The FedExCup Fall is officially over

For the first time, the seven-event fall stretch between the Fortinet Championship and The RSM Classic marked the culmination of a season, not the beginning of a new one. With it, a whole new batch of drama and storylines emerged.

There was the rapid ascension of young stars, the revival of some household names and the introduction of new status opportunities to the PGA TOUR.

The Five this week explores the top stories of the FedExCup Fall.

Ludvig’s arrival

You are forgiven if the name Ludvig Åberg didn’t ring a bell when the young Swede made his professional debut at the RBC Canadian Open in June.

Perhaps his eight collegiate wins, back-to-back Big 12 Conference Championship titles and numerous end-of-season awards slipped your radar. Maybe his finish at No. 1 in the PGA TOUR University Ranking did, too.

There’s no lenience anymore. Åberg has made himself impossible to ignore. In just five months since earning his PGA TOUR card and turning pro, he has amassed a season that even the most established TOUR pros would love to call their own – eight top 25s, four top 10s, a runner-up finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship and a victory at the season-ending RSM Classic. He’s made over $3 million in 11 TOUR starts (roughly $286,000 per start) and $700,000 in three DP World Tour starts (including his first professional win at the Omega European Masters).

He went from 1964th to 32nd in the Official World Golf Ranking. Oh, and he was a captain’s pick for the European Ryder Cup Team.

Not bad for a kid who was playing in the Thunderbird Collegiate eight months ago.

Momentum was building for Åberg’s rapid ascension this summer, but it began in earnest this fall. At the behest of European Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald, Åberg spent the first several weeks on the DP World Tour vying for one of the final captain’s picks on Team Europe. By the end of his time overseas, Åberg’s spot was certain. He went 2-2-0 at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, playing the same number of matches as European stalwarts Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton.

There was no resting on his laurels, either. Following Europe’s victory, Åberg played and nearly won, the Sanderson Farms Championship the next week, making the trek from Rome to Jackson, Mississippi. He was part of the five-man playoff that Luke List won with a birdie on the opening playoff hole.

While his finish in the PGA TOUR University Ranking guaranteed him TOUR starts for next season, it didn’t make him exempt from reshuffles. A bad start to 2024 and Åberg could have struggled for playing opportunities.

His finishes in the two starts following the Sanderson Farms Championship – T13 at the Shriners Children’s Open and T10 at the World Wide Technology Championship – secured improved status for 2024, vaulting him well inside the top 125.

The RSM Classic was Åberg’s official stamp that he isn’t just the future of the PGA TOUR. He is the present, too. The 24-year-old turned his first 36-hole lead into his first TOUR victory, shooting 61-61 on the weekend to tie the TOUR scoring record of 253.

He became the first PGA TOUR University graduate to win on TOUR. He is the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year. He finished second in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee behind only Scottie Scheffler.

There’s no foolproof way to set expectations for Åberg. Could he be the next Rahm or Scheffler? Is it crazy that Åberg is already a top-10 betting favorite for the Masters, despite never playing a major?

If the FedExCup Fall taught us anything, it’s that there is no question too big when it comes to Åberg.

Status intrigue

The Regular Season set the top 50 in the FedExCup. Every player that qualified for the BMW Championship guaranteed themselves full membership for 2024 and an exemption into the Signature Events.

Everything else was left to be finalized in the FedExCup Fall. That included the traditional race for the top 125, which determines who has full status for the following season.

Here’s how the bubble shook out (* marks players who have an exemption to use for 2024):

120. Nico Echavarria
121. Peter Malnati
122. Matti Schmid
123. Andrew Novak
124. Doug Ghim
125. Troy Merritt
126. Carl Yuan
127. Henrik Norlander
128. Maverick McNealy*
129. Patton Kizzire
130. C.T. Pan
131. Ryan Palmer*
132. Scott Piercy
133. Zecheng Dou
134. Cameron Champ*
135. Kramer Hickok

McNealy will earn 2024 PGA TOUR starts through a major medical exemption, which he received because he missed significant time this season due to a shoulder injury. Palmer has a top-50 career money exemption that he can use for 2024. Cameron Champ has a winner’s exemption through 2024.

Here’s a look at who moved in and out of the standings from the beginning of the FedExCup Fall to its conclusion.

IN

OUT

The Next 10 and Race to Dubai implications

The FedExCup Fall also included a pair of new status and eligibility storylines to follow: The Next 10 and Race to Dubai Ranking – PGA TOUR Eligibility ranking.

New in 2024, The Next 10 is an eligibility pathway to earn access to Signature Events (outside of The Sentry), recognizing the top 10 players, not otherwise exempt, from the FedExCup standings. Signature Events are limited-field tournaments with increased prize money and FedExCup points.

Nos. 51-60 in the final FedExCup Fall standings after The RSM Classic serve as The Next 10 for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational. Here are the 10 exempt players.

