face on the PGA Tour. He has had the card for several years and has won four times on the Korn Ferry Tour. He is a seasoned golfer, with experience, but for one reason or another has never managed to establish himself in the top division consistently. Kohles was leading the tournament with 11 holes to go. That is, he was one of the five who at that moment had the card in his pocket. However, in 15 minutes everything fell apart.
Un birdie al atardecer y cinco vidas nuevas: los que se ganaron la tarjeta del PGA Tour 2026
He missed the tee shot on the 8th hole of Dye’s Valley to the trees on the right. The ball landed in an area of fallen dry leaves, a scene typical of this time of year. He had a delicate shot and wanted to prepare it carefully. The first thing he did was remove the leaves and small loose twigs surrounding the ball that were bothering him for the shot. At one point, while removing a leaf, he didn’t realise it was larger than expected and ended up moving his ball as well. Drama.
He called a referee, consulted the action, and unavoidably received a penalty stroke. It’s basic rules. There was no discussion. With the penalty and considering the ball was in a difficult situation, Kohles ended up resolving the hole with a double bogey. Suddenly, he went from first position to ninth. A direct punch to the chin, although he was still in the fight to finish in the top five.
Everything went downhill with the next shot. He hit the water on the 9th hole. Is this error a consequence of the penalty? Surely even he doesn’t know, but it seems so. He signed another double bogey and now it was devastating. He fell to 22nd place in the standings. All in 15 minutes. Just a quarter of an hour. Kohles finished with a scorecard of 75 strokes in 29th place. He misses out on the full PGA Tour card. He has a conditional category that will allow him to play some tournaments, but his home in 2026 will be the Korn Ferry Tour. That’s the school. Everything can change in a moment.
