ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Davis Love III admitted that anyone hosting or sponsoring a PGA Tour FedEx Cup Fall event is likely having some trepidation over the future of not only their tournament but the entire slate of events that follow the Tour Championship on Labor Day weekend. 

After all, the PGA Tour is undergoing seismic changes under new CEO Brian Rolapp.  

Exemptions through the FedEx Cup points system have been cut from 125 to 100. Field sizes will be reduced in 2026 (The Players Championship, for example, goes from 144 to 120). And the Augusta National Golf Club, with no pushback from the PGA Tour, announced earlier this year that winners of FedEx Cup fall tournaments will no longer get an invitation. 

What else can happen? 

Love, the host of this week’s RSM Classic (Nov. 20-23, Sea Island Resort), said uncertainty has always been the case, since the FedEx Cup began in 2007 and the RSM Classic, which he has hosted every year since 2010 through the Davis Love Foundation.

He’s focused on continuing to make the RSM Classic the jewel of the Tour’s Fall schedule. 

“The fall tournaments have always been wondering what’s next,” Love said on Nov. 19 at the RSM Classic Media Center. “We’ve been [on the Tour’s] wraparound [schedule, from 2013-2023] we’ve been end of the year, beginning of the [fall], trying to drive the purses up … all kinds of things have happened in our 16 years, 17 years of talking about being in the fall.” 

Love firmly believes that the best elements of the RSM Classic — a strong and loyal title sponsor, one of the most iconic courses on the PGA Tour at one of the nation’s top resorts and charitable donations that are projected to reach $ 50 million this year – will work in the tournament’s favor in the future. 

“We always brag that they’re the best sponsor on the PGA Tour,” Love said of RSM. “We’re not saying that just to be nice. They’re an incredible partner.” 

RSM Classic field led by 10 2025 winners

The RSM Classic begins on Nov. 20 with half the field of 156 players on the Seaside Course and the other half on the Plantation Course. They will flip venues for the second round on Nov. 21 and players who make the cut will compete on the Seaside Course the final two rounds. 

The purse is $ 7 million, with $ 1.26 million and 500 FedEx Cup points going to the winner. Golf Channel will be on the air from noon to 3 p.m. for the first two rounds and 1-4 p.m. on the weekend. 

The field is led by 10 PGA Tour winners from 2025, major champions Love, Zach Johnson, Brian Harman and Webb Simpson, past Players champion Matt Kuchar and past FedEx Cup champion Brandt Snedeker. 

RSM Classic first and second round tee times

But the field also includes some rising PGA Tour stars. First-time winners Karl Vilips of Ponte Vedra Beach, last week’s Butterfield Bermuda champion Adam Schenk, Steven Fisk, Ryan Gerard, William Mouw and Michael Brennan are in the field, along with David Ford, the 2025 Haskins Award winner for the top college player in the nation, and former World Amateur No. 1 Luke Clanton. 

RSM Classic benefits from scenery, weather

Love said the mix of veterans and younger players is one of the tournament’s appeals, to say nothing of the splendid fall weather it usually gets (the forecast is sunny and in the mid-70s all week) and the breathtaking sights from the golf course of the St. Simons Sound, vast marshes and ancient oak trees, adorned with Spanish Moss. 

“We celebrated 15 [years] last year and now on to our next 15,” Love said. “We just went over the impact: $ 48 million in charity in our first 15 years is amazing [first among all Fall events]. We have great success here, and obviously, with our partner RSM and Sea Island and all our friends here supporting us, our foundation and the RSM Classic has done a lot and grown a lot. So we’re excited to kick off the 16th year.” 

Johnson, who arranged the first meeting between RSM officials and Love before 2010, said RSM “has taken ownership” of the tournament in a positive sense. 

“RSM fully, entirely loves this week and the weeks leading up to it,” Johnson said. “That’s the core of what they do and why they do it. So from a stewardship and giving standpoint, my confidence is pretty high they want to maintain that because that’s the fabric of their company and relationships. Couple that with Davis and his team, and it’s a perfect fit. My hope, nothing changes.” 

Will the lack of Masters invites hurt the RSM Classic?

One of the best perks cited by any PGA Tour player for winning is an invitation to the Masters. However, with the Fall events out of that mix (Augusta National has decided to add more champions of national opens), the main reward for winning a fall event, aside from the purse, is spots in The Players Championship and PGA Championship, and a two-year exemption.

Love said he doubts a player who has come to the RSM Classic in the past will let that affect their decision.

“I don’t think anyone’s going to come here, or not, because of that,” he said. “We would lower our purse by a million dollars or raise it by a million dollars. I don’t think it’s going to change people’s minds where they play. I haven’t heard anyone say, ‘well that’s disappointing,’ or ‘that’s unfair.'”

Johnny Keefer, the Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year who is in the field this week through a sponsor exemption, doesn’t seem a bit concerned about a chance to play in the Masters, at least not yet.

“Not really, to be honest with you,” he said, in response to a question about whether the Masters was on his mind. “Obviously, I just want to play the absolute best that I can. I don’t think looking forward or — obviously, the Masters would be fantastic, but it’s just another opportunity to get out here and kind of prove to myself, prove to a lot of people as well that I can compete out here.”

The RSM Classic winner didn’t get a spot in the Masters for the first three years of the tournament. In addition, a two-year exemption gives players enough time to work their way into the Tour Championship or the top 50 on the World Golf Rankings, which could secure an invitation to Augusta.

“If we get 10 more guys in the top 50 [in the world] that play here, that would be great,” Love said. “But is it going to drive more money to charity or change the experience? After a win, you get two years. You’ll get the opportunity. We’re more focused on hospitality and entertaining clients and pro-ams and all that. We’re focused on everyone’s experience, players and fans.”

New fall event in Asheville gives Davis Love III hope

Love said a news item two weeks ago gave him more optimism that whatever further changes occur from a competition standpoint on the PGA Tour, a Fall schedule will be a part of it, and since the RSM Classic has been the star of the season, the tournament will be around for years to come. 

The Tour announced that it is launching the Biltmore Championship in September of 2026 at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Cliffs at Walnut Grove in Asheville, N.C. It a return of the PGA Tour to Western North Carolina for the first time since 1942. 

“I was very excited,” Love said when he heard the news about the new event. “That means they’re [PGA Tour] committed to the fall and maybe not going anywhere for a while.” 

Love said he’s talked with Rolapp and his staff and is convinced they believe in the viability of PGA Tour golf in the Fall and the RSM Classic. 

Love also thinks that in a sport where title sponsors come and go, the new Tour hierarchy recognizes the value of RSM being in Sea Island for 16 years, a relationship that will reach at least 19 years under the current terms of the contract. 

“The energy and the excitement from the [Tour] staff have been really good,” Love said. “I’m excited about the future. We have a new commitment from RSM and we’re rolling right along.” 

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Davis Love III confident in the RSM Classic’s future on the PGA Tour