PGA Tour: Finland's maiden victory and the drama surrounding Tour cards

The PGA Tour has concluded its regular season with a memorable finale at the RSM Classic. On the Sea Island Seaside Course in Georgia, there was not only a historic maiden victory, but also a merciless battle for the coveted top 100 places in the FedExCup standings, which guarantee full eligibility for the coming season.

Here you can find the complete leaderboard of the RSM Classic.

The historic triumph: Finland's first PGA Tour champion

The beaming winner of the tournament is Sami Valimaki. The Finn, who has already recorded two second places in the last two seasons, played a commanding 4-under 66 on the final day. With a narrow one-stroke lead, Valimaki not only secured his first PGA Tour title, but also made golf history as the first Finnish player to achieve this success.

His victory is the key to a new career level: Valimaki receives a two-year Tour exemption and catapults himself into the first two $20 million signature events of 2026 by jumping to 51st place in the FedExCup standings. "It's obviously been a long road. I felt like it was a really tough year, even though I played some decent golf. To move on now and find a good rhythm in the last few tournaments feels great," said the 27-year-old, who now firmly expects to take part in the Masters.

FedEx Cup Top 100: A merciless end to the chase

However, the real drama unfolded at the top 100 threshold, which determines full eligibility to play on the PGA Tour. Here, the hopes of numerous players had to be buried on the final holes. The harsh reality: despite all the rallies on Sunday, none of the players who started outside the top 100 were able to make it into the safe zone. The top 100 before the event did not change.

The pain of 101st: the drama surrounding Hodges and Castillo

The worst hit were two players who failed in spectacular fashion: Lee Hodges and Ricky Castillo.

Lee Hodges - No. 101 in the season rankings

The American Hodges (122nd before the tournament) fought his way back to within striking distance of the top 100 with a strong performance. On the 18th hole, he only needed a Birdie putt from ten feet to secure his full PGA Tour card. However, the ball missed the hole by a hair's breadth. Hodges finished the season in 101st place - beaten by the equivalent of just two points in the overall standings.

"I made so many long putts today. To blame it [the missed putt on hole 18] is unfair to my putter," said Hodges, who was self-critical in accepting his defeat: "I am where I am because of my golf, nobody else got me there."

Ricky Castillo - Catching up without a happy ending

Rookie Ricky Castillo (135th place) was hit even harder. He started a furious race to catch up on Sunday with an 8-under 62 and was temporarily in a shared second place - which would have secured him a PGA Tour card.

But the dream was shattered with the performance of Max McGreevy. He sank a decisive 30-foot Birdie Putt on the 18th hole. McGreevy thus moved into sole second place and pushed Castillo down to third place. This was no longer enough for Castillo: he finished the season in 102nd place and must now take the route via the Q-School Final Stage.

McGreevy's coup ousts Jordan Spieth

Max McGreevy, who buried Castillo's hopes with his Putt, was the lucky man on the day. Not only did he play the deciding round, but his second place in the FedExCup standings saw him climb to 60th place, securing him a place in the first two signature events of the new year - an unexpected bonus.

His success had a prominent side effect: he ousted superstar Jordan Spieth (61st place), who had not played in the fall, from this elite group. Spieth will now probably have to rely on sponsor invitations for the first high-paying tournaments.

The bitter farewells of prominent names

In addition to Hodges and Castillo, several long-standing PGA Tour greats also missed the top 100 mark. They fall into the conditional status category, which means severely limited starting opportunities and will force some to focus on the Korn Ferry Tour. Prominent players who lost the full card include:

• Matt Kuchar (118th)
• Doug Ghim (113th place)
• Joel Dahmen (122nd place)
• Brandt Snedeker (126th place)
• Zach Johnson (141st place)

Two German pros stay, two have to go

Two German pros also failed to make it into the top 100 of the season rankings. Jeremy Paul loses the Tour card he only won last year in his rookie season on the PGA Tour. As 135th in the FedEx Cup, he will have to return to the Korn Ferry Tour next season unless he manages to improve his category via Qualifying School. The same applies to Thomas Rosenmüller, who also failed to defend his status in 151st place.

Matti Schmid and Stephan Jäger, on the other hand, will continue to hunt for titles on the PGA Tour in the 2026 season. In 66th and 68th place respectively, the duo narrowly missed out on qualifying for the highly lucrative signature events, but they can still look forward to the Players Championship and full eligibility for all other regular events on the PGA Tour.