The PGA Tour’s season finale at scenic Sea Island – the RSM Classic – is always about more than who walks away with the final official trophy of a long season.
In that case, it was Sami Valimaki, who became the first player from Finland to win on the tour, grinding out a one-stroke victory over fast-closing Max McGreevy and finishing two ahead of Ricky Castillo.
It’s also about the subplots, including which 10 players locked down spots in the first two signature events in 2026 and which players secured their full tour privileges by finishing in the top 100 on the FedEx Cup Fall points list when the counting finally stopped Sunday afternoon.
But first, it was about Valimaki, the 27-year-old who had two previous runner-up finishes on tour before breaking through by shooting 23-under-par 259 on the Seaside and Plantation courses at Sea Island Golf Club.
When he holed the winning putt, Valimaki kissed his putter and wrestled his emotions.
“It has been a long road, of course,” Valimaki said. “I feel like it’s a really tough year even when I kind of played decent golf, and then to keep pushing and find some good grooves in the last few tournaments, so it feels amazing.”
Valimaki became the 17th first-time winner on tour in 2025, the second-most in a season since 1983.
The victory pushed Valimaki from 74th to 51st on the FedEx Cup Fall points list, giving him one of the 10 exemptions into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational next year as part of the Aon Next 10. Nico Echavarria and McGreevy also played their way in on the last weekend of the season.
“I didn’t even think a second place would get in the top 60,” said McGreevy, who birdied the 72nd hole to jump to No. 60. “Really was just kind of trying to win. I knew my game was feeling really, really good. Putter’s just been struggling this year in general. Had a couple little minor tweaks I feel like that just made it feel really good out here, and these greens are so good. Luckily, kind of got a couple to roll in early this week and it just kind of snowballed into a good week.”
Who Else Won
Legends Tour
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While no player inside the top 100 fell out at Sea Island, both Lee Hodges and Castillo had near misses. Hodges, who started the week at No. 122, finished No. 101 when a 10-foot birdie putt missed on the final green.
Castillo, meanwhile, was inside the top 100 until McGreevy’s closing birdie knocked him out and left him at No. 102.
“I haven’t really had a lot of good final rounds this year, so it was really nice to have my best round of the year [62] be in the final round of the final tournament,” Castillo said.
“Honestly, I was trying to win the golf tournament. In my mindset, coming down 18, I wanted to give myself a chance to win the golf tournament. If I win this tournament, yeah, I keep my tour card, but regardless of what happens, I was just trying to give myself the best chance. That’s what we come out here to do, we try to win tournaments. We’re not trying to finish second, we’re all trying to win.”
Ron Green Jr.