Seamus Power came up three shots shy in his bid to retain fully exempt status on the PGA Tour next season.
Power needed a top-3 finish at the season-ending RSM Classic to finish inside the top-100 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings but despite closing with a final round of 67 for an 18-under total, he had to settle for a tie for seventh place.
It means Power, who entered the week in 129th place rose twelve places to 117th in the FedEx Cup which will earn him conditional status for next season where he could tee it up in approximately 20 events
The Waterford man has been guilty of letting good finishes slip on Sunday during the fall season but he made the ideal start here with a birdie at the first.
The birdie barrage he needed wasn’t forthcoming however and he had to wait until the par-5 7th for his second gain. A bogey on the 8th was a momentum killer but he played the back nine well with birdies on 13 and 17 to at least consolidate his place in the top-125.
“I knew it probably had to win or finish second or something to be top 100. But I played well, didn’t really get much going on the greens, which was disappointing. But that’s golf sometimes. Hopefully, I move up a couple of spots.”
Power has endured an injury plagued two years. Having been ranked inside the world’s top-30 he fell outside the top-180 recently but he looks to be approaching his best form even if he did ultimately run out of time.
Power made all six cuts in the fall season including finishes of 11th and 7th which will see him rise to 155th in the world rankings. He began the fall period ranked 145th in the FedEx Cup so has done well to secure any status for next year.
“I finished it really nicely, which was great,” he said.
“With injuries, it was a struggle early in the season, so it was nice to get some healthy golf there in the Fall and get some momentum and a bit of confidence going. So hopefully I can bring that into January ’26.”
At the top, Finland’s Sami Valimaki began the fall season thinking about retaining his card but after an impressive string of results saw him take care of that, he went the whole way and clinched his maiden PGA Tour title.
This lifts Valimaki into 51st in the FedEx Cup Fall rankings which gives him a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and a spot in two signature events next year.
He birdied the 15th hole to break free of a tie for the lead with Max McGreecy for a final round of 66 and a 23-under total.