Only a couple of months ago, Vancouver’s AJ Ewart seemed like an improbable choice to make the PGA Tour. Sure he’d had a good season as a pro, finishing 15th on PGA Tour America’s points list, essentially Double A baseball to golf’s top tour. But somehow Ewart battled his way to the top of the final stage of PGA Tour qualifying school. What started as a quest to get status on the Korn Ferry Tour became full-time status on the PGA Tour for Ewart, 26.
“I had a belief that I could do it and that I was going to do it,” Ewart said in an interview only a day removed from his triumph inJacksonville, Florida, where the Q-school final was held, and the PGA Tour is based.
That win—and the success past PGA Tour winner Adam Svennson (who, like Ewart, attended Barry University on a golf scholarship) in the event where he retained his status—puts seven Canadians on the PGA Tour.
The rookies
Sudarshan Yellamaraju
The 24-year old from Mississauga, Ont. might not be a familiar face to Canadians, but he’s got tons of game. He finished 19th on the Korn Ferry Tour, getting status on the PGA Tour in the process. He won the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic a year ago to vault himself up the Korn Ferry money list and held on to narrowly get status on the PGA Tour. Born in India, his family moved to Canada when he was four. He turned pro after finishing secondary school, battling it out on mini-tours to get his status.
AJ Ewart
The winner of PGA Tour qualifying school, Ewart was long tipped as a potential Canadian success story after a strong collegiate career in Miami. He turned professional in 2023, and toiled on PGA Tour Americas, where he had two Top 5 finishes.
The stars
Corey Conners
Currently ranked 31 in the world, the Listowel native has become a money making machine, with Top 10 finishes in the Players Championship, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the British Open and the Tour Championship. All that’s missing is a few more wins and potentially a major championship. But Conners is going to get his shots this year, as his status will see him battle in all of golf’s major events.
Nick Taylor
While he’s ranked 54 in the world, it would seem that Taylor’s number belies his success in 2025. With a win at the Sony and 4th at the Memorial, Taylor’s year was more up-and-down, with missed cuts and struggles. Still, he’s a weapon with a putter, and the wins give him status and access to the game’s biggest tournaments in 2026.
Taylor Pendrith
Ranked 51 in the world, Pendrith, from Thornhill, Ont., had four Top 10 finishes in 2025, including a Top 5 finish at the PGA Championship. That seemed to be the rule of year—strong finishes or missed cuts for the big-hitter who ranked 28th in driving distance with an average of 311 yards last year. Now Pendrith has to find a way to use his length and sharp short game to contend in more majors. There’s no questioning the talent.
On the bubble
Mackenzie Hughes
Ranked 91 in the world, the newly revised PGA Tour structure puts Hughes on the bubble and needing a good start to the season. He has two wins and $20-million in career earnings, but he’s coming off a season in which he missed 10 cuts and struggled with the exception of a stretch in April and May when he finished second in the Myrtle Beach Classic, and third at the RBC Heritage. There wasn’t a lot positive for Hughes last year, but expect a renewed push in 2026.
Adam Svensson
Svensson had a miserable 2024-25 campaign, missing 16 cuts with only three Top 25 finishes. Nothing went particularly well for the Surrey, BC native, who finished 150th in strokes gained, and 173rd in putting. A second-place finish at the PGA Tour Q-School final with a great final round of 66 got Svensson his card back for 2026. Now he has to prove he’s up to the task of keeping it.