Camilo Villegas celebrates after winning the 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship. | Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
The PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Fall comes to a close at this week’s RSM Classic in Georgia. Dozens of pros have plenty to play for.
Camilo Villegas’ victory at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship launched him up 72 spots in the FedEx Cup Fall rankings.
Before last week, Villegas sat in 147th place in the FedEx Cup Fall. But the Colombian’s exquisite ball striking helped him win his first PGA Tour event in nine years as he secured tour membership through 2025.
As for other players, only those ranked 125th and higher after the FedEx Cup Fall will receive full membership status on the PGA Tour in 2024.
Anyone ranked between 126th and 200th will receive conditional status for next season. That same group of players will also receive opportunities to play on the DP World Tour in 2024.
Amazingly, two weeks ago, before the World Wide Technologies Championship on Tiger Woods’ course in Mexico, Villegas sat in 223rd, with his future in limbo. He then finished in solo second to Erik Van Rooyen, dismissing any of those worries.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Camilo Villegas receives the trophy after winning the 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
But he now has a new objective: making the ‘Next 10.’
Players ranked between 51st and 60th in the FedEx Cup Fall will earn spots in the first two ‘Signature Events’ of the 2024 PGA Tour Schedule after The Sentry: the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.
Gaining entry into those prestigious events can change the outlook of a professional’s career—especially someone like Villegas, who has encountered difficult battles on and off the golf course for the last few years.
Alas, let’s look at the current standings:
FedEx Cup Fall Rankings:
The ‘Next 10’ — 51st-to-60th:
51. Beau Hossler
52. Matt Kuchar
53. Mackenzie Hughes
54. Ben Griffin
55. Taylor Montgomery
56. Nick Hardy
57. Alex Smalley
58. Luke List
59. J.J. Spaun
60. Sam Ryder
In the hunt for the ‘Next 10’ — 60th-to-75th:
61. Mark Hubbard
62. Stephan Jaeger
63. Thomas Detry
64. Alex Noren
65. Erik van Rooyen
66. Davis Riley
67. Brandon Wu
68. S.H. Kim
69. Keith Mitchell
70. Hayden Buckley
71. Justin Suh
72. Aaron Rai
73. Matt NeSmith
74. Sam Stevens
75. Camilo Villegas
Of all those players listed above, only Beau Hossler, van Rooyen, and S.H. Kim are not in the field at this week’s RSM Classic, the final event of the PGA Tour season. That means plenty of movement can still take place.
Perhaps no player is hotter than Villegas, who has gone solo second and first in his last two starts. Before that, the 41-year-old Colombian had made only two cuts in 2023.
But as noted above, dozens of players are fighting just to keep their PGA Tour card for next season.
FedEx Cup Fall Bubble — 116th to 125th:
116. Gary Woodland
117. Ben Martin
118. Chad Ramey
119. Peter Malnati
120. Matti Schmid
121. Doug Ghim
122. Nico Echavarria
123. Troy Merritt
124. Andrew Novak
125. Carl Yuan
The top 125 players at the end of the RSM Classic will receive PGA Tour cards for the 2024 season.
Needs Help — 126th to 135th:
126. Henrik Norlander
127. Maverick McNealy
128. Ryan Moore
129. C.T. Pan
130. Patton Kizzire
131. Ryan Palmer
132. Zecheng Dou
133. Scott Piercy
134. Kramer Hickok
135. Cameron Champ
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.