Sami Valimaki tees off on the third hole during the final round of the 2025 RSM Classic on the Seaside Course at Sea Island Resort.
Garrick Higgo watches his shot on the 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow.
Nico Echavarria tees off on hole 14 as the Sidney Lanier bridge can be seen during the fourth and final day of the RSM Classic PGA golf tournament on the Seaside Course at Sea Island Resort, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in St. Simons Island, Ga. Sami Valimaki of Nokia, Finland, won the tournament at 23-under-par, edging out Max McGreevy by one stroke and became the first Finnish player to win a tournament on the PGA tour. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]
Chris Kirk hits a chip shot to the third green during the second round of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches at PGA National Resort & Spa on Friday, February 28, 2025, in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.
Sami Valimaki tees off on hole 15 during the fourth and final day of the RSM Classic PGA golf tournament on the Seaside Course at Sea Island Resort, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in St. Simons Island, Ga. Sami Valimaki of Nokia, Finland, won the tournament at 23-under-par, edging out Max McGreevy by one stroke and became the first Finnish player to win a tournament on the PGA tour. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]

Not only did Sami Valimaki become the first player of Finnish descent to win on the PGA Tour by virtue of his victory at the RSM Classic on Sunday, but he also assured his entry into the first two signature events of 2026 in the process.

Signature Events are limited-field tournaments that feature massive purses ($20 million) and FedExCup points (700 to the winner) that are designed to bring together the Tour's top players. Winners of PGA Tour events automatically get into the follow season's Signature Events, as do players who finish in the top 50 on the FedEx Cup point list after the Tour Championship. The Aon Next 10 is the PGA Tour's route for players not otherwise exempt to work their way into those events. Nos. 51 through 60 in the standings following The RSM Classic qualified for the 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational.

Valimaki led that list at No. 51, jumping from No. 74; Nico Echavarria moved from No. 62 to No. 55 and RSM runner-up McGreevy, who entered last week as the Bubble Boy at No. 100 to keep his card, vaulted from No. 89 to No. 60. Three players who opted to take the week off all fell out of the top 60: Jordan Spieth, Jake Knapp and Kevin Yu. Patrick Rodgers was inside the top 50 entering the final round but shot 1-under 69 to finish in a 10-way tie for T-7 and No. 62 in the standings.

"That was the goal for the week, to make it inside the top 60 and get in those first two events," Valimaki said. "After that, I at least can kind of prepare for them, play the first three and then probably get into Pebble Beach and Genesis if I'm right. Those are going to be kind of the first five tournaments."

"It's huge. A lot of people are criticizing the schedule, the decisions that we took with LIV of making these elevated events," added Echavarria. "It's so important to get into those and it's so hard that I'm glad I can play those first two like I did last year. I hope I can get something more than I did this year, because the start of the year is so important."

Here's the complete list:

The Aon Next 10

No. 51: Sami Valimaki

No. 52: Max Greyserman

No. 53: Garrick Higgo

No. 54: Rico Hoey

No. 55: Nico Echavarria

No. 56: Aldrich Potgieter

No. 57: Chris Kirk

No. 58: Aaron Rai

No. 59: Min Woo Lee

No. 60: Max McGreevy

Golfweek's Adam Schupak contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: These 10 worked their way into the first two PGA Tour signature events

Reporting by Adam Schupak, Golfweek / Golfweek

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect