The 2024 PGA Tour season concluded with the FedEx Cup Fall, which gave players the opportunity to finish in the top 125 of the standings to secure full playing rights on the PGA Tour for the following term, among other incentives.
Some players took full advantage of the eight-tournament run, which began with the Procore Championship in September, and finished with the RSM Classic.
Here are 10 of the the biggest movers – up and down – and what it means for their prospects for the 2025 season.
Matt McCarty
Matt McCarty spent the majority of 2024 on the Korn Ferry Tour, where he finished top of the points list to earn his PGA Tour card. As a result, he didn’t even appear on the circuit this season until the second FedEx Cup fall event, the Sanderson Farms Championship.
That meant he didn’t feature in the standings until the Country Club of Jackson tournament, but he took full advantage of his opportunity, most notably with victory at the Black Desert Championship.
McCarty finished the season 114th in the standings to secure full playing rights for 2025, and a spot in the PGA Tour’s flagship event, The Players Championship.
Rafael Campos
At the start of the FedEx Cup Fall, the Puerto Rican was facing a battle to achieve conditional status on the PGA Tour, which is open to those finishing between 126th and 150th.
He began it just two places above that cut-off, in 148th, but just days after the birth of his first child, he won the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, which saw him climb well within the top 125, before he finished the season 82nd in the standings - a move of 66 places.
David Lipsky
After missed cuts in the three events before the FedEx Cup Fall, few would have expected Lipsky to be one of the biggest movers upwards, and he began the stage below the cut-off needed to attain conditional status, in 165th.
However, he got off to a great start, finishing runner-up in the Procore Championship before further top-10 finishes in the World Wide Technology Championship and Butterfield Bermuda Championship propelled him 68 places to 97th for his full playing rights in 2025.
Patton Kizzire
Kizzire was 134th heading into the final stage of the season, and would have known he had work to do to ensure full status for next year’s campaign. He couldn’t have got off to a better start with victory in the Procore Championship and he finishes the season 77th in the standings having risen 57 places.
Joe Highsmith
Highsmith was facing the prospect of Q-School to retain his PGA Tour card after beginning the FedEx Cup Fall in 160th, but top-10 finishes in the Black Desert Championship and World Wide Technology Championship ensured he secured full playing privileges after finishing 110th following a jump of 50 places.
Daniel Berger
Four-time PGA Tour winner Daniel Berger began the FedEx Cup Fall below the top 125, but a T7 at the Sanderson Farms Championship set him on his way, and it got even better in the final tournament, the RSM Classic, when he finished T2 to ensure a leap of 40 places to 100th and full playing privileges safely secured for the 2025 season.
Nicolai Hojgaard
Hojgaard opted to ply his trade on the DP World Tour following the end of his pursuit of the FedEx Cup at the BMW Championship, and, having been 82nd in the standings after the Tour Championship, he could rest assured his full status on the PGA Tour for the 2025 season was as good as secure.
That has proved comfortably the case despite the Dane dropping 26 places, from 82nd to 108th.
Sami Valimaki
Valimaki would have concluded the regular season confident of full playing privileges for the 2025 season. However, after beginning the FedEx Cup Fall stage 26 places above the cut-off, he failed to find his best form, leaving him in a precarious position, before he eventually finished 123rd - just two places above the cut-off - after falling 24 places.
Brice Garnett
Garnett was 88th in the standings going into the FedEx Cup Fall, but after an underwhelming T63 at the Sanderson Farms Championship, he then missed three cuts in a row, finishing with the RSM Classic.
Despite that poor form, it wasn’t enough to threaten his place in the top 125, although he dropped 23 places to 111th.
Davis Riley
Like Garnett, Riley was already handily placed in the top 125 by the time the FedEx Cup Fall began, in 72nd. He also struggled for form at the stage, including a missed cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship, and though he dropped 18 places to 90th, it wasn’t enough to affect his status for the 2025 season.
Players In And Around The Top 125...
For some players, the FedEx Cup Fall was crucial to their their PGA Tour status regardless of whether they made big moves or not.
Alex Smalley was five place beneath 125th as the Procore Championship began, but by the end, he'd clambered to 121st to secure his full playing privileges. It was a similar story for Henrik Norlander, who began the FedEx Cup Fall 131st before finishing above the line in 120th. Greyson Sigg is another who will be breathing a sigh of relief after jumping from below the cut-off at 132nd to above it at 107th.
Going the other way was Zac Blair, who stood in the relative safety of 115th as the FedEx Cup Fall stage of the season began, before finishing just one place beneath the cut off by the end. SH Kim was even more secure at the start, in 113th, before tumbling to 130th and facing conditional status, while Pierceson Coody was another to miss out on full playing privileges despite starting the FedEx Cup Fall in 120th. He finished 131st.
In addition, Dylan Wu fell from 119th to 132nd, Kevin Tway went from 124th to 133rd and 2023 Corales Puntacana Championship winner Matt Wallace finished 134th after beginning the FedEx Cup Fall in 112th.
