‘I hate to hear that:’ Pro’s birdie causes 2 friends to lose PGA Tour cards

On Sunday at the PGA Tour’s season-ending RSM Classic, some players achieved their PGA Tour card dreams, while others came up devastatingly short. Max McGreevy is happily among the former group, but his stellar play Sunday was also responsible for two fellow pros losing their PGA Tour cards.

With one drained putt on the final hole, McGreevy secured extra status for 2026 and sent pros Ricky Castillo and Lee Hodges on more treacherous career paths. After his round, McGreevy opened up about the difficult reality that his success led to his friends’ failure.

Here’s what you need to know.

Max McGreevy’s birdie finish comes with big PGA Tour reward

Beginning the tournament in 89th in the FedEx Fall standings, McGreevy needed to first avoid falling out of the top 100 and thereby losing his full PGA Tour status for 2026. He accomplished that with rounds of 64-67-66 over the first three days at Sea Island.

But there was still something big to play for on Sunday. If McGreevy could move into the top 60 in the FedEx Fall standings, he’d earn invites to the first two Signature Events of 2026, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational.

When McGreevy arrived at the par-4 18th hole on Sunday, he was six under on the day and sporting an unblemished scorecard. He needed a birdie to achieve his goal, and he got it.

The 30-year-old pro’s approach shot left him with a lengthy 29-footer for birdie, but he drained it to shoot a 63 and finish in solo second place. The finish, McGreevy’s best of the season, moved him right on the number at 60th in the FedEx Fall standings, giving him tee times at the big-purse events at Pebble Beach and Riviera next year.

After his round, McGreevy admitted that his clutch putt on 18 will “rank up there pretty high” in terms of the best putts of his career. He compared it to an 18-footer he made last season to win a Korn Ferry Tour event.

“Same kind of emotions. It’s nervousness but it’s giddy nervousness, it’s what you want,” McGreevy explained. “Luckily just able to put a good roll on it and the cards fell in my favor.”

McGreevy laments knocking fellow pros out of PGA Tour Top 100

While McGreevy needed his putt on 18 to drop to get into the top 60, Castillo and Hodges needed it to miss.

Castillo, a 24-year-old rookie, entered the week at 135th in the FedEx Fall standings. Then he got himself into contention heading into Sunday. With one round to go, he needed to finish T2 or better to move into the top 100 and secure his full PGA Tour card for 2026.

The night before, he determined that would require shooting a Sunday 62. Incredibly, he did it. Castillo made seven birdies on the front nine and added two more on the back to finish with an eight-under 62. At the time, that put him right where he needed to be, T2 with McGreevy.

But McGreevy’s ensuing birdie on 18 moved him to 22 under and solo second, demoting Castillo to a solo third finish and leaving him at 102nd in the FedEx Fall standings, just short of the top 100 and a full PGA Tour card.

Hodges started the tournament at 122nd in the standings. Playing the final round alongside McGreevy, he had his own crucial birdie putt on 18 from just under 10 feet. If McGreevy missed his long birdie and Hodges made his, Hodges would have likely finished in the top 100.

But the opposite happened, giving Lee a T4 and dropping him to 101st in the FedEx Fall standings, making him the official bubble boy.

In addition to the relief and pride McGreevy expressed in his post-round press conference at the RSM, he also expressed remorse for causing Castillo and Hodges to lose their cards.

“I hate to hear that that I was the one that did that,” McGreevy revealed Sunday evening.

He then went on to shower praise on Castillo.

“Awesome for Ricky [Castillo]… he has to come out and shoot 62 today to even give himself a chance and he does that. I don’t know if I played with Ricky one time this year, but I know how much talent he has. Regardless of where he finishes at, he’s going to be back out here and have more chances on the PGA Tour,” McGreevy said.

As for Hodges, McGreevy called him a friend and revealed that he was rooting for Hodges to make his birdie putt on 18, despite competing against him.

“I’m playing alongside Lee [Hodges], who’s one of my good friends. We came out on PGA Tour together in ’21 and I’m pulling for him to make that putt just as much as I was for myself to make that putt.”

He continued: “It’s little successes and defeats. Whether it’s a defeat to Ricky or Lee or something like that, they both still played great rounds, gave themself that chance, and that’s all they can rely on is to give themself an opportunity and they did. Hopefully, both those guys, Ricky and Lee, can take care of business either at Q-School or next year with some starts for sure and yeah, play good golf.”

As McGreevy noted, all is not lost for Castillo and Hodges. By finishing within the top 150, they automatically earn spots in the upcoming Final Stage of PGA Tour Q-School, through which they could earn their PGA Tour cards.

Additionally, they both will receive conditional Tour status for 2026 that should see them play upward of 20 tournaments.

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