The Web.com Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. Those who are on the top 25 of the money list at year's end are given PGA Tour memberships for the next season. Since the 2013 season, the Web.com Tour has been the primary pathway for those seeking to earn their PGA Tour card. Q-School, which had previously been the primary route for qualification to the PGA Tour, has been converted as an entryway to the Web.com tour.
Announced in early 1989 by PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman, the "satellite tour" was formalized by the PGA Tour in 1990, originally named the Ben Hogan Tour, sponsored by the Ben Hogan Golf Company. The first season of 1990 had 30 events, and the typical event purse was $100,000. Late in the third year,Nike acquired the title sponsorship and it became the Nike Tour for seven seasons (1993–99); with another sponsorship change it then became the Buy.com Tour for three seasons (2000–02).
Naming rights for the tour were purchased by Nationwide Insurance and it was renamed the Nationwide Tour for 2003. In 2007 there were 32 events, one each in Australia, New Zealand, and Panama, with the remainder in the United States. The events in Australia and New Zealand were co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia. Canada and Mexico have hosted events since 2008, and Colombia hosted an event since 2010. Purses in 2010 ranged from $500,000 to $1 million, about one-tenth of the level on the PGA Tour.