Sami Valimaki takes a 2-shot lead at Sea Island with a shot at his first PGA Tour title

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (AP) — Sami Valimaki of Finland ran off four straight birdies to close out the front nine on his way to a 5-under 65 that gave him a two-shot lead Saturday in the RSM Classic going into the final round of the final event of the PGA Tour season.

So much of this season finale at Sea Island is about the last chance to retain a full PGA Tour card for next year. Now it has turned into a chance for players to get their first PGA Tour title.

Valimaki was at 19-under 193 and was two ahead of Michael Thorbjornsen and Patrick Rodgers, each with a 68 and both Stanford alumni a generation apart.

Rodgers was the No. 1 amateur in the world when he left Stanford in 2014. Thorbjornsen was No. 1 in the PGA Tour University ranking when he finished college in 2024.

Rodgers has played 311 tournaments on the PGA Tour with four runner-up finishes, one of them a playoff loss in 2018 at Sea Island to Charles Howell III.

“It’s just unfortunately in this game you can’t control the outcomes,” Rodgers said. “I really try hard to control the outcomes, but it doesn’t work. I need to be the best version of myself that I can be, look to build a really quality golf game and trust that that’s going to give me the most opportunities throughout the season.”

The group three shots behind featured Zac Blair (64), who will have to win to have any chance of finishing in the top 100 in the FedEx Cup.

Also at 16-under 196 were Andrew Novak (70) and Johnny Keefer (67), the Korn Ferry Tour player of the year who has his card locked up for 2026 but now is presented with a great chance to stay in the top 50 in the world to get into the Masters.

Novak teamed with Ben Griffin to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, but he has not won an individual title on the PGA Tour.

Valimaki began his big run with a shot into 12 feet for birdie on the par-3 sixth. He reached the green in two on the par-5 seventh, hit wedge to 18 inches on the eight hole and hit his approach into 3 feet on the ninth.

“I haven’t had any claps this week so I knew when I heard the claps it should be pretty close,” Valimaki said.

He has a pair of runner-up finishes, both south of the border. Valimaki was runner-up in the Mexico Open a year ago and tied for second in the World Wide Technology Championship to Griffin two weeks ago in Baja California.

As for the race and pressure to finish in the top 100 to get a PGA Tour card? Seamus Power of Ireland (65) and Lee Hodges (66) were in a tie for seventh and will have a reasonable chance, depending on how players ahead of them fare.

Andrew Putnam is at No. 119. He shot 69, which in only a mild wind was like falling behind. Putnam fell 10 spots on the leaderboard to a tie for 17th.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf