At the PGA Tour’s season-ending RSM Classic on Sunday, some players made their PGA Tour card dreams come true, while others have fallen woefully short. Max McGreevy is fortunately among the old group, but his stellar play Sunday also caused two other professionals to lose their PGA Tour cards.
With a exhausted putt on the final hole, McGreevy earned additional status for 2026 and sent pros Ricky Castillo And Lee Hodges on more perilous career paths. After his tour, McGreevy spoke about the harsh reality that his success led to his friends’ failure.
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Here’s what you need to know.
Max McGreevy’s birdie comes with big PGA Tour reward
Starting the tournament in 89th place FedEx Fall RankingsMcGreevy first had to avoid falling out of the top 100 and thus losing his full PGA Tour status for 2026. He accomplished that with rounds of 64-67-66 over the first three days at Sea Island.
But there was still something important to play for on Sunday. If McGreevy could break into the top 60 in the fall FedEx rankings, he would earn invitations to the first two marquee events of 2026, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.
Zach Johnson
When McGreevy arrived at the par-4 18th hole on Sunday, he was six under on the day and sporting an impeccable scorecard. He needed a birdie to achieve his goal, and he got it.
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The 30-year-old pro’s approach shot left him a long 29-footer for birdie, but he drained it to shoot a 63 and finish in solo second place. The result, McGreevy’s best of the season, moved him to 60th in the fall FedEx rankings, giving him tee times for big-money events at Pebble Beach and Riviera next year.
After his round, McGreevy admitted that his clutch putt on 18 “would rank pretty high” in terms of the best putts of his career. He compared it to an 18-footer he made last season to win a Korn Ferry Tour event.
“Same kind of emotions. It’s nervousness but it’s giddy nervousness, which is what you want,” McGreevy said. “Luckily, I just managed to make a good throw and the cards fell in my favor.”
McGreevy laments knocking fellow pros out of PGA Tour Top 100
While McGreevy needed his putt on 18 to drop to get into the top 60, Castillo and Hodges needed it to miss.
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Castillo, a 24-year-old rookie, entered the week ranked 135th in the FedEx fall rankings. Then he put himself in contention before Sunday. With one round remaining, he needed to finish T2 or better to break into the top 100 and earn his full PGA Tour card for 2026.
The night before, he had determined that this would require shooting a Sunday 62. Incredibly, he did. Castillo made seven birdies on the front nine and added two more on the back to finish with an eight-under 62. At the time, that put him exactly where he needed to be, T2 with McGreevy.
But McGreevy’s birdie on 18 moved him to 22 under and second solo, demoting Castillo to a solo third place and leaving him at 102nd in the FedEx fall rankings, just short of the top 100 and a full PGA Tour card.
Lower Justin
Hodges began the tournament ranked 122nd. Playing the final round alongside McGreevy, he holed his own crucial birdie putt on 18 from just under 10 feet. If McGreevy had missed his long birdie and Hodges had made his, Hodges probably would have finished in the top 100.
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But the opposite happened, giving Lee a T4 and dropping him to 101st in the FedEx fall rankings, making him the official bubble boy.
In addition to the relief and pride McGreevy expressed during his post-round press conference at RSM, he also expressed remorse for causing Castillo and Hodges to lose their cards.
“I hate to hear that it was me who did this,” McGreevy revealed Sunday night.
He then praised Castillo.
“Great for Ricky (Castillo)… he has to go out and shoot 62 today to give himself a chance and he does. I don’t know if I’ve played with Ricky once this year, but I know how talented he is. No matter where he ends up, he’ll be back here and get more chances on the PGA Tour,” McGreevy said.
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As for Hodges, McGreevy called him a friend and revealed that he wanted Hodges to sink his birdie putt on 18, despite the competition against him.
“I’m playing alongside Lee (Hodges), who is a good friend of mine. We went out together on the PGA Tour in 2021 and I’m rooting for him to make that putt just as much as I was for myself making that putt.”
He continued, “It’s little wins and losses. Whether it was a loss to Ricky or Lee or something like that, they still both played good rounds, gave themselves that chance, and that’s all they can count on is giving themselves an opportunity and they did that. Hopefully these two guys, Ricky and Lee, can take care of business either at Q-School or next year with a few starts, that’s sure and yes, play good golf.”
As McGreevy noted, all is not lost for Castillo and Hodges. By finishing in the top 150, they automatically earn spots in the next final stage of the PGA Tour Q-School, through which they could earn their PGA Tour cards.
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Additionally, they will both receive conditional Tour status for 2026, which should allow them to play more than 20 tournaments.
The position “I hate hearing this: “A pro’s birdie causes 2 friends to lose PGA Tour cards appeared first on Golf.
