With just five events left on the PGA Tour’s fall schedule, Mackenzie Hughes finds himself in an unusual place.
For the first time in the past eight years, he is sitting outside the top 100 on the FedEx Cup points list. He currently resides in 118th spot and is in danger of losing full-field exempt status for next year.
Hughes needs to move inside the top 100 to ensure he can play a regular schedule in 2027. That will require some strong finishes over the remaining events. But rather than worry about his situation, he remains positive and is looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead.
“I still have five good opportunities left this fall,” he said from his home in Charlotte, N.C. “I think anyone around this game knows how fast things can turn around. You go out and win one of the fall events and all of a sudden, you’re looking at a year that you think has been a great one.”
Hughes’ season wasn’t that far off from last year. He managed two top 10s and missed eight cuts this season. In 2025, he missed 10 cuts but had four top 10s, including a runner-up playoff loss and another third-place finish. Those extra top 10s gave him enough of the points he needed to secure his status for 2026.
“This year, I haven’t had those one or two big results that you need to boost your season,” said Hughes. “But I don’t feel like I’m that far off.”
Statistically, his game improved this year in some of the most essential categories. He finished 28th in Strokes Gained: Putting, up from 82nd a year ago, and he was fifth in Strokes Gained: Around the Green, an improvement from 20th last season.
Off the tee and into the greens is where he’s still seeking improvement. To that end, he is looking for ways to shape his swing, which has never been his strong suit.
At the event in Utah last week, Hughes felt that his left arm was out of place when he was hitting his irons and woods. A minor adjustment in the position of it provided some good results. Although he missed the cut, he was still enthused and took a red-eye flight home and went directly to the simulator in his house to see if he could fine-tune it.
“Golfers are a weird bunch,” Hughes said. “I know what it feels like when I’m doing this and when I go to the course and work on this stuff, it’s giving me a lot of excitement because I’m seeing things in some golf shots that I haven’t seen in a while. Just the way it feels excites me a lot, too.”
Moving up 18 spots will take some good finishes and a bit of luck over the remaining tournaments. If he fails to do so, he will still likely get in some PGA Tour events next season, but he won’t be able to pick his schedule as easily as he has in the past. He’ll have to play whenever and wherever he gets in and he’ll need a strong finish at each one.
Getting inside the top 100 will also make it easier to be in the highest level when the new two-level series comes into play in 2028. The top 90 golfers at the end of 2027 will go to the lucrative Championship Series. Outside of that will mean playing the Challenger Series, with significantly smaller purses.
“I’ve been trying to look at the big picture,” said the native of Dundas, Ont. “No matter what happens this fall, I’m going to be okay. I’m going to have opportunities and one way or the other, there’ll be more golf tournaments to play. My job right now is to keep it right in front of me, keep it really simple and just try to play the best golf I can and have no regrets these next five weeks.”