All gas, no brakes.
That’s been the mantra during the first two rounds of the 2025 RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort’s Seaside and Plantation courses in St. Simons Island, Georgia.
Thanks to next to no breeze, receptive greens and little rough, the field of 156 turned the tournament into a wedge and putting contest. On Friday, it was go-low-or-go-home with the cut at the FedEx Cup Fall finale coming in at 7-under 135 — the lowest 36-hole cut in relation to par of the season as well as the lowest in tournament history (previous low: 5-under 138 in 2017) and lowest on Tour since the 2024 ISCO Championship (8-under 136). A total of 73 professionals and one amateur booked a weekend tee time.
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With job security top of mind, Adam Hadwin, who entered the week No. 138 in the season-long point standings, was delighted to squeak through on the number after a delicate up and down for par at the last to shoot a bogey-free 6-under 64 at the Seaside Course. Hadwin, who has been on the cut line seemingly all season, had missed the cut at seven of his last 10 starts.
Adam Hadwin of Canada plays a shot on the fourth hole during the first round of The RSM Classic 2025 at Sea Island Resort Plantation Course on November 20, 2025 in St Simons Island, Georgia.
“I was definitely nervous coming in, it got a little sloppy the last three or four holes or so,” said Hadwin, who needs no worse than a T-2 to climb into the top 100 and is projected at No. 139. “Every point matters, every point counts. It’s an extra guy that I can jump ahead of if I do end up with nonexempt status that maybe it’s one more tournament that I get into.”
He added: “I have accepted the situation. I don’t think I’m at peace with it. I don’t want to be in this situation. It sucks. For the first time in 11 years on Tour I don’t have a place to necessarily call home next year. I’m grinding through it, figuring out a way to work through it. Like I said, I’ve accepted it, but I’ve got two more days to try and go low. Talk to me again then.”
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Another player riding the cutline was Sam Ryder, who has found himself in this position nearly every year of his career with but one exception. Ryder made the cut on the number and is projected at No. 122.
“Definitely very aware of the cut, aware of my lack of ability to get the ball to go where I want it to go consistently enough, so it was just kind of a grind,” he said.
How did it feel to know he’d have two more rounds to improve his position? “Relief,” Ryder said.“We don’t really know exactly how the schedule and the fields are going to be filled. I think it’s kind of a learning process for all of us in seeing how deep some of the fields will go. I have a feeling that guys in that category of 100 to 125 might have a good chance to get quite a bit of starts.”
One more player battling to make the weekend who got the job done was Beau Hossler, who entered the week at No. 103 and shot 5-under 67 at the Plantation Course on Friday. Hossler knows he’s going to need a big weekend to secure full status for next season. After 36 holes, no one is projected to move into the top 100.
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“It’s going to take a lot more likely than just making the cut for me to finish in the top-100,” Hossler said.
Beau Hossler of the United States plays a shot from a bunker on the ninth hole during the second round of The RSM Classic 2025 at Sea Island Resort Plantation Course on November 21, 2025 in St Simons Island, Georgia.
Not everyone as fortunate as Hadwin, Hossler and Ryder.
Lanto Griffin eagled No. 8, his second-to-last hole, but could only manage a par at the last and signed for a bogey-free 65 at the Plantation but ended up one stroke too many. He started the week at No. 122 but is projected to fall to No. 126 and miss out on conditional status. So, too, is Frankie Capan III, who is projected to drop from No. 123 to No. 128. Carson Young birdied his last two holes but his 65 at Plantation wasn’t enough to make the weekend. He’s projected to finish 130th.
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With Griffin and Capan moving out (along with Brandt Snedeker, who made the cut at 8 under), the three players improving inside the top 125 are Greyson Sigg, Seamus Power and Ricky Castillo.
Justin Lower and Joel Dahmen were both looking to advance into the top 100 but now they will be hoping to hang onto conditional status for next season after missing the cut. Lower expressed his disappointment with his play as well as with the reduction in the number of players with cards and the size of the fields starting next season.
“I totally get the need for the changes. Do I agree with them? No,” he said. “I don’t think our product is that bad to where we have to blow everything up, which is what it seems like.”
Adam Schenk, who won last week’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship, and Steven Fisk, another fall winner, were sent packing. Several top 50 players who were in the field didn’t have their best stuff either: Jacob Bridgeman, Ryan Gerard, Brian Harman and Tom Hoge had their seasons end prematurely. So, too, did past RSM Classic winner Kevin Kisner and Sahith Theegala, who remains exempt next season.
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The final two rounds will be played exclusively on the Seaside Course, where it will be critical to get off to a hot start. The first nine holes all played under par at the Seaside Course over the first two days.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: RSM Classic 2025: Who made the cut, who was sent home at PGA Tour finale
