The cut line is never kind, but it was especially brutal for several players hovering near the top 100 of the FedExCup standings at this week’s RSM Classic.
In a cruel twist, the four players closest to the bubble who aren’t already fully exempt for 2026 – No. 95 Ryo Hisatsune, No. 96 Thorbjorn Olesen, No. 97 Danny Walker and No. 99 Takumi Kanaya – all missed the cut Friday at Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Georgia.
While none of those four players are projected to drop out right now – Kanaya sits precariously at No. 100 in current projections – it’ll be an anxious weekend watching from home.
No. 98 Michael Brennan and No. 100 Karl Vilips both made the cut, but they’re already set with two-year winner’s exemptions from tournaments they won this year.
Matt Wallace and Beau Hossler, Nos. 102 and 103 coming into the week, both survived the cut and are making moves. Wallace fired a 6-under 66 on the Plantation Course to reach 9 under, while Hossler carded a 67 on the same layout to get to 7 under. They’ve each climbed a spot in the projected standings heading into Saturday, and neither has status to fall back on if they drop outside the top 110.
“Always nerve-racking to try and make a cut,” Hossler said, “but [especially] just knowing that there’s so much more needed.”
“This season’s been challenging,” Hossler added. “I feel like I’ve done some really good things. I’ve not really put four rounds together truthfully. At the end of the day, the way that the tournaments are, the point structure is you get rewarded heavily for high finishes, and once you’ve kind of finished in the middle of the pack, you don’t really get any points more or less, or certainly not difference-making points.”
Players finishing Nos. 101-110 in points receive conditional status that likely comes with starts in most open tournaments next season – a significant cutoff in its own right. Jesper Svensson, Lee Hodges and Andrew Putnam are all inside the top 13 this week and projected to move into that range. Pierceson Coody made the cut on the number at 7 under and is projected to drop a spot to No. 111, but he’s already secured his full PGA Tour card via his top-20 performance on the Korn Ferry Tour this year.
The Nos. 111-125 range also receives conditional membership with likely decent playing opportunities. Lanto Griffin, No. 123 to start the week, missed the cut and is projected to drop out, while Greyson Sigg, who fired a blistering 10-under 62 on Friday to move to T-4, is projected to jump 20 spots to No. 123. Ricky Castillo, currently T-7, is the new projected No. 125 after starting the week at No. 135.
“I think you drive yourself insane if you start looking at where you’re projected and all that,” Sigg said. “I just try and go out and do my best on every shot and see where I end up.”
