Do the Shuffle

What is a reshuffle? 

In its simplest form, it's a reordering of players based on the points they have earned in the season to that point. 

A field on KFT (or most major tours) is built on a priority list. Any player with status is listed in order. The highest status to the lowest. There are around 250 players or so with some sort of status. To build a field the KFT goes down that list in order and see who is committed to that week's event starting at number one. 

Some players are locked into the list for the entire season, for example top 75 on KFT from the previous season. Other players are locked in for the first four, eight, or 12 starts (Q-school or PGA Tour finish the previous season). After that those players go past their number of guaranteed starts they are then subject to the reshuffle. 

The field is full once they have the number of commitments to fill the field. 

Reshuffles can move you up (and down that list) which is vital. Reshuffling in (or out) can change your season and possibly your career, especially if a player shuffles in early in the season. In other words the reshuffle is VITAL to players without full status for the season. 

On the Korn Ferry Tour reshuffles happen every four events. 

In this article we talk about four players who changed or saved their season by playing well early. Including a player who may have saved his career with a Monday Q. 

‍Neal Shipley - Shipley started the year with only the first 4 starts guaranteed based off his sponsor exemption finishes on the PGA Tour last year. Missing the first 2 cuts and opening the Panama Championship with a 1 over round, he followed it with a 7 under 63 and stayed in contention for the rest of the event until the near end. Finishing tied for 9th, Shipley has easily played his way into the rest of the season. After a stellar first season in 2024 playing in the Masters with Tiger Woods, he will look to parlay this start into a PGA Tour card.

‍Julian Suri - Suri finished the 2024 KFT season 83rd in the points while also beginning that season with conditional status. He had a 4 footer on the last hole of season stage in 2024 to advance to finals and missed. So starting the season he wasn’t sure which events he may get into. He slipped into the field late for the 2nd event of the year in the Bahamas and shot a 2nd round 66 to comfortably make the cut. Solid play on the week ended with a T-24 finish. Suri has 1 win on the DP World tour in 2017 and has risen as high as 60th in the OWGR. Injuries have set him back but over the last 16 months has shown good form. 

‍Jeremy Gandon - The Frenchman is in his 2nd season of having conditional status on the KFT. A T-50 finish at the final stage of Q school left him one shot outside the exempt mark, and with the changes to the PGA Tour and KFT wasn’t sure if he would see action in any of the first 4 events. In 2023 he managed to play his way into 7 events past the halfway mark into the season, even making it into the 2nd playoff event. But he missed at Q school and played PGA Tour Americas in 2024, finishing 35th in the points. Jeremy has had solid play around the world consisting of 

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• 2020 PGA Tour LA - 27th OOM
• 2022 PGA Tour LA - 11th OOM
• 2023 PGA Tour LA - 17th OOM (in only 8 events)
• 2023 Asian Tour status
• 2023 conditional KFT
• 2025 conditional KFT

He made the cut in the 2nd and 4th events this year, the only two starts he’s received so far with T-63 and T-49 finishes respectively. He will now have the next 4 events to accrue more points to solidify the rest of his year on the KFT.

‍Cooper Musselman - finishing T-124 at final stage meant Cooper would receive zero starts on the season based off his ranking. Luckily enough, Musselman received a highly coveted sponsor exemption into the 1st event of the year. Cooper opened with rounds of 70-67 to make the cut by 2 and change the rest of his 2025 for the better. A T-84 finish was good enough to ensure 3 of the next 4 starts and will need to play well to continue to hold his spot inside the shuffle. 

Joshua Creel - Creel won on KFT in the 2020-2021 super season and gained his PGA Tour card through the playoffs. Creel played in 22 events in 2022 PGA Tour season and only made 4 cuts and finished 216th in the Fedex Cup which dropped him back to the KFT. In the next 2 seasons on the KFT, he would finish 126th and 133rd in the points, exhausting his champion status and would begin 2025 with nothing. 

But, winning a KFT event guarantees conditional status on the KFT for the next 10 seasons. It won’t get you any starts, but if you were find your way into a KFT event via Monday qualifier or sponsor exemption and gain points, you are eligible for the next reshuffle. 

Creel went to the 2 spot qualifiers in south Florida and advanced through the first one which gained entry into the Panama Championship. Creel was inside the cut number in the 2nd round and play was called due to darkness. Not sure how much sleep he had that night with 3 holes left remaining in the morning to extend his season. He made the cut and a T-27 finish shuffles him in for at least the next 4 events.

Monday’s man

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