We're Not Crying
Joel Dahmen hugging his wife after 'officially' keeping his tour card is Feels City, USA
If you were watching football all weekend, you may have missed Joel Dahmen throwing up one last Hail Mary on the final play of the fourth quarter of the PGA Tour's Fall Swing.
Needing a super-low round on Sunday at the RSM Classic to have any chance of keeping his PGA Tour card for 2025, Dahmen started firing at flags early, holeing out for eagle at the par-4 13th (his fourth hole of the day) and then making birdies at 15, 16 and 17 to get off to a five under through eight start. Dahmen made just one birdie the rest of the day, but he did not drop a single shot, finishing with a six-under 64 that proved to be enough to finish the week at 124th in the FedEx Cup standings. Card: secured.
Dahmen displayed his emotions throughout the week, most notably on Friday evening after he snuck in on the right side of the cut line to keep his hopes alive. Even after a quiet Saturday 70, his strong final round will have him back on the PGA Tour in 2025.
"We get to do it all over again next year," Dahmen said while hugging his wife Lona after finding out it was official. Here's the video clip the PGA Tour shared on Sunday evening:
Feels City, USA.
It's particularly clutch given the fact that this time next year, this opportunity might not even be available for guys like Dahmen. The PGA Tour approved changes last week that will go into effect for 2026, one of them being that only 100 players—not 125—will be able to keep their tour cards with fully exempt status at year's end. In other words, Dahmen and the 24 other guys who snuck in at the Fall finale on Sunday will have to play even better next year if they want to run it back in 2026.
"This is my eighth year out here, I probably made it longer than I ever thought I would," Dahmen said afterward. "You take it for granted a little bit. It's been relatively easy, cruise between 50 and 90 on the FedExCup every year and enjoy it, and our best friends are out here"
"This is different. Makes you appreciate things a little more when times are tough. 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. So I was thankful for the opportunity today, but I don't want to go through this ever again."
