Lot on the line as the 2022-23 season comes to an end this week a RSM Classic
SIMONS ISLAND, GEORGIA: The 2022-23 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. For the first time, the top 125 for the following PGA TOUR season will be finalized at The RSM Classic, among other competitive consequences set to be determined at week’s end – including The Next 10, DP World Tour Top 10, and 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 seven featuring winner’s benefits – a two-year PGA TOUR exemption, 500 FedExCup points, and invitations to The Sentry, THE PLAYERS Championship, Masters Tournament and PGA Championship in 2024 – as well as the opportunity for players to lock up or improve positions in the priority ranking for the 2024 FedExCup Season. Players who finished Nos. 1-50 through the FedExCup Playoffs locked their position in the FedExCup, earned full exempt status for 2024 and qualified for all eight Signature Events in 2024. All players ranked No. 51 and beyond carried FedExCup points and continued to accumulate points through the FedExCup Fall.
Concurrently, the DP World Tour Championship, the final event in the 2023 Race to Dubai, will be played Thursday-Sunday at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai. As part of the Strategic Alliance with the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour, the top 10 players, not otherwise exempt, in the final 2023 Race to Dubai Rankings will earn PGA TOUR cards for the first time, earning dual membership on both Tours in 2024.
With 30 TOUR cards already awarded from the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Season, which concluded in October, the last opportunity for PGA TOUR membership after The RSM Classic is the Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, at which the final TOUR cards will be distributed to the top five players (and ties). Contested in December, Q-School is a direct pathway to the TOUR for the first time in over a decade.
A look at what is on the line this week:
Top 125
The RSM Classic, the 54th and final event of the 2022-23 PGA TOUR Season, is the last opportunity for players to secure top-125 status, which gives players access to all Full-Field Events and THE PLAYERS Championship next season. Nos. 126-150 will earn conditional status, unless otherwise exempt.
All 20 players from Nos. 121-140 in the FedExCup Fall standings entering the week are in the field: Doug Ghim (No. 121), Nico Echavarria (122), Troy Merritt (123), Andrew Novak (124), Carl Yuan (125), Henrik Norlander (126), Maverick McNealy (127), Ryan Moore (128), C.T. Pan (129), Patton Kizzire (130), Ryan Palmer (131), Zecheng Dou (132), Scott Piercy (133), Kramer Hickok (134), Cameron Champ (135), Austin Smotherman (136), MJ Daffue (137), Adam Long (138), Jimmy Walker (139) and Harrison Endycott (140).
Non-members can earn PGA TOUR cards for 2024 with a win or by finishing the season with as many or more points as No. 125 in the FedExCup Fall standings, currently 437 (Carl Yuan). Special Temporary Members Nicolai Hojgaard and Min Woo Lee, who are competing at the DP World Tour Championship, will earn PGA TOUR membership for next season via non-member points. Fellow Special Temporary Members Ryan Gerard (112 points shy of No. 125) and Peter Kuest (155 points), who are in The RSM Classic field, are among those attempting to equal or better No. 125.
The Next 10
New in 2024, The Next 10 is an eligibility pathway to earn access into Signature Events (outside of The Sentry), 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 Next 10 for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational. Signature Events are limited-field tournaments with increased prize money and FedExCup points, and include players who finished in the top 50 in the 2022-23 FedExCup standings, with remaining spots determined by players who play their best in the weeks leading up to the next Signature Event (The Next 10, The Swing 5).
Nine of the 10 players currently in position for one of the spots in The Next 10 are in the field: Matt Kuchar (No. 52), Mackenzie Hughes (53), Ben Griffin (54), Taylor Montgomery (55), Nick Hardy (56), Alex Smalley (57), Luke List (58), J.J. Spaun (59) and Sam Ryder (60); Beau Hossler, No. 51, has secured a place in The Next 10. Seven of the players between Nos. 61-70 are in the field: Mark Hubbard (61), Stephan Jaeger (62), Thomas Detry (63), Alex Noren (64), Brandon Wu (67), Keith Mitchell (69) and Hayden Buckley (70).
