ST. SIMONS ISLAND, GEORGIA – The 2025 PGA TOUR Season comes to a conclusion this week at The RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia, marking the final event of the FedExCup Fall. As part of the PGA TOUR’s eligibility changes for the 2026 season, only the top 100 players in the FedExCup Fall standings at the conclusion of The RSM Classic will earn exempt status on TOUR for next season. Other competitive consequences set to be determined at week’s end include the Aon Next 10 for the first two Signature Events of 2026 and consideration for 2025 PGA TOUR Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year nominations.
The RSM Classic is the seventh and final official PGA TOUR event of the FedExCup Fall, all featuring winner’s benefits – a two-year PGA TOUR exemption, 500 FedExCup points, and invitations to THE PLAYERS Championship, RBC Heritage and PGA Championship in 2026 – as well as the opportunity for players to lock up or improve positions in the priority ranking for the 2026 PGA TOUR Season. Players who qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs (Top 70) in August earned exempt status for 2026 and qualified for THE PLAYERS and all Full-Field Events, while those who advanced to the BMW Championship (Nos. 1-50) qualified for all eight Signature Events in 2026. The top 50 locked their position in the FedExCup and all players ranked No. 51 and beyond continued to accumulate FedExCup points through the FedExCup Fall.
Eligibility already finalized for the 2026 season includes 20 players from the Korn Ferry Tour, which concluded in October, as well as 10 players from the 2025 Race to Dubai Rankings as determined at last week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai (DP World Tour Top 10). Following this week’s RSM Classic, the last opportunity to earn PGA TOUR membership for the 2026 season is the Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry (December 11-14), at which the final TOUR cards will be distributed to the top five players. New in 2025, there will be no ties for the top five finishers, meaning a playoff would take place to determine the five players who earn TOUR membership. Final Stage will be held at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course and Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Top 100
The RSM Classic, the final event of the 2025 PGA TOUR Season, is the last opportunity for players to secure top-100 status, which gives players access to all Full-Field Events and THE PLAYERS Championship next season. Players finishing between Nos. 101-150, unless otherwise exempt, will have conditional status and be broken into three different categories on the Priority Ranking: 101-110, 111-125 and 126-150. These three categories will have varying levels of access to Full-Field Events. Additionally, these players will be exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour.
As previously announced, any players who earned TOUR membership in 2025 through the Korn Ferry Tour or PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry and go on to lose exempt status on the PGA TOUR at the end of the 2025 season will receive exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2026, regardless of where they finish in the 2025 FedExCup Fall standings.
Players between Nos. 95-110 in the FedExCup Fall standings entering the week who are in the field: Ryo Hisatsune (No. 95), Thorbjørn Olesen (No. 96), Danny Walker (No. 97), Michael Brennan (No. 98), Takumi Kanaya (No. 99), Karl Vilips (No. 100), Matt Wallace (No. 102), Beau Hossler (No. 103), Isaiah Salinda (No. 104), David Lipsky (No. 105), Victor Perez (No. 108), Patrick Fishburn (No. 109), Pierceson Coody (No. 110). Brennan and Vilips are exempt as tournament winners.
Three players moved inside the top 100 following the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, including winner Adam Schenk (No. 134 to No. 67), Chandler Phillips (2nd/No. 139 to No. 92) and Takumi Kanaya (T3/No. 120 to No. 99). Entering the Butterfield Bermuda Championship at No. 100 in the FedExCup Fall standings, Max McGreevy finished T3 to move to No. 89.
Aon Next 10
The Aon Next 10 is an eligibility pathway to earn access into Signature Events, recognizing the top 10 players, not otherwise exempt, from the FedExCup standings. Nos. 51-60 in the final FedExCup Fall standings at the conclusion of The RSM Classic will serve as the Aon Next 10 for the first two Signature Events in 2026: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational.
Three of the 10 players currently in the Aon Next 10 are in the field: Chris Kirk (No. 54), Rico Hoey (No. 57) and Jake Knapp (No. 59).
Seven of the players between Nos. 61-70 are in the field: Nico Echavarria (No. 62), Patrick Rodgers (No. 63), Joe Highsmith (No. 65), Stephan Jaeger (No. 66), Adam Schenk (No. 67), Mackenzie Hughes (No. 69), Steven Fisk (No. 70).
