The Five: Remembering top five stories from FedExCup Fall

The 2024 PGA TOUR season is over.

It began 11 months ago with Chris Kirk’s feel-good victory at The Sentry and ended at The RSM Classic last week, where Maverick McNealy earned his breakthrough win, finding form this season after years of dealing with injury. In between there was utter dominance from Scottie Scheffler, the emergence of another bonafide major champion in Xander Schauffele and dozens of other storylines, a list too long to put here.

There is still some drama ahead in 2024. Another five golfers (and ties) from the final stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry will join the fully exempt ranks, but by and large, the scene is set for the 2025 PGA TOUR season. Before we transition to previewing what’s to come next year, let’s put a cap on the fall. Here are the top stories you should remember from the FedExCup Fall:

Big names fall on both sides of the bubble

The drama coming down the stretch of The RSM Classic has as much to do with the top of the leaderboard as what’s happening around the periphery. There’s a tournament to be won, yes, but more importantly for others, their jobs are on the line.

That’s the stakes of the top-125 bubble. Find yourself on the right side, and you’ve secured another year on TOUR. Find yourself on the wrong side, and you are promised only conditional status and a topsy-turvy season contingent on others to decide your schedule.

We had more than a few big names fighting that bubble this year, which remained murky until the final putts dropped. Of note, Joel Dahmen strung together a round that won’t soon be forgotten. Entering Sunday projected outside the top 125, Dahmen shot a clutch 6-under 64 (that included a hole-out eagle) to jump from T61 to T35 and finish No. 124.

“That’s probably the most alive I’ve felt on the golf course,” Dahmen said Sunday. “Especially the last nine holes, for sure … because I care. I think I was portrayed maybe in a TV show (Netflix’s 'Full Swing') where I didn’t care as much as people think, or I didn’t put in the time or the effort. But I have amazing people around me, my wife, my caddie Geno, my coaches, my friends; they’re just a special group of people who care about me. I really wanted to do it for them, and I wanted to keep this ride going.”

Daniel Berger was the other notable winner, jumping from No. 127 to No. 100 with his runner-up finish at The RSM Classic. Berger had just one other top 10 this year, his first season back on TOUR after an 18-month hiatus due to a back injury. He faced a similarly uncertain future, without a card for the first time since 2014.

Some notables who finished outside the top 125:

Wesley Bryan: He began the week at No. 125, in position to regain his card for the first time in three years, but the PGA TOUR winner and popular YouTuber missed the cut at The RSM Classic and dropped to No. 128.

Zac Blair: For the second time in his career, Blair finished at No. 126, the first man out. He is without fully-exempt status for the first time since 2019.

Pierceson Coody: One of the most anticipated rookies heading into the year, Coody never found his rhythm. Pierceson and his brother, Parker Coody, both finished outside the top 125 (Nos. 131 and 174, respectively) and will return to the Korn Ferry Tour.

Matt McCarty’s ascendance

Matt McCarty’s fall is a testament to how a few weeks can transform a golfer’s life. In mid-July, McCarty was ranked 22nd on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, looking at a stressful few weeks as he tried to lock up his first PGA TOUR card.

Now, he’s headed to The Sentry in January with two full years on the PGA TOUR guaranteed.

McCarty, 26, won his first Korn Ferry Tour title in late July and added two more in his next five starts to secure the Three-Victory Promotion from the Korn Ferry Tour and the top spot on that tour’s season-long points list. McCarty quickly made the most of his PGA TOUR status, winning in his second start, at the inaugural Black Desert Championship.

McCarty, who began the year ranked 430th in the world, is now No. 52, with spots in the first three majors of 2025 secure, as well as trips to THE PLAYERS and the season opener in Maui.

By winning in his third career TOUR start, he equaled the feat of Russell Henley, Seve Ballesteros and Bob Gilder. Only Garrick Higgo (second) and Jim Benepe (first) won faster.

McCarty didn’t do much the rest of the fall, missing the cut in Las Vegas and Sea Island, but that can easily be forgiven.

