The RSM Classic will determine the PGA Tour futures of a number of players, with some notable names in danger of losing their cards at the final FedEx Cup Fall event.
For players including Matt Wallace and Matt Kuchar, the battle to finish in the top 100 of the FedEx Cup Fall rankings continues after they made the cut at Sea Island, but for several others, there was disappointment as they failed to make it to the weekend.
One player who already knows he has lost his full PGA Tour status for next season is Justin Lower, who began the week 114th in the rankings.
Things didn’t go to plan for the player in Georgia, with rounds of 69 and 68 meaning he missed the cut by two despite his week finishing on five under.
A year ago, Lower would still have had a good chance of retaining his card despite that disappointment. That’s because, until this season, anywhere in the top 125 of the FedEx Cup Fall standings was enough to earn full playing privileges for the following season.
That’s no longer the case, and to say Lower is displeased about the decision to raise the threshold by 25 would be an understatement.
Following the second round, Lower was asked to describe what was going through his mind
“I don't know," he said. "I'm just pretty p***** off, to be honest. I don't really have anything else to say. Anything I seem to say or anytime I speak my mind, people tend to not like it, so I'm just not going to say a whole lot.”
That may have been the intention at the start, but in fact, Lower was just getting started, with his thoughts quickly turning to the controversial change that leaves his PGA Tour career in tatters.
He added: “There's a whole lot I could say about the changes and everything, but obviously in the situation I'm in, I feel threatened by that, which I totally get. I totally get the need for the changes. 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.”
Despite Lower’s grievances, he admitted his form hasn’t been good enough this year, saying: “But obviously I had a s***** year. I mean, I missed a lot of cuts, I missed a lot of cuts by a shot. I shot 27 over at the US Open for two days.
“Like, did I have my best stuff this year? Absolutely not. But I worked my ass off this fall and to come up this short, it sucks."
Lower needs to finish in the top 125 of the rankings to secure conditional status for next season, while he could yet earn his full PGA Tour card via Q-School. However, he admitted his future is far from certain.
He added: “My life is about to change dramatically in about like three, four months. I have twins on the way. I have no idea what to expect. So that's really all I'm thinking about right now along with how I can improve in the game of golf and how I can prolong my career.
“But I'm, as far as - I don't know what the future holds for me. We'll see. I don't think anyone knows what the categories will be like next year.
"They can give projections all they want, but you have no idea what's going to happen. Hopefully I just get to take advantage of the starts when I get them.”
Lower who finished 69th on the standings in 2024, concluded: "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. I don't know what to do, I don't know what to say. I need to figure out how to get better."
