FedExCup Fall update: Joel Dahmen's cut drama crystalizes stakes at The RSM Classic

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Mark Hubbard was watching in the clubhouse and trying to soothe his frazzled nerves with a beer. (“Stress-drinking,” he called it.)

Lona Dahmen was out there with the rest of the crowd, trying to keep it together.

Geno Bonnalie stood on the green far away from his boss and marveled at how an entire season could possibly come down to one putt.

Joel Dahmen, FedExCup No. 124 and a man facing what everyone knew was a career inflection point, did not flinch. He made a 5 1/2-foot par putt on 18 to shoot 2-under 68 and make the cut on the number at The RSM Classic. In doing so, he kept alive his hopes of finishing the season in the top 125 and retaining his PGA TOUR card.

“My story’s still not done,” Dahmen said.

What was it like to know that his closest supporters, plus Rob Rashell, his longtime swing instructor, were living and dying with every shot?

“Yeah, I'm sorry for them, I'm sorry that they're feeling the way I'm feeling,” he said, ever the jokester who rocketed to fame with the Netflix docuseries “Full Swing.”

Then it hit him – the enormity of what he’d done, the love and support of his people. Wife Lona. Bestie and caddie Bonnalie. TOUR pal Hubbard. Coach Rashell.

“I know my wife has been stressed,” Dahmen said, his voice breaking as his eyes welled with tears. “I have a lot of great people around me and so it's hard on them, but it's just because they love me and they care about me.”

You could see and hear a lot in that moment. The meaning of a PGA TOUR card. The meaning of The RSM Classic, the last of eight FedExCup Fall events and the last tournament for players to salvage their year and, yes, even their career.

Dahmen is projected to move from No. 124 to 126; the top 125 will be exempt into full-field events in ’25, so he needs to do more work this weekend. He knows that.

Still, just getting to weekend, where he’ll have a chance, was enormous. He and Lona shared a long, tearful embrace as he walked to player scoring.

“You know what’s at stake,” Lona said. “I feel like I’ve been a little bit of wreck for like the past month. This week I was like, 'I surrender.' It means a lot. You know what’s on the line. I’ve seen him work so hard in the past year, and you want it to pay off.

“I’m always proud of him,” she added, “but I haven’t seen him fist pump like that in a while.”

Rashell, his coach, noted the same thing: The fist pump spoke volumes.

“It’s the worst when you’re not playing,” he said. “He hung in there all day, just pretty gritty. There was a good save on 11, another one on 13. It was as clutch as it gets.

“He hasn’t had to do that for a long time,” he added. “It was cool to see him get it done.”

Bonnalie, who became one of the most well-known caddies on TOUR thanks to the “Full Swing” exposure, was just trying to get his heart rate to go down.

“I thought he was just going to lag it up to tap-in distance,” Bonnalie said of the drama on 18. “When it rolled so far by, I was like, 'Oh my god, we can’t end it this way.' Joel’s always done really well when his back is against the wall.”

Playing in the so-called "Bubble Group," which included No. 123 Zac Blair (71, Seaside) and No. 125 Wesley Bryan (73, Plantation) who both imperiled their chances of finishing in the top 125 by missing the cut, Dahmen birdied 14 and 16 before coaxing in two pars to finish at 1-under.

Now he’ll have to keep it going on what is expected to be a calmer weekend.

“I'm hoping I play great this weekend and I hit 36 greens and I just kind of plod my way around and it's super easy,” he said, “but that's not the way golf is.

“Really proud of myself today,” he added, “but there's still work to do.”

Projected in

Daniel Berger (No. 127, projected to No. 120): The four-time PGA TOUR winner continues the climb back with a six-birdie, no-bogey 66 on the Plantation Course to reach 5-under for the tournament, just six off the lead going into the weekend.

Michael Thorbjornsen (No. 138 to No. 119): The Stanford product shot a second-round 69 and is 9-under, two off the lead. He is already exempt for next year by virtue of finishing No. 1 in PGA TOUR University, the pathway that sends top collegiate talent to the PGA TOUR.

Projected out

Joel Dahmen (No. 124 to No. 126): Dahmen had a thrilling finish, jarring a must-make par putt of 5 1/2 feet at the last to shoot 68 and make the cut on the number. That will at least give him a chance to do enough this weekend to keep his card.

Wesley Bryan (No. 125 to No. 127): The YouTube content creator came into this week enjoying an especially strong fall season, but struggled to a second-round, 3-over 73 in continued blustery conditions on the tougher of the two courses, Seaside.

Aon Next 10

Nos. 51-60 in the final FedExCup Fall standings through The RSM Classic will get into two early-season Signature Events in 2025: the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am and The Genesis Invitational. Solo leader Patrick Fishburn (64 on Plantation) is projected to move from No. 87 to No. 56. Kevin Yu, already a winner this fall, shot 68 and is at 7-under total, tied for ninth. He’s projected to move from No. 61 to 59. Nick Taylor and Justin Rose, who are not in the field, are projected to fall out of the top 60, Taylor from No. 58 to 61, Rose from No. 60 to 62.

Notables

Alex Smalley (No. 119), David Skinns (120), Sam Ryder (122), Zac Blair (123) and Wesley Bryan (125) all missed the cut and will have an agonizing weekend watching to see where they end the season in the all-important top 125. … FedExCup No. 55 Seamus Power will have to wait and see how it all plays out for the Aon Next 10 after he withdrew after making a quadruple-bogey 8 at the par-4 13th hole Friday. Power had shot an opening-round 76 and was unlikely to make the cut … Robby Shelton shot 66 on Plantation and is 4-under. Shelton started the week No. 149 and is projected to No. 145; players who finish Nos. 126-150 in the FedExCup Fall standings, not otherwise exempt, will retain conditional status for 2025 … Taylor Montgomery birdied the last two holes to shoot even-par 72 on Plantation and make the cut on the number. He’s projected to go from No. 137 to 139.