Ben Griffin wasn’t exactly feeling the pressure as he closed out his third victory of the season Sunday at the World Wide Technology Championship. Griffin isn’t fighting to keep his card; far from it, as he finished 10th in the FedExCup this year and is poised to now crack the top 10 in Official World Golf Ranking for the first time.
For some of the players behind Griffin, though, it was a different story.
Sami Valimaki entered the week in Los Cabos, Mexico, the third to last stop in the FedExCup Fall, ranked No. 103 in points. A bubble boy in the strongest sense, but the big Fin was taking a different perspective.
“I need one really good week, and that was kind of the idea behind it,” Valimaki said.
Mission accomplished, as Valimaki opened in 11-under 61 at Diamante’s El Cardonal course, closed in 64 and tied Chad Ramey for second, two shots back of Griffin, to vault to No. 76 in points. The top 100 players after the RSM Classic maintain full membership.
“These last three tournaments, only goal was to kind of keep the playing rights for the next year,” Valimaki added, “so I think it should be done deal with this finish.”
Ramey, a 33-year-old who won in Dominican Republic in 2022, jumped from No. 123 to No. 89, his best standing all year, after he birdied each of his last three holes Sunday to polish off a clutch 65.
“At the end of the year, that’s the goal, keep your PGA Tour card,” Ramey said. “You know, Ben’s top 50, he didn’t have to worry about it, but the rest of us out here, that’s on the top of our goals.”
On the other end, Carson Young started the day just a shot off the lead, but he played his last six holes in 2 over with no birdies. He ended up T-6 and only rose 12 spots to No. 124 in points.
Here is a look at the notable FedExCup movement after the WWT Championship:
T-2. Chad Ramey – +34, 123 -> 89
T-2. Sami Valimaki – +27, 103 -> 76
T-4. Trevor Cone – +23, 179 -> 156
T-6. Carson Young – +12, 136 -> 124
T-11. Matt Kuchar – +11, 121 -> 110
T-11. Jackson Suber – +6, 122 -> 116
16. Jeremy Paul – +9, 140 -> 131
T-21. Rico Hoey – +3, 61 -> 58
T-21. Victor Perez – +3, 107 -> 104
T-21. Taylor Moore – +7, 116 -> 109
T-31. Matt Wallace – -3, 94 -> 97
T-31. David Lipsky – 0, 101 <-> 101
T-56. Max McGreevy – -3, 97 -> 100
MC. Patrick Fishburn – -2, 107 -> 105
MC. Wyndham Clark – -1, 60 -> 61
MC. Isaiah Salinda – -2, 104 -> 106
Here is the new bubble picture:
95. Thorbjorn Olesen
96. Max Homa*
97. Matt Wallace
98. Beau Hossler
99. Michael Brennan*
100. Max McGreevy
101. David Lipsky
102. Tom Kim*
103. Adam Scott*
104. Victor Perez
105. Billy Horschel*
*already fully exempt through at least 2026