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 Fowler
102. C.T. Pan
103. Vince Whaley
104. Michael Kim
105. K.H. Lee
106. Mac Meissner
107. Greyson Sigg
108. Nicolai Hojgaard
109. Matt Kuchar
110. Joe Highsmith
111. Brice Garnett
112. Chan Kim
113. Jacob Bridgeman
114. Matt McCarty
115. Ben Silverman
116. Chad Ramey
117. Nate Lashley
118. Ryan Fox
119. Chris Gotterup
120. Henrik Norlander
121. Alex Smalley
122. David Skinns
123. Sami Valimaki
124. Joel Dahmen
125. Sam Ryder
Obviously, players such as Fowler, McCarty and Gotterup have winner’s exemptions to play off for at least next season. Other like Dahmen would’ve 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.