The 2025 RSM Classic was important to many on the PGA Tour. Jonathan Bachman, Getty Images
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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, GEORGIA | As escape rooms go, Sea Island is better than most.
For a week that aside from a smattering of Christmas lights adorning palm trees looked and felt more like April than November, what the PGA Tour’s season-ending RSM Classic lacked in star power it made up for with its sense of finality, especially for those hovering around No. 100 on the FedEx Cup Fall points list, their playing futures hanging in the balance.
While the stars have long since checked out, enjoying their offseason, the rank and file were at Sea Island Golf Club for the annual push through the tape to determine who does and doesn’t have full tour privileges next year, the magic number dropping from 125 to 100 this year.
That is the purpose of the tour’s fall schedule, which plays in the shadow of football season and, despite rumors to the contrary, appears to be part of the tour’s future in some form or fashion. The fall events benefit communities – the RSM Classic does so brilliantly in this idyllic setting – and it’s a chance for players to salvage flat seasons or solidify their place in 2026.
Since new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp began talking about “scarcity” being central to the reimagined tour schedule going forward, there was a thought that what happens after the FedEx Cup playoffs could be collateral damage.
Instead, the tour has announced both Austin, Texas, and Asheville, North Carolina, will host new fall events starting next year, suggesting there is new growth where some expected an impending dormancy.
“We’ve gone through a lot of changes in the fall obviously. All the fall events have always been wondering what’s next,” said Davis Love III, the 21-time PGA Tour winner and longtime tournament host at Sea Island.
“All kinds of things have happened in our 16 years, 17 years of talking about being in the fall. But I was very excited a few weeks ago when the tour announced a tournament at Asheville in the fall. That means they’re committed to the fall and maybe not going anywhere for a while.”
The subject of change is never far away on the PGA Tour these days. With the new business model involving PGA Tour Enterprises, the initial infusion of $1.5 billion from the Strategic Sports Group and Rolapp’s arrival from the NFL, change is inevitable.
The question is what that change will look like. The tour is not starting with a blank piece of paper and it is likely to be a while before any substantial changes happen.
“Sometimes change is good. I get that they want all the best players playing together more often, and the talk of the tour potentially starting after the Super Bowl I think is a pretty good thing because we can’t really compete with football. So we’ll see, we’ll see where it goes.” – Harris English
Harris English said last week that he has heard the tour may go to a 20- to 22-event schedule with every event having the same money and points available but that isn’t likely to happen any time soon, certainly not by 2027 as he suggested.
Such drastic changes were not a topic of conversation when the PGA Tour Policy Board met in person with Rolapp at Sea Island last week. One insider said the working relationship between Rolapp and outgoing commissioner Jay Monahan has been outstanding, making for a smooth transition, but major schedule changes are not imminent.
Harris English spoke of a 20- to 22-event season for the PGA Tour. Ben Jared, PGA Tour via Getty Images
The tour has contracts with CBS, NBC and ESPN through 2030 and substantially restructuring the schedule, particularly if it shrinks, would directly impact those contracts. The creation of the two new fall events helps the tour meet those obligations while signaling the interest of potential sponsors, including some willing to spend to have their tournament become a signature event.
There are, however, questions about the viability of the tour’s traditional January start in Hawaii, especially now that the 2026 Sentry event at Kapalua has been canceled. Sony’s longtime sponsorship of the Honolulu event expires after the 2026 tournament, fueling speculation that the tour may not return to the islands after next year.
“Sometimes change is good. I get that they want all the best players playing together more often, and the talk of the tour potentially starting after the Super Bowl I think is a pretty good thing because we can’t really compete with football. So we’ll see, we’ll see where it goes,” English said.
The reduction from 125 to 100 tour cards was made before Rolapp joined the tour and the goal is to enhance the value of being a full tour member. It meant players ranked between 90 and 100 last week didn’t have the luxury of taking the week off as they did when the magic number was 125.
For Sami Valimaki, becoming the first player from Finland to win on the PGA Tour came with a two-year exemption and a spot in the first two signature events next year while the secondary drama happened behind him on the leaderboard.
The six players who entered the last week ranked 95 to 100 on the FedEx Cup points list – Ryo Hitsasune, Thorbjørn Olesen, Danny Walker, Michael Brennan, Takumi Kanaya and Karl Vilips – wound up in exactly the same positions they started, locking down their full-time privileges next year.
Lee Hodges and Ricky Castillo finished 101 and 102, respectively, agonizingly close to the goal they were chasing but still with the promise of plenty of starts next year, though their schedule will be picked for them rather than the pair making their own plans.
“My agents have been telling me if you finish inside the top 111, you’re going to really like where you are,” Hodges said. “So 101 I guess is all right after the bad year I had this year. So yeah, it is what it is.”
It is the end of the 2025 PGA Tour season. Time to let it all sink in, to think about what might have been and prepare for what’s next.
Another sunset on another season at Sea Island.
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