Joel Dahmen needed something special to hold his PGA Tour card. event

Saturday night, not long after one catastrophic double 7 had essentially ruined his chance to remain a full-time PGA Tour member in 2025, Joel Dahmen said the mood was somber.

“Funeral effect,” he clarified.

Dahmen – the funny, fun-loving, self-deprecating 37-year-old professional – has become one of the most popular players on the PGA Tour over the past few years, but on Sunday he was in extreme danger of staying inside the top 125 IN RSM Classic at the end of the seasonwhich is what he had to do to retain full membership for 2025.

Dahmen entered week no. 124 in the FedEx Cup fall rankings, but after his late double Saturday in which he shot a 70, Dahmen was projected to finish 128th in the rankings.

That means he had to do something special on Sunday – and his run started with a pretty spectacular bang.

Dahmen shot a six-under 64, a round that included no bogeys, and an eagle from 110 yards on the par-4 13th, his fourth hole of the day. This ended a streak of three straight pars and led to three straight birdies on the 15th, 16th and 17th.

After a rollercoaster week — and season — Dahmen placed 35th at the RSM Classic and claimed 124th in the FedEx Cup standings. His tour card for next year is secured.

“When you’re behind the 8-ball like that, it kind of gives you a little bit of freedom that you have to do something big, you can’t hang out there,” Dahmen said. “It’s almost harder sometimes to stay. Like it’s harder to hold a lead, a big lead, a big lead than to be some kind of follower. I think it kind of worked in my favor.”

Dahmen said the low point Saturday came after his round, when he and his wife, Lona, were driving to pick up their son at daycare. Dahmen started thinking about what he likes about being on Tour. Not just some good pay, but the competition and the people and community they’ve become a part of. He talked about the friends they’ve made on Tour and how they love raising their kids together while doing this crazy job. He didn’t want any of this to end just yet.

As Dahmen said, he made the birds early and hung them late. He was par on his final seven holes, which included a long two-shot 72 and a 6-foot putt to tie for a 64. Sam Ryder finished 125th to secure the last spot, with Zac Blair finishing 126th as the casual man out. Those who finished from 126 to 150 have conditional status for 2025.

After his round, Dahmen and his wife hugged.

“I’m glad it was a happy hug. Being a Tour woman is not all glitz and glamour,” said Dahmen. “It is difficult. She takes care of our baby a ton when I’m on the road without them. It’s really hard on her, even weeks like we’re gone all day, like all week with these moments, she’s getting up with the baby, getting herself ready, getting the baby ready, all that stuff.

“I felt really bad for putting him through this much stress. She reminded me last night, this is what I signed up for. I’m like, no, you signed up as a really weird mini-tour player back then who was underpowered, you didn’t sign up for that. Yes, she says, ‘We’ll be fine.’ But that hug was, I thought, both ways. I thought about the tears of sadness and how it can change our lives forward and I thought about it from the other side. So I’m very happy that they were tears of joy.”