Playing a tournament in which he made his 100th career cut on the PGA Tour, Maverick McNealy also made a first. McNealy broke out of a crowded leaderboard with a birdie on the 72nd hole of the 2024 RSM Classic to reach 16 under and win his first PGA Tour event over Nico Echavarria, Daniel Berger and amateur Luke Clanton.
McNealy entered the season finale well inside the Aon Next 10 – Nos. 51-60 in the FedEx Cup standings that qualify for the first two marquee events of 2025 – with his eyes on a another goal: to start his new year in Kapalua at The Sentry. . That’s exactly what he’ll do with his first trip to the winner’s circle.
Not only will McNealy make that debut in 2025, but he will qualify to play at the Masters for the first time in his career. The 29-year-old also secured his place in the 2025 PGA Championship and on the PGA Tour through the 2026 season.
“I’m shaking right now,” McNealy said after his tournament-clinching birdie. “I feel like I could run a marathon – absolutely exhausted, but the adrenaline is incredible. My family is here, my whole team is watching me. I’m so happy to have one for them.”
Entering the final round, holding a share of the lead alongside Vincent Whaley, McNealy made easy work of the front nine and added two birdies along the way to take a two-shot advantage at the turn. A fine save on the No. 11 seemed to have calmed his nerves as he sought a maiden victory in his 142nd attempt, but the wheels began to spin off during the final stretch.
A dropped shot on No. 14 saw McNealy’s advantage disappear as he and playing partner Berger drew with Clanton and Echavarria. His share of the lead quickly turned into a deficit as Echavarria birdied the par-5 15th and Clanton came roaring in with one of his own at the par-4 16th.
Meanwhile, McNealy made a mistake when he failed to birdie the only par 5 on the back nine. Instead, he needed three putts from 60 feet after finding the surface in two. He continued to trail by one shot until Clanton and Echavarria failed to save par on the final hole after missing the green from the middle of the fairway.
Amid the fray at the top of the leaderboard with one hole to play, McNealy made his mark in the last. Lacking a 186-yard 6-iron to 6 feet inside, he converted the tournament-defining birdie for his long-awaited first career PGA Tour victory. Rating: A+
Here are the notes from the rest of the notables in the RSM Classic 2024 rankings
T2. Daniel Berger (-15): Entering the week outside the top 125, Berger found himself in position to not only lock in his playing privileges for 2025, but also for 2026 had he entered the winner’s circle. Trailing by two at the turn, the four-time PGA Tour winner took a share of the lead thanks to a 55-foot birdie at No. 11 and a bogey from McNealy a few holes later. His ball striking created realistic birdie chances of 4 feet, 8 feet, 16 feet and 20 feet on Nos. 15 through 18; however, none fell and Berger finished his run one shot out of the playoffs. Rating: A+
T2. Luc Clanton (-15): A lover in name only, Clanton once again asserted. Finding a flurry of birdies on the turn, the Florida State product slipped up the leaderboard and grabbed a share of the lead when his 15-foot birdie on the par-4 16th found the bottom of the cup. Unable to get up and down from the greenside bunker on the final hole, Clanton nearly became the second amateur to win on the PGA Tour this season. He now has four top-10 finishes in eight career starts, including two podium finishes.
“It was another good week. It’s tough, man. It’s a tough loss, for sure,” Clanton said. “I think God gave me a great talent, and to be here in general, just to be in contention again, it’s awesome. It’s going to be hard to take, for sure, after missing the last one, but I think it proved to me that I can win here, so I’m going to train for that.” Rating: A+
T17. Ludvig Aberg (-10): There were plenty of good and bad results in Åberg’s first start since his knee surgery. Falling as low as 5 over par in his first round, the defending champion fought to qualify and climb into the top 20 by the end of the week. He was stuck in neutral on moving day, but he more than made up for it with a closing 64 that allowed Åberg to display his typical tee-to-green prowess. Grade: B+
T35. Joël Dahmen (-7): Dahmen faced a 5-foot putt with his professional life on the line Friday night, exhausting him to squeeze through the weekend. After a mundane moving day, the former PGA Tour winner needed a Sunday to remember in hopes of maintaining his full-time status. An eagle with a hole on the par-4 13th kicked off his round as he made three more birdies before making the turn. Dahmen only managed one more birdie from there, but he kept squares off the scoreboard, signed for a 64 and earned that full-time status for 2025.
“It’s different. It makes you appreciate things a little more when times are tough,” Dahmen said. “I thought about everything a lot. It came down to the last putt this week. I hit thousands of golf shots this year, I missed a lot of cuts, I had a lot of chances to do it all , so I didn’t have to come to that. So, I was grateful for the opportunity today, but I don’t ever want to go through that again. Grade: B
MC. Wesley Bryan: The bubble boy arriving this week, Bryan got his tournament off to a good start by opening with a round of 2 under 70 on the Plantation Course. He seemed on track to qualify and earn his PGA Tour card until disaster – in the form of a double bogey – struck on the par-4 14th at the Seaside Course. Needing to play his final four holes in 1 under to see out the weekend and give himself a chance to maintain his position in the top 125, Bryan traded a birdie for a bogey and fell on the wrong side of both cut lines . Rating: F
