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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, GEORGIA | As far as escape rooms go, Sea Island is better than most.
For a week that, aside from a few Christmas lights adorning the 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 in its sense of finality, especially for those hovering around No. 100 on the FedEx Cup Fall points list with their playing futures hanging in the balance.
While the stars have long since checked out, enjoying their off-season, the backers at Sea Island Golf Club were in favor of the annual breakthrough to determine who will and will not have full tour rights next year, with the magic number dropping from 125 to 100 this year.
That’s the goal of the tour’s fall schedule, which plays in the shadow of the football season and, despite rumors to the contrary, seems somehow part of the tour’s future. The autumn events benefit communities – the RSM Classic does that brilliantly in this idyllic setting – and it’s a chance for players to save flat seasons or cement their place in 2026.
Ever since Brian Rolapp, the PGA Tour’s new CEO, started talking about “scarcity” as a central part of the tour’s new schedule going forward, the thought has arisen that what happens after the FedEx Cup playoffs could be collateral damage.
Instead, the tour has announced that both Austin, Texas, and Asheville, North Carolina, will host new fall events starting next year, suggesting new growth where some expected impending dormancy.
“We’ve obviously experienced a lot of changes in the fall. All the events in the fall have always left us wondering what’s next,” said Davis Love III, the 21-time PGA Tour winner and longtime host of tournaments at Sea Island.
“A lot of things have happened in our 16 years, 17 years of talking about the fall. But a few weeks ago I was really excited when the tour announced a tournament in Asheville in the fall. That means they’re committing to the fall and maybe not going anywhere for a while.”
The topic of change is never far away on the PGA Tour these days. With the new business model involving PGA Tour Enterprises, the initial $1.5 billion infusion from Strategic Sports Group and the arrival of Rolapp from the NFL, change is inevitable.
The question is what that change will look like. The tour doesn’t start with a blank sheet of paper and it will likely be some time before any substantial changes occur.
“Sometimes change is good. I understand that they want the best players to play together more often, and the talk about the tour possibly starting after the Super Bowl I think is a 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 will have a schedule of 20 to 22 events, with the same money and points available at each event, but that is unlikely to happen anytime soon, especially not in 2027, as he suggested.
Such drastic changes were not a topic of discussion when the PGA Tour Policy Board met with Rolapp in person at Sea Island last week. An insider said the working relationship between Rolapp and outgoing Commissioner Jay Monahan has been excellent, making for a smooth transition, but that no major schedule changes are imminent.
The tour has contracts with CBS, NBC and ESPN through 2030 and any substantial restructuring of the schedule, especially if it becomes shorter, would have a direct impact on those contracts. The creation of the two new fall events helps the tour meet these obligations while signaling interest from potential sponsors, including some willing to spend money to make their tournament a signature event.
However, there are questions about the feasibility of the tour’s traditional January start in Hawaii, especially with the 2026 Sentry event in Kapalua canceled. Sony’s long-standing sponsorship of the Honolulu event will expire after the 2026 tournament, fueling speculation that the tour may not return to the islands after next year.
“Sometimes change is good. I understand they want the best players to play together more often, and the talk about the tour possibly starting after the Super Bowl I think is a 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 tickets took place before Rolapp joined the tour and the goal is to increase the value of a full tour member. It meant that players who were ranked between 90 and 100 last week did not have the luxury of taking a week off, as they did when the magic number was 125.
For Sami Valimaki, being the first player from Finland to win on the PGA Tour meant a two-year exemption and a spot in the first two signature events next year, while the secondary drama played out behind him on the leaderboard.
The six players who competed last week, ranked between 95 and 100 on the FedEx Cup points list – Ryo Hitsasune, Thorbjørn Olesen, Danny Walker, Michael Brennan, Takumi Kanaya and Karl Vilips – ended up in exactly the same positions they started with, securing their full-time privileges next year.
Lee Hodges and Ricky Castillo finished 101 and 102 respectively, painfully close to the target they were chasing but still with the promise of plenty of starts next year, although their schedule will be chosen for them rather than the pair making their own plans.
“My agents told me if you finish in the top 111, you’re going to really like where you are,” Hodges said. “So I think 101 is okay after the bad year I had this year. So yeah, it is what it is.”
It’s the end of the 2025 PGA Tour season. Time to let it all sink in, reflect on what could have been and prepare for what’s to come.
Another sunset in another season on Sea Island.
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