51. Mackenzie Hughes
52. Beau Hossler
53. Ludvig Åberg
54. Ben Griffin
55. Taylor Montgomery
56. Matt Kuchar
57. Nick Hardy
58. J.J. Spaun
59. Sam Ryder
60. Luke List

For the first time, PGA TOUR cards were available to the top 10 finishers on the DP World Tour’s final Race to Dubai Rankings who were not otherwise exempt. These players will be eligible for the 2024 PGA TOUR Season and have dual membership on the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour. Click the link above for more information on these 10 DP World Tour players who earned dual membership.

1. Adrian Meronk
2. Ryan Fox
3. Victor Perez
4. Thorbjørn Olesen
5. Alexander Björk
6. Sami Valimaki
7. Robert MacIntyre
8. Matthieu Pavon
9. Jorge Campillo
10. Ryo Hisatsune

Two players also secured membership on the PGA TOUR next season by way of Special Temporary Membership. Nicolai Hojgaard and Min Woo Lee spent the majority of this season as Special Temporary Members. Both players accumulated more non-member points than the No. 125 finisher in the FedExCup, which earned them full status for 2024.

Emotional moments

There’s not a week that goes by on the PGA TOUR without emotional storylines emerging. The FedExCup Fall proved an apt encapsulation of that fact.

In back-to-back weeks, van Rooyen and Villegas provided two of the most emotional moments of the season.

Van Rooyen, inspired by his terminally-ill best friend Jon Trasamar, shot a back-nine 28 to come from behind and win the World Wide Technology Championship. In his post-round interview, van Rooyen laid bare his emotions.

“Every shot out there today was for him, and when you’re playing for something bigger than winning some silly trophy, it puts things in perspective,” said van Rooyen, holding back tears.

Van Rooyen and his caddie Alex Gaugert, a fellow college teammate of Trasamar, went to visit their sick friend shortly after.

“Jon was an incredible competitor,” van Rooyen told Golf Channel following the visit. “He called me and asked me how I was doing, and he would always say, ‘I’m doing great. Things are going well.’ Meanwhile, he’s in pain, and he’s struggling. That’s the type of guy he is. His glass is always half full … just a massive heart, just a spectacular guy.”

Trasamar passed away on Nov. 11, 2023.

The following week, Villegas won the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, his first victory since 2014. It was also his first win since he and his wife, Maria, lost their daughter, Mia, to pediatric cancer in July 2020. She wasn’t yet 2.

"I'm so fortunate,” he said. “I mean, I'm so fortunate to have the life I have. This kid coming from Colombia going to the University of Florida, accomplishing the dreams playing on the PGA TOUR. Then yes, there were bumps, but that's life.

“Yes, I wish my little one was here with us,” he continued, “but she's not and she's truly in a better place after a long battle that she wasn't going to win. So, I accepted that, too.”

The following week at The RSM Classic, along with the traditional drama and emotion of the top-125 bubble, fans were introduced to Matt Atkins, who Monday qualified for the event. Atkins, 32, spent one season on the PGA TOUR in 2017-18, otherwise bouncing around the Korn Ferry Tour and mini tours throughout his pro career.

He spoke eloquently of his struggles and thoughts of quitting the game. He went on to make the cut, finish T38 and cash a $35,000 check.

“Getting into the event was an opportunity, but making the cut and making a check, we can at least pay our bills next couple months,” he said. “You know, I took a big leap of faith trusting in the Lord a couple weeks ago, and I told my wife I couldn’t have been more confident in the decision I made. We had been praying for just clarity and just direction on what to do, and discernment. This week was an unknown after I qualified, but I think the Lord has shown, 'Matt, this is where you’re supposed to be. Stop playing for yourself and for worldly things, just glorify me.'”

Among the other emotional stories was Lexi Thompson’s appearance at the Shriners Children’s Open. The LPGA star became the seventh woman to tee it up in a PGA TOUR event. Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Wie West, Suzy Whaley and Brittany Lincicome are the only other women to compete in a TOUR event in the last 70 years. She narrowly missed the cut but shot just the second sub-70 score by a woman in PGA TOUR history with a second-round 69.

“I've always wanted to be out on a PGA TOUR event and tee it up, but the biggest thing was seeing the kids out there outside the ropes,” she said. “That was the most special.”

Stars deliver

The fall produced stories in every category. There were the comebacks of Luke List, Villegas and van Rooyen. It highlighted the stories of grinders, from Eric Cole to Beau Hossler.

But it’s also been a reminder of the star power that reigns, regardless of the season.

Among the winners during the FedExCup Fall were Collin Morikawa, Tom Kim and Sahith Theegala.

All three finished inside of the top 50 of the FedExCup, leaving them with only one incentive for playing: winning.

Morikawa snapped a two-year winless drought at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Kim claimed his long-sought-after title defense at the Shriners Children’s Open. Theegala secured his breakthrough victory at the Fortinet Championship.

The big names played as advertised. Maybe it was no surprise. After all, they made the top 50 because they played the best golf of the season, so why wouldn’t that continue? There was also the freedom to come into the fall, not as the opening of another season but the continuation of an already solid year. It’s allowed them to play aggressively and push for a win.

There were even big victories for TOUR players playing on the DP World Tour. Rory McIlroy claimed his fifth Race to Dubai title, while Max Homa won the Nedbank Golf Challenge, his first DP World Tour victory.