Joel Dahmen is aware of the latest PGA Tour alterations coming down the pipe; he just figured he had more time.
Do I get a year at 125, or do I go to 100 next year? Dahmen asked a few reporters on Sunday afternoon after barely keeping his full PGA Tour card as the 124th-ranked player in the final FedExCup standings.
Dahmen was then informed that in preparation for significant eligibility changes in 2026, the PGA Tour will reduce the number of members who maintain fully exempt membership to just the top 100 players in 2025.
It goes to 100 next year? Are we confirmed on that? Dahmen asked again.
As heads nodded, Dahmen then quipped, This board stuff; I thought I had another year of freedom.
Joining Dahmen in the Nos. 101-125 zone this year were notables such as No. 101 Rickie Fowler, No. 108 Nicolai Hojgaard, No. 109 Matt Kuchar and No. 125 Sam Ryder. Here is the full list:
101. Rickie Fowler102. C.T. Pan103. Vince Whaley104. Michael Kim105. K.H. Lee106. Mac Meissner107. Greyson Sigg108. Nicolai Hojgaard109. Matt Kuchar110. Joe Highsmith111. Brice Garnett112. Chan Kim113. Jacob Bridgeman114. Matt McCarty115. Ben Silverman116. Chad Ramey117. Nate Lashley118. Ryan Fox119. Chris Gotterup120. Henrik Norlander121. Alex Smalley122. David Skinns123. Sami Valimaki124. Joel Dahmen125. Sam Ryder
Obviously, players such as Fowler, McCarty and Gotterup have winners exemptions to play off for at least next season. Other like Dahmen wouldve been resigned to conditional membership had the top-100 cutoff been in effect this year.
Ten of the aforementioned players started the season out of the reorder category as either a DP World Tour or Korn Ferry Tour graduate, and only Gotterup, as a winner, would’ve kept his card under the new rules.
Ryder is perhaps the most interesting case, as he not only was the last player to keep his full card this year, but he has now finished in the Nos. 101-125 six times in his career. That is a record in the FedExCup era, ahead of Scott Stallings and Vaughn Taylor, who each have five seasons finishing in that range.