Things didn’t go as Justin Lower hoped.
The 36-year-old needed a big week at the RSM Classic, the last official PGA Tour event of the year. He came into the week ranked 118th in the FedEx Cup standings, with the top 100 after Sunday earning full Tour status for 2025.
Then, Lower missed the cut by two strokes at 5 under—and was wearing his heart on his sleeve afterward, with his Tour career now in jeopardy.
“I went to an NAIA school. I lost my dad and brother when I was 15,” he told reporters after Round 2, holding back tears. “For me to get four years [on Tour] out here, I don’t know what to say really. I mean, I love it out here. I love it here. I love everyone out here. I love everyone involved with the Tour.
He added: “Are there some people who piss me off? Yes, absolutely, there are. Are there some things that piss me off? There are. I’m human, I don’t know what else to do, but God, I am just so mad right now. Like, if I could just have somehow turned it around this year, but I obviously couldn’t. This game is just really hard.”
Sure, the RSM Classic doesn’t boast the top names in the world, but for the rank-and-file names, it can be the most important tournament of their lives. A chance to lock up a Tour card or potentially the end of their careers on the world’s top circuit.
“Every point matters, every point counts,” said Adam Hadwin, ranked No. 139. “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.”
"I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to say. I need to figure out how to get better."
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 21, 2025
After missing the cut @TheRSMClassic to lose his exempt status, @justinlower_1 's emotions tell his story. pic.twitter.com/4Cx4tsk2C1
Hadwin, unlike Lower, was one of several players who kept their hope alive by securing a weekend tee time—dramatically—at the RSM. The 38-year-old Canadian made an up-and-down for par from 52 feet on his final hole to make the cut on the number (the 7 under cutline ties the second-lowest in Tour history in relation to par).
However, Hadwin, unless he likely wins (Andrew Novak, already exempt, leads at 16 under), has his eyes set on conditional status, which is for those inside between Nos. 125 and 101. He’ll still be in tournaments next year, but lower on the priority list.
“I have accepted the situation,” the 2017 Valpsar Championship winner said. “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.”
Sam Ryder is also fighting for conditional status at No. 122, with the top 100 lurking from a distance. He, like Hadwin, made the cut on the number by rolling in an 8-footer for par on the last. He may still fall short of 125, but at least he controls his own destiny over the weekend.
Plus, Grayson Sigg shot 62, jumping 20 spots to No. 123, while Ricky Castillo (T7) is now No. 125 after starting the week No. 135.
“I think you drive yourself insane if you start looking at where you’re projected and all that,” Sigg said.
Closer to the 100 mark, Matt Wallace and Beau Hossler, Nos. 102 and 103, made the cut, with Wallace at 9 under and Hossler shooting 67 to get to 7 under.
A few spots ahead, No. 95 Ryo Hisatsune, No. 96 Thorbjørn Olesen, No. 97 Danny Walker and No. 99 Takumi Kanaya all missed the cut. Now, they have to hope all the cards break right this weekend to not fall out of the top 100. As does Joel Dahmen, who’s currently No. 121, with obtaining conditional status.
A year ago, though, the fully exempt threshold was 125, before the PGA Tour opted to cut 25 spots.
“I totally get the need for the changes,” Lower said. “Do I agree with them? No. I don’t think our product is that bad to where we have to blow everything up, which is what it seems like.”
But good golf takes care of everything. And there are so many shots throughout a season that could have changed a player’s fate way before the RSM Classic.
“Obviously, I had a sh---y year,” Lower said. “I mean, I missed a lot of cuts, I missed a lot of cuts by a shot. I shot 27 over at the U.S. Open for two days … but I worked my ass off this fall and to come up this short, it sucks.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Emotions Pour at PGA Tour Finale As Players’ Quests for Status in 2026 Extend and End .
