In recent years, the RSM Classic has served as a celebration for its winners. Talor Gooch earned his first Tour win there in 2021 and went on to have a career year at LIV. Ludwig Aberg achieved success in 2023 before his ascension to become a top-10 player. And Mav McNealy did the same last fall before producing a career-best season in 2025.
If this trend continues, Sami Valimaki has good luck ahead.
Valimaki, who hails from Finland, won the 2025 edition of the RSM Classic on Sunday, closing out his victory with a four-under 66 in the final round. The victory is the first on the PGA Tour for the 27-year-old as he becomes the first ever winner from his native country.
“That’s why emotions come out,” Valimaki said. “I hope I can bring more golfers from Finland.”
Valimaki entered the day in the singles lead after rounds of 66, 62 and 65 over the first three rounds, and to earn his first victory, he needed to replicate that consistent play. Fortunately for him, he did just that. Over the course of the final 18 holes, Valimaki made five birdies and just one bogey on his way to a 4-under 66.
The win caps off a great month of the fall season, in which Valimaki finished T2 at the World Tech Championship along with another top-20 finish at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. With the victory, Valimaki not only takes home a winner’s check worth $1.26 million but also secures himself a two-year exemption that will keep him on Tour through the 2027 season.
“It’s been a long road,” Valimaki said. “I feel like it’s a really tough year even when I was playing good golf, and then to keep pushing and find some good rules in the last few tournaments, so it feels amazing.”
If he can replicate the success other RSM Classic winners have enjoyed following their victories, the best is yet to come.