Last year, Maverick McNealy won his first career PGA TOUR title at The RSM Classic and finished No. 51 in the FedExCup Fall standings, earning starts in the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational through the Aon Next 10. He finished runner-up at The Genesis Invitational, helping him stay in the Aon Next 10 for the remainder of the season. McNealy finished the year with four top-10 finishes in Signature Events, supporting a career year which saw him finish No. 23 in the FedExCup standings and reach as high as No. 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry
Players who finish outside the top 100 in the FedExCup Fall standings can earn or improve their status for 2026 through Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, with the top five players (no ties) earning PGA TOUR cards for 2026.
Exempt categories for Final Stage include the top 40 available players below No. 100 in the FedExCup Fall standings and non-members whose FedExCup points are greater than or equal to No. 150 in the FedExCup Fall standings. Players in the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking published on Monday, November 17 are also exempt for Final Stage.
Final Stage of Q-School will be contested Thursday, December 11 through Sunday, December 14 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, at Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass and Sawgrass Country Club. The top five finishers will earn TOUR cards, giving players without status an opportunity to earn or re-gain TOUR membership and players with conditional status a chance to improve their status.
Final week for consideration for PGA TOUR Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year
The RSM Classic is the final event of consideration for the Jack Nicklaus Award (Player of the Year) and Arnold Palmer Award (Rookie of the Year). Five rookies won on TOUR in 2025 – the most since 2019 – with four in the field at The RSM Classic: Michael Brennan (Bank of Utah Championship), Steven Fisk (Sanderson Farms Championship), William Mouw (ISCO Championship) and Karl Vilips (Puerto Rico Open).
The other rookie to win on TOUR in 2025 is Aldrich Potgieter (Rocket Classic). The 21-year-old South African posted three top-10s including his victory and a runner-up finish at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld where he fell in a playoff to Brian Campbell. Potgieter was the only rookie to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs and moved as high as No. 49 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Nominees for PGA TOUR Player of the Year and PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year will be announced following the season’s conclusion, with the awards presented at a later date.
DP World Tour Top 10
At last week’s DP World Tour Championship, the final event in the 2025 Race to Dubai, the top 10 players, not otherwise exempt, in the final 2025 Race to Dubai Rankings earned PGA TOUR membership via the DP World Tour Top 10:
DP WORLD TOUR TOP 10
| Rank | Player | Country |
| 1 | Marco Penge | England |
| 2 | Laurie Canter | England |
| 3 | Kristoffer Reitan | Norway |
| 4 | Adrien Saddier | France |
| 5 | Alex Noren | Sweden |
| 6 | John Parry | England |
| 7 | Haotong Li | China |
| 8 | Keita Nakajima | Japan |
| 9 | Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen | Denmark |
| 10 | Jordan Smith | England |
England’s Marco Penge finished as the No. 1 player among the 10 who earned PGA TOUR cards and received a spot in THE PLAYERS Championship in 2026. Penge also earned exemptions into the first two Signature Events of 2026 – the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational – by virtue of being the leading player in the final 2025 Race to Dubai Rankings who did not finish inside the top 50 in this season’s FedExCup.
Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen finished T3 at the DP World Tour Championship to move up to No. 9 in the DP World Tour Top 10 and claim his PGA TOUR card. Neergaard-Petersen made five starts on the PGA TOUR in 2025 and finished runner-up at the Puerto Rico Open.
About PGA TOUR
By showcasing golf’s greatest players, the PGA TOUR engages, inspires and positively impacts our fans, partners and communities worldwide.
The PGA TOUR, headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, co-sanctions tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA TOUR Americas and administers PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry and PGA TOUR University. TOUR members represent the world’s best players, hailing from 28 countries and territories. Showcasing the biggest moments in the sport with history and legacy on the line, the PGA TOUR has long-term domestic distribution partnerships for broadcast coverage on CBS, NBC and Golf Channel and video streaming service on ESPN+. Internationally, PGA TOUR coverage is available across 200+ countries and territories in 30 languages via 44 broadcast and digital partners. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations to maximize charitable giving, and to date, tournaments across all Tours have generated more than $3.93 billion.
Fans can follow the PGA TOUR via: the PGA TOUR app and PGATOUR.COM; social media channels, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram (in Spanish, Korean and Japanese), LinkedIn, TikTok, X (in English, Spanish and Japanese); the PGA TOUR Channel on Free Ad-Supported Television (FAST) platforms such as the Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, PlutoTV, Xumo, LG Channels, Tubi, Amazon’s Freevee, FireTV and Alexa devices; and WhatsApp (in English and Spanish), WeChat, Weibo, Toutiao and Douyin.