Professionals battle for career survival in the PGA Tour season finale

While the Tour Championship came to a close in August with Tommy Fleetwood taking the crown, the PGA Tour season has continued with FedEx Fall. Pros outside the top 50 in the final FedEx Cup standings have fought for career survival in six events so far.

This week’s RSM Classic represents the final FedEx event of the fall and, therefore, the final chance for pros to secure their PGA Tour status for 2026. While the stars are staying home, the stakes couldn’t be higher for most of the players in the field.

Here’s what the pros are playing for in this week’s RSM Classic.

Top 100: Complete PGA Tour Standings for 2026

The priority for most players in the RSM Classic is to finish the tournament inside the top 100 FedEx fall rankings. By doing so, they earn full PGA Tour status for the 2026 season.

This means they automatically gain entry into every regular PGA Tour event and The Players Championship in March. While players who finish 61-100 do not earn spots in the following year’s Signature Events, they can continue to play their way into those tournaments by performing well in other events for which they are eligible.

Adam Schenk became the latest pro to make the step inside the Top 100 with his first Tour win at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship last week (putting with one hand). The win moved Schenk from 134th to 61st in the FedEx fall rankings.

Schenk’s tour card is now secured through 2026, but he’ll be playing for something else in RSM, which we’ll explore below.

Here are the top 100 bubble players heading into the RSM Classic (*now ruled out for 2026): Ryo Hisatsune (95), Thorbjørn Olesen (96), Danny Walker (97), Michael Brennan (98), Takumi Kanaya (99), Karl Vilips* (100), Matt (100), Isaiah Salinda (104), David Lipsky (105), Victor Perez (108), Patrick Fishburn (109), Pierceson Coody (110)

60-51: Signature event invites

As mentioned before, Schenk and the other players in the top 100 still have a lot to play for this week: access to Signature Events.

All pros who finished the FedEx Cup Playoffs in the top 50 secured a spot in all 2026 Signature Events, which feature limited fields, giant purses and increased FedEx Cup points.

Players who finish the RSM Classic ranked 51-60 qualify for the Aon Next 10. That means they earn spots in the first two signature events of the 2026 PGA Tour season, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational in February.

Here are the 60-51 bubble players in the RSM Classic field: Chris Kirk (54), Rico Hoey (57), Nico Echavarria (62), Patrick Rodgers (63), Joe Highsmith (65), Stephan Jaeger (66), Adam Schenk (67), Mackenzie Hughes (69) and Steven Fisk.

Outside the top 100: Conditional PGA Tour status, Q-School completion

Players who finish the RSM Classic outside the top 100 in the FedEx Fall Finals have a more difficult path to secure their status. All players ranked 101-150 will have varying levels of conditional PGA Tour status for 2026, as well as full status on the Korn Ferry Tour.