El RSM Classic, the final tournament of the season on the PGA Tour, continued this Friday in the same vein as yesterday, with unbeatable playing conditions and very low scores both on the Plantation Course and the Seaside Course, the courses where the first two rounds of the tournament were held. And once the rotation was completed, American Andrew Novak (-16) has taken the lead.
After his sensational round of 61 strokes yesterday, today he delivered a 65 on the Plantation Course to take the lead by one stroke over Michael Thorbjornsen (-15) and Patrick Rodgers (-15). A margin that could have been greater had he managed to finish off a day in which he gave a true recital. He reached his last three holes eight under par, with eight birdies without error, but closed the round with two bogeys and a birdie for a seven-under total.
Novak, who finished in 25th position in the FedEx Cup in August competing in the TOUR Championship, has no card issues as he also won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans this same season, securing playing rights until 2027. So in his first and only tournament of the FedEx Fall, he is solely looking to get back into action after three months off, fighting to close the year with his second victory… and trying to win for the first time as a father, after his wife gave birth to their first child a couple of weeks ago.
Thorbjornsen and Rodgers also have no issues with playing rights, being within the top 100 of the overall ranking, but they are fully engaged in the battle for the 51st to 60th positions that grant access to the first two designated events of 2026, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am and the Genesis Invitational. The second place they share after 36 holes would give them a direct ticket to these high-prize and extra-point tournaments.
Greyson Sigg (-14), tied fourth with Sami Valimaki (-14), is the first of the chasers who need a great result this week to retain their card. Starting the tournament in 143rd place in the FedEx Fall, not even the current position in the ranking gives him enough points to climb into the top 100, so he needs to push over the weekend. Just like Hayden Buckley (-12), Quade Cummins (-12), Andrew Putnam (-12), or Ricky Castillo (-12), in the top 10 of the tournament after completing the rotation… but still far from their goal.
The cut was set at seven under par. Just the score achieved by Beau Hossler (-7) thanks to a great birdie on his penultimate flag that will allow him to continue fighting to sneak into the top 100. Left out, among others, Sahit Theegala (-6), outside the top 100 of the FedEx Fall, but with one more year of exemption as a tournament winner, Joel Dahmen (-5), who last year saved his card precisely at Sea Island, but this time loses it… and Takumi Kanaya (-3), whose elimination is especially painful: last week in Bermuda he missed a one and a half meter putt for par in the middle of a gale. Had he holed it, he would have finished second alone and risen to 83rd in the ranking. Instead, he ended up 99th, and now he will have to wait for no one to surpass him over the weekend.