Luke Clanton’s emergence

Luke Clanton appeared on PGA TOUR leaderboards this summer and fall with the regularity of a top 50 player and TOUR member. He’s well on his way to becoming both, even if he left the fall with neither.

Clanton, the Florida State junior and top-ranked amateur in the world, very nearly joined Nick Dunlap as the only amateurs to win on TOUR in three decades. A missed par putt on the 18th dropped him into a tie for the lead, and McNealy clipped him by a shot with his birdie on the 72nd hole. Still, Clanton’s runner-up was his fourth top 10 in eight events and a clear signal that he is TOUR ready.

When he officially will make it is a moving target, but he’s on the precipice of earning his TOUR card through the PGA TOUR Accelerated, the program by which high-achieving freshmen, sophomores and juniors can strive to meet the 20-point threshold and earn their PGA TOUR card. Clanton picked up his 16th and 17th points this week.

He could take multiple pathways to 20. He will be a candidate for more sponsor exemptions in 2025. Any made cut is a point, as is a top 10. Any major championship start is another point, though he hasn’t yet qualified for any. Then there’s the end-of-season college awards, which Clanton is certainly in the running for. The Hogan Award, given to the best collegiate/amateur golfer, is worth three points, enough by itself to secure Clanton his card.

That makes Clanton’s situation much more a matter of when and not if. He’s certainly ready to compete on TOUR whenever that time comes.

Rafael Campos’ emotional season-saving victory

The simplest fact in pro golf is both intoxicating and maddening: Any week could be your week.

It’s what keeps those on the fringes of pro golf signed up for mini-tour events, hoping they might string enough good weeks together to be the next Eric Cole. It’s why loads of players sign up every week for Monday qualifiers, thinking they could do what Corey Conners did at the 2019 Valero Texas Open – win and jumpstart their career.

Rafael Campos provided another archetype for which many in the future will surely use as motivation that their week is just around the corner. The 36-year-old journeyman from Puerto Rico won the Butterfield Bermuda Championship – a triumph without warning. Campos had made the cut in just two of his previous 15 events and had fallen to No. 147 in the FedExCup Fall before reversing form at capturing a season-changing – and possibly career-changing – title.

“I just can't believe this is actually happening to me,” Campos said through the sobs when he was interviewed on the 18th green at Port Royal Golf Club. The win came just six days after his wife gave birth to their child.

The victory was an emotional throughline of the fall, encapsulating all that is on the line. Campos’ victory locked up his status, earned him starts in the Masters and PGA Championship, and gave him his breakthrough moment.

“I just can't believe I'm here sitting with you guys and being able to say I'm a PGA TOUR champion," he said.

Don’t forget about the DP World Tour

While the Aon Next 10 and top 125 bubbles took center stage at The RSM Classic, it wasn’t the only way golfers played their way into status for the 2025 PGA TOUR season. A week earlier, the top 10 finishers in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai, not otherwise exempt, solidified dual membership on TOUR.

Don't worry if that slipped your mind; the program is still relatively new. Last year was the first time DP World Tour players could secure TOUR status through their performance across the pond, which proved fruitful. Matthieu Pavon and Robert MacIntyre were part of the inaugural class and parlayed it into career seasons on the PGA TOUR. Four others – Victor Perez, Ryo Hisatsune, Ryan Fox and Sami Valimaki – finished in the top 125, while Thorbjørn Olesen retained his card by finishing in the DP World Tour top 10 for a second season.

So who is in the incoming class for 2025? Here’s the full list, provided they all accept their TOUR membership:

• Rasmus Højgaard
• Thriston Lawrence
• Paul Waring
• Jesper Svensson
• Niklas Norgaard
• Matteo Manassero
• Thorbjørn Olesen
• Antoine Rozner
• Rikuya Hoshino
• Tom McKibbin

Notably, Højgaard earned exemptions into THE PLAYERS Championship, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational by finishing at No. 1 on the list. Rasmus will join his twin brother Nicolai Højgaard on TOUR after Nicolai retained his card via the top 125.