Sami Valimaki leads by two points going into the final round of the PGA Tour season finale

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Finland’s Sami Valimaki scored four straight birdies to close out the front nine en route to a 5-under 65 that gave him a two-shot lead in the RSM Classic on Saturday going into the final round of the final event of the PGA Tour season.

Much of this season finale at Sea Island is about the last chance to retain a full PGA Tour card for next year. Now it has become an opportunity for players to win their first PGA Tour title.

Valimaki was 19-under 193 and two ahead of Michael Thorbjornsen and Patrick Rodgers, each with a 68 and both Stanford alumni a generation apart.

Rodgers was the No. 1 amateur in the world when he left Stanford in 2014. Thorbjornsen was No. 1 in the PGA Tour University Rankings when he graduated in 2024.

Rodgers has played 311 tournaments on the PGA Tour with four second-place finishes, one of which was a playoff loss in 2018 at Sea Island to Charles Howell III.

“Unfortunately in this game you can’t control the outcomes,” Rodgers said. “I’m really trying my best to control the outcomes, but it’s not working. I have to be the best version of myself that I can be, try to build a really quality golf game and trust that that will give me the best chance throughout the season.”

In the group three shots behind was Zac Blair (64), who will have to win to have a chance of a place in the top 100 of the FedExCup.

Also at 16 under 196 were Andrew Novak (70) and Johnny Keefer (67), the Korn Ferry Tour player of the year, who has his card locked up for 2026 but now has a great chance to stay in the top 50 in the world and play at the Masters.

Novak teamed with Ben Griffin to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, but he has not won an individual title on the PGA Tour.

Valimaki started his big run with a shot into 12 feet for birdie on the par-3 sixth. He reached the green in two on the par-5 seventh, hit wedge to 18 inches on hole eight and hit his approach to 10 feet on the ninth.

“I haven’t had a hit this week, so when I heard the hit I knew it was going to be close,” Valimaki said.

He has two second-place finishes, both south of the border. Valimaki finished second at the Mexico Open a year ago and was second in the World Wide Technology Championship two weeks ago in Baja California, behind Griffin.

As for the race and the pressure to finish in the top 100 to get a PGA Tour card? Ireland’s Seamus Power (65) and Lee Hodges (66) were tied for seventh place and will have a reasonable chance depending on how the players ahead of them do.

Andrew Putnam is ranked No. 119. He shot 69, which looked like falling behind in just a mild wind. Putnam dropped 10 places in the rankings to a tie for 17th.