Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (My Sportsbook) - The Champions Tour announced on Thursday changes to eligibility rules starting in the 2009 season.

The top-five finishers at the 2008 National Qualifying Tournament, scheduled for November 18-21 at the TPC at Eagle Trace in Coral Springs, FL, will get full status in 2009. Finishers six through 12 get conditional cards.

Also, the number of spots available at open qualifying each week will be reduced from nine to four to provide spots for those top-five finishers from the National Qualifying Tournament.

"We are pleased to implement this change in the eligibility format for the 2009 Champions Tour season," said Mike Stevens, the President of the Champions Tour. "The credit goes to our Player Advisory Council and Player Directors who ultimately approved this change which will provide more season-long access to players who do well in our National Qualifying Tournament."

The number of unrestricted sponsor exemptions will be reduced from three to two in 2009, while restricted sponsor exemptions will go up from two to three.

One non-exempt player who finishes in the top 10 will qualify for the next event, which is down from two, and if a non-exempt player earns a top-10 finish, the number of open qualifiers is trimmed to three.

Finally, more players from the PGA Tour Career Victory Category, aside from the top four already exempt, may become eligible if less than 60 players combined from the Prior-Year and All-Time Money lists commit to that event.