Betting storylines to watch at 2025 RSM Classic - Hughes with a lot to play for

This is the last time to get it right. This is the last chance to make it our night. We got to show what we’re all about.

Now or never.

The final week of the 2025 FedEx Cup Fall has arrived, which means one last chance for players to improve their status and keep their PGA Tour cards at the RSM Classic.

Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes enters the week 69th in the FedEx Cup standings. While he already has his PGA Tour card for next season locked up, a strong finish this week could see him leap into the top 60 in points and qualify for the first two signature events in 2026 - The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am and The Genesis Invitational.

With the top 100 players in points earning their Tour Cards for 2026, we can expect to see at least a few players outside the top 100 make a push, and the paths of multiple players’ careers will swing on this one week.

However, not everyone is playing for position this week. Twelve players teeing it up currently sit inside the Top 50 in points, meaning their status on the PGA Tour and in Signature Events in 2026 has been solidified.

We also have a few young guns in this field looking to add wins to their already impressive resumes before becoming PGA Tour rookies next season. And I’ve found one guy who’s probably just happy to be here as he looks for his first Top 10 finish in a few years.

Signature Event Push

There’s money to be made in Signature Events. The fields are smaller, the purses are larger, and the broadcasts are bigger. I’ve circled two guys in this field that will need solid weeks to get their names into those opening Signature Events in 2026.

Adam Schenk enters this week on the heels of his first win on the PGA Tour, and he sits 67th in points. Schenk will need at least 60 points this week to climb into the top 60, meaning a finish of 13th or better. Watching Schenk overcome some putting demons last weekend on the road to his win has me thinking he’ll roll it out again this week and keep the momentum going.

(I was also maybe the only person in the world on him outright last week, so consider going back to a guy who’s been good to me)

As for Hughes, he’s played three times this fall, making just one cut but finishing tied for seventh the week he did.

The Canadian will need another top 10 this week if he’s going to jump into the Top 60, something he’s done four times in the seven years he’s teed it up at this event.

Last year on social media, I asked Hughes what his favourite spots were to play on Tour, and he answered with four courses - Riviera, Torrey, Pebble, Seaside. This week he needs another strong finish at Seaside to punch his ticket into Riviera and Pebble.

Bubble Boys

A much more stressful week is on the horizon for players around and outside the 100-spot in points. Finish inside the top 100 and you keep your card, don’t and who knows what status you have or what tour you’re playing on in 2026.

David Lipsky enters this event 105th in points. While sitting just five spots away from a PGA Tour card in 2026, Lipsky will still need at least 41 points (22nd) to have a chance at jumping into the Top 100.

The 37-year-old has just three top 20s in 29 starts this year, however, he finished inside the top 5 all three of those weeks. If he does that again this week, he’ll keep his tour card.

Meanwhile, Kris Ventura has very quietly put together a solid fall. After missing the cut in his first fall event, Ventura has made four straight cuts and posted a T11 at the Black Desert Championship.

Sitting 90 points out of 100th, Ventura will need at least a seventh-place finish for a chance to keep his card.

Young winners playing free

In the midst of all the chaos, we have a few young guns in this field that have secured full status on the PGA Tour for 2026 via the Korn Ferry Tour and are playing with house money this week.

Johnny Keefer won twice this season on the KFT as a rookie and became just the third player to win both the Jack Nicklaus Award as the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and the Korn Ferry Tour Rookie of the Year in the same season.

In two starts on the PGA Tour, Keefer has missed the cut both times in 2025, but he’s going to show up and contend at one of these events soon, why can’t it be this week?

Adrien Dumont De Chassart enters the week freerolling like Keefer. The 25-year-old won just two starts ago on the KFT and returns to an event where he placed 25th last year.

In an event filled with Tour pros worried about FedEx Cup points and dealing with the pressure of every shot affecting their 2026 season, these two young guys have nothing to lose. If either of them catches a hot putter (something they both did plenty of on the KFT, finishing the season eighth and 10th in putting average), I wouldn’t be surprised to see them in the mix on Sunday.

Free As a Bird

Jonathan Byrd is 179th in points. He needs a solo second to have a chance at maintaining temporary status on the PGA Tour.

He hasn’t had a top 10 since the 2022 Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but in the two fall events he’s played in this season, he’s finished T19 and T14.

In a season which has featured some stunning longshot winners, Byrd at 150-1 in the outright market would be quite the way to end it.