Joel Dahmen had a relatively straightforward par putt to close out the 2024 PGA Tour season, but the stakes couldn't have been much higher.
By sinking the putt, Dahmen finished the RSM Classic at seven under and earned a tie for 35th place. As a result, he stayed at 124th in the FedExCup standings with the top 125 golfers earning their PGA Tour card for next year.
Things were looking bleak for Dahmen after 54 holes. A double-bogey on the seventh hole in the third round dropped him to even par for the tournament.
The 37-year-old described the atmosphere at his rental house as "somber, say funeral effect maybe," per Golf Channel's Rex Hoggard.
Dahmen didn't let his nerves get the best of him to open the final round as he reeled off three straight pars to get the day started. An eagle on No. 13 seemed to take a big weight off his shoulders as he proceeded to birdie three straight holes starting with No. 15. On the back nine, he birdied No. 2 and avoided any critical mistakes that would've cost him spots on the leaderboard.
Dahmen's relief was evident once he was in the clubhouse and knew his PGA Tour status was solidified for another year.
"Makes you appreciate things a little more when times are tough," he said, per Hoggard. "I thought a lot about everything. It came down to the last putt this week. I hit thousands of golf shots this year, missed a lot of cuts, had a lot of opportunities to do everything, so I didn't have to come to this. I was thankful for the opportunity today, but I don't want to go through this ever again."
Dahmen won't want to find himself in a similar position in 2025.
Under new changes approved by the PGA Tour Policy Board, the cutoff for full status will be the top 100 in the FedExCup standings. The golfers ranked from 100th to 125th will only receive conditional status.
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