Not only did Sami Valimaki become the first player of Finnish descent to win on the PGA Tour by virtue of his victory at the RSM Classic on Sunday, but he also assured his entry into the first two signature events of 2026 in the process.
Signature Events are limited-field tournaments that feature massive purses ($20 million) and FedExCup points (700 to the winner) that are designed to bring together the Tour’s top players. Winners of PGA Tour events automatically get into the follow season’s Signature Events, as do players who finish in the top 50 on the FedEx Cup point list after the Tour Championship. The Aon Next 10 is the PGA Tour’s route for players not otherwise exempt to work their way into those events. Nos. 51 through 60 in the standings following The RSM Classic qualified for the 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational.
Valimaki led that list at No. 51, jumping from No. 74; Nico Echavarria moved from No. 62 to No. 55 and RSM runner-up McGreevy, who entered last week as the Bubble Boy at No. 100 to keep his card, vaulted from No. 89 to No. 60. Three players who opted to take the week off all fell out of the top 60: Jordan Spieth, Jake Knapp and Kevin Yu. Patrick Rodgers was inside the top 50 entering the final round but shot 1-under 69 to finish in a 10-way tie for T-7 and No. 62 in the standings.
“That was the goal for the week, to make it inside the top 60 and get in those first two events,” Valimaki said. “After that, I at least can kind of prepare for them, play the first three and then probably get into Pebble Beach and Genesis if I’m right. Those are going to be kind of the first five tournaments.”
“It’s huge. A lot of people are criticizing the schedule, the decisions that we took with LIV of making these elevated events,” added Echavarria. “It’s so important to get into those and it’s so hard that I’m glad I can play those first two like I did last year. I hope I can get something more than I did this year, because the start of the year is so important.”
Here’s the complete list:
The Aon Next 10
No. 51: Sami Valimaki
No. 52: Max Greyserman
No. 53: Garrick Higgo
No. 54: Rico Hoey
No. 55: Nico Echavarria
No. 56: Aldrich Potgieter
No. 57: Chris Kirk
No. 58: Aaron Rai
No. 59: Min Woo Lee
No. 60: Max McGreevy
Golfweek’s Adam Schupak contributed to this report.
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