FedExCup Fall update: Bubble boy Wesley Bryan faces crossroads at The RSM Classic

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Wesley Bryan stood in a coastal Georgia parking lot on a crisp fall afternoon, donning a windbreaker he had converted mid-day into a near-sleeveless vest. He stood at a crossroads between the Sea Island Golf Club’s scoring area and parking lot –with a career crossroads looming this weekend.

How did Bryan maintain the energy, he was asked, to play his best golf of recent years amidst a jam-packed schedule as a YouTube creator, filming an estimated 150 videos for his “Bryan Bros Golf” channel alongside brother George while playing 18 PGA TOUR events?

Bryan considered the question. Amidst uncertainty, he found the answer.

“I honestly don’t know,” Bryan said after a 2-under opening round at The RSM Classic. “I don’t really have much of it (energy), but I mean, I just have fun with the game, the filming stuff. I feel bad for more the videographers and editors that are having to churn out all the content on quick timelines and deadlines. We just go out and play golf. It’s not as stressful as a lot of people out here make it seem.”

By treating golf as entertainment, Bryan has almost backed his way into a new opportunity on TOUR. The South Carolina native entered the 2024 season with limited TOUR status as a past champion, then finished runner-up at the Corales Puntacana Championship to earn more starts via the reshuffle, and he has caught fire during the FedExCup Fall with four top-25 finishes in his last five starts entering this week’s season finale at The RSM Classic.

Bryan entered the week at No. 125 on the FedExCup Fall standings, squarely on the bubble to earn fully exempt PGA TOUR status for 2025. Bryan, 34, hasn’t finished inside the top 125 since his rookie TOUR season in 2017 – which included a victory at the RBC Heritage – and after failing to fulfill a Medical Extension in spring 2022, he has competed on conditional status ever since. That could change Sunday afternoon.

Bryan has fully embraced the “Bryan Bros Golf” business, which has gradually become a full-time career, with 2024 highlights including a “Major Cut” video series where the brothers, along with popular creator Grant Horvat, attempt to post scores that would be enough to make the cut at iconic major-championship venues. It has meant essentially living on the road, hopscotching between TOUR events and video shoots. He’s only had “probably six practice sessions this year,” he said Thursday. He figures his golf swing has gotten “worse and worse and worse” through the years, yet he has grown in understanding and managing this game.

The result: his best TOUR run in seven years, and a legitimate opportunity to be fully exempt in 2025. Bryan wasn’t necessarily expecting it, but here he is. After opening The RSM Classic in 2-under 70 at Sea Island Golf Club’s Plantation Course, he stands T34 for the tournament and is projected to fall one spot on the FedExCup Fall standings, to No. 126. A single birdie, though, would project him to No. 121, suddenly four spots inside the bubble. (He’ll play the Seaside Course on Friday where the final two rounds will be played also.)

Bryan could need a high finish to stay inside the top 125 – or he could miss the cut and finish inside the top 125 if others struggle around the bubble. The next three days present endless permutations and possibilities, and Bryan is set to be the main character in the drama of it all.

It’s worlds away from his vision a few months ago, and he’s here for it.

“I was completely at peace, basically, being kicked off the TOUR, by my own performance of course,” Bryan said Thursday. “The way it shook out, we had a lot of stuff planned and things that we wanted to do on the YouTube side. When I started getting in tournaments, it just made scheduling and time a real problem and a challenge, but it’s been a fun year.

“Ultimately I think my focus over the last few years has been primarily on Bryan Bros stuff, and I’ve really enjoyed it, and I guess now I’ve got a new little challenge. Yes, I do want to finish inside the top 125, but at the end of the day, I see that as taking time away from my brother if I do that, and I don’t know which is better. But I’m stuck in the middle of two good situations right now.”

Projected in

• Michael Thorbjornsen (No. 138, projected to No. 77): In his first start since withdrawing from the Black Desert Championship in early October due to a knee injury, the reigning PGA TOUR University No. 1 shares The RSM Classic lead after an opening 8-under 64 at Sea Island Golf Club’s Plantation Course. Unlike players in similar spots on the FedExCup Fall standings, though, he isn’t sweating the top-125 bubble due to his ranking as PGA TOUR University No. 1, which provides exempt status through 2025.
• Dylan Wu (No. 131, projected to No. 121): The third-year TOUR member opened The RSM Classic in 4-under 68 at the Plantation Course and shares 13th place on the leaderboard. Wu, 28, stood No. 119 on the season-long race prior to the FedExCup Playoffs but has fallen outside the bubble during the FedExCup Fall.
• Adrien Dumont de Chassart (No. 142, projected to No. 124): It’s the continuation of strong play for the Belgian, who followed a T3 at last week’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship with an opening-round, 6-under 64 at the Seaside Course. The TOUR rookie stood a distant No. 175 on the FedExCup Fall standings before Bermuda and is now suddenly projected to earn exempt status for 2025.

Projected out

• Wesley Bryan (No. 125, projected to No. 126): Although Bryan stands inside the projected cut line (T34 after a 2-under 70), he’s slated to be bumped outside the top 125. The good news is just one birdie would vault him five spots to projected No. 121.
• Zac Blair (No. 123, projected to No. 127): Blair opened in even-par 72 at the Plantation Course, one stroke outside the projected cut line, and he faces a pivotal Friday on two cut lines – for the tournament, and for fully exempt status in 2025.
• Joel Dahmen (No. 124, projected to No. 128): The affable Washington native stood 2-under through eight holes Thursday but suffered a water ball en route to a double bogey at the par-5 18th, his ninth hole, and played his final nine in 1-over. It means he’s two off the cut line into a crucial Friday in his PGA TOUR career.

Aon Next 10

After the first round, Kevin Yu (Projected No. 57) and Andrew Novak (Projected No. 58) are both projected to move into the Aon Next 10 and earn spots in the two West Coast Signature Events (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational). Nick Taylor (Projected No. 61) and Justin Rose (Projected No. 62), who are both not in the field, are the two players falling outside the top 60.

Notables

Sam Ryder (even-par 72 at Plantation) is one stroke outside the projected cut line and takes the stage as the bubble boy; he entered the week at No. 122 on the FedExCup Fall and is now projected No. 125 … Kelly Kraft opened in 5-under 65 at the Seaside Course and is projected to move from No. 173 to No. 158 … Kevin Chappell, who entered at No. 155 on the FedExCup Fall, opened in 4-under 68 at Plantation and is projected No. 146 … Players who finish Nos. 126-150 on the FedExCup Fall standings, not otherwise exempt, will retain conditional status for 2025.