While the season generally focused on those looking to qualify for the PGA Tour, the fall FedEx Cup was something different for those who could afford it. Athletes like Scotty Schaeffler of the Procore Championship, Xander Schauffele of the Bay Current Classic, and Ben Griffin of the World Wide Technology Championship are taking advantage of that benefit without feeling pressured to perform for job security.
And now, after 36 holes of the season-ending RSM Classic, that equivalent appears to be Andrew Novak. He shot an opening 61 on the Seaside Course and an impressive 65 on the Plantation Course to enter the moving day at 16 under.
“This week is very favorable,” Novak said. “I had a baby two weeks ago. I just left home and I’m happy to be here. And the other players are fighting for their jobs. That’s a big advantage for me this week. I’ve ridden it a little bit less. I definitely want to win. It’s a local tournament, so that’s why there’s extra motivation for me to play well here. But some of the players spend the whole year riding this week.”
Novak is familiar with these areas, both at Sea Island, where he lives with his wife and newborn, and at FedEx Cup Falls, where he has been under the microscope before. In 2023, Novak nearly missed out on qualifying at his home event, but recovered from a bogey on the 36th hole to sneak into the weekend and maintain his full-time status.
“It was terrible. I think they took a video or something,” Novak said. “All I had to do was cut to protect my card. I was playing it safe and then I hit the ball into a tree and on the last hole it got stuck in a tree and I had to go back. I birdied the second ball to basically stay in the numbers. It’s probably the best golf ball I’ve ever played. It was just as stressful as it was on the Ruf course. My whole year was on that hole, so I know how much pressure some guys are playing under this week, and I’m very lucky that I don’t have that pressure when I’m playing right now.”
Novak capitalized on that, having the best season of his career in 2024, and raising the stakes again in 2025, rising from mid-major on the PGA Tour to No. 30 in the world. Novak also qualified for the Tour Championship for the first time in his career, and is set to make his debut at the Masters next April.
There were a number of close calls during his rise, including the Farmers Insurance Open, Texas Open and RBC Heritage, but to Novak’s credit, he remained sharp to the grindstone despite his shortcomings. He was finally able to break through to his first PGA Tour victory alongside Griffin at the Zurich Classic.
Now, even if the ideal scoring conditions at Sea Island aren’t what Novak wants, he’ll be aiming to take home another trophy as an opportunity to step into the winner’s circle for the first time in individual competition.
“Historically, I think I’ve been much better on the tougher golf courses,” Novak said. “I think my strength is probably my short game. And I might have been chipping three times a week. Probably not. I haven’t really had to chip much. I don’t know, but I think part of the advantage is just my home courses. I know how these courses play, I know where I want to be on holes, and I take advantage of that and make a lot of putts.”
Novak holds a clear advantage over his peers within the top 10 of this leaderboard. While the tangibles can be quantified through stroke count data and statistics, it’s the intangibles that really matter at this point in the season.
The other players on the first page of the leaderboard are sitting on a bubble of sorts. Aon Next 10 qualifying for the first two signature events of 2026, the top 100 holding a full-time PGA Tour card, and even various cutoff points for conditional status. They’re all looking over their shoulders to see if they’re doing enough to overturn those marks. Meanwhile, without the added pressure of what could go wrong, Novak is doing everything right and setting his sights in another direction – forward.
