ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (AP) — Matt Kuchar finished his 19th consecutive PGA Tour season in 118th place in the FedEx Cup standings. This ranking wouldn't have been enough to keep his full card in previous years, as this year the cut was lowered to the top 100 instead of the top 125. The next step for the 47-year-old Kuchar appears to be using one of his career money waivers, though the situation is more complex than it seems.
The PGA Tour has changed a lot since it joined in 2002, now featuring eight major events, four majors, the Players Championship, and three FedEx Cup Playoff events. Kuchar is ineligible for any of these events in 2026.
“I don’t know how many opportunities I’ll have,” Kuchar said after finishing the RSM Classic. “I don’t know if using an exemption will give me more opportunities. It’s complicated. It doesn’t guarantee you access to high-level events.” The uncertainty lies in whether his conditional status as the 118th seed in the FedEx Cup will allow him to participate in a similar number of tournaments as using a career money exemption. “We’re in somewhat uncharted territory,” he added. “I guess they’ve done the math, but I’m not sure how accurate their projections are.”
PGA Tour officials estimate that players ranked 101st through 110th in the FedEx Cup standings will participate in approximately 16 of the 19 tournaments, in addition to all the FedEx Cup fall events except Japan. Kuchar is currently eight spots below that group and could fall further if he doesn't perform well early next season. However, he has time to decide on his two exemptions.
Despite the era of major prizes, Kuchar has performed consistently, ranking 15th in career earnings with $61,538,738, which puts him more than $15.4 million ahead of the player in 25th place. Therefore, waiting another year to use the top-25 exemption will not cost him anything. This is a decision Kuchar will have to make in the next month before the Sony Open in Hawaii.
In 2025, Kuchar managed only one top-10 finish, a tie for fifth at the John Deere Classic, but missed the cut only twice in 18 appearances. “It wasn’t the 2025 I was hoping for. It was a frustrating year,” Kuchar reflected. “I think I only missed the cut twice, but I just couldn’t seem to have any weeks where I played well and also had good putting.”
Stricker's Return
Steve Stricker only competed four times on the PGA Tour Champions this year before having to stop due to an upper back injury that required disc replacement surgery in the first week of August. Now he's ready to return to the event he always had his sights set on: the Skechers World Champions Cup, a competition between U.S., European, and International teams, which will be held December 4-7 at Feather Sound in Clearwater, Florida.
It will also be preparation for the PNC Championship, where she will again play with her daughter Izzi, a sophomore at Wisconsin and named Wisconsin State Golf Association Player of the Year.
“I had this in mind to see if I’d get invited to play and be able to do it,” Stricker said. “I thought I might be able to play by this point.” The surgery was in early August, and the recovery was scheduled for five weeks. Stricker mentioned that the doctor checked him a few weeks later. “I told him I felt like I could hit a driver, and he said, ‘Go ahead,’” Stricker recalled. “I was like, ‘Hold on a minute. I thought it was supposed to be five weeks.’ He said I couldn’t hurt myself.” Still, he took his time and is ready to get back in the game.
Masters in mind
Sam Stevens played in four tournaments in the fall and only managed a top-10 finish in his final event, tying for seventh out of 11 players at Sea Island. This left him ranked 48th in the world, a position he hopes to maintain. The top 50 players in the world at the end of the year qualify for the Masters. The world rankings released on Monday showed that 13 players in the top 50 are still ineligible. BMW PGA Championship winner Alex Noren (No. 17) and Abu Dhabi winner Aaron Rai (No. 23) have secured their spots at Augusta National.
Utah winner Michael Brennan appears to be secure in 36th place, especially since he only has 31 tournaments on his two-year record.
The others in the top 50 are Max Greyserman (32), Michael Kim (35), Rasmus Hojgaard (37), Sea Island winner Sami Valimaki (40), Billy Horschel (43), Taylor Pendrith (45), Min Woo Lee (46), Johnny Keefer (47), and Nico Echavarria (50). The European Tour still has five tournaments scheduled. Horschel will compete in the Hero World Challenge next week in the Bahamas. Augusta National will also consider the top 50 a full week before the Masters. “I’m in a good position, because if I can play well at some point between now and next April, I’ll get in,” said Stevens, who will not be competing for the rest of the year.
“But it would be good to know at the end of the year whether I’m going to get in or not.”
Anannarukarn's earnings
Thailand's Pajaree Anannarukarn didn't have her best year on the LPGA Tour, at least not until the very end. A two-time LPGA winner, she only managed one top-10 finish, a tie for 10th at the Tournament of Champions early in the year. However, she did manage to finish 45th in the Race to the CME Globe, securing her place in the season finale at Tiburon Golf Club. She then played her best golf, briefly challenging Jeeno Thitikul in the final round before finishing four strokes behind.
But that second-place finish, her best result in 67 starts since her 2023 Match Play victory, earned her a check for 1 million TP4T1 million. This sum is not only the largest prize of her career, but it nearly doubled her season earnings from her previous 25 starts in 2025. She entered the CME Group Tour Championship with 1540,806 TP4T. “It’s been an amazing week. No complaints. I’m so grateful,” Anannarukarn said. “I’m really happy with how I was able to perform well and celebrate my friend’s wins, so it was great.”
Quick notes
María José Marín of Colombia won the Latin American Women's Amateur Championship and earned a place in The Chevron Championship, the Women's British Open, and the Evian Championship. … Marcus Byrd was named Defenders Professional Golf Association Player of the Year for his two wins and four runner-up finishes. He received a bonus of $15,000. … Lorena Ochoa won the Women's British Open in 2007, the first time it was held at St. Andrews. Now the Mexican star has become an honorary member of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club.
Statistics of the week
The LPGA had 43 players who earned at least $1,400,000 in 2025. Ten years ago, only nine players in the LPGA managed to earn $1,400,000 or more.
Last word
“The guys who come here and feel a little bad for themselves, I have no sympathy because they played, you know what I mean? They played every shot this year. Just like me. I am where I am because of my golf, not anyone else’s golf.” — Lee Hodges, who finished 101st in the FedEx Cup.
