After all his effort and perseverance, Justin Lower finds himself on the wrong side of the threshold. The veteran PGA Tour pro failed to make the cut at the RSM Classic–the season’s final event that would decide who keeps full Tour privileges. That miss effectively cost him a full card for the upcoming season.
For Lower, this is especially painful. He has been grinding for years, fighting his way up and holding on, yet the margins in professional golf are razor-thin. When the final tournament is a do-or-die moment for cards and status, missing the cut carries far greater consequences than a bad week.
“I went to an NAIA school, I lost my dad and brother when I was 15. If it weren’t for me to get four years out here … I don’t know what to say, really,” Lower said. “I love it out here. I do. I love it out here, I love everyone involved with the tour. Are there some people that piss me off? Yes, absolutely, there are. Are there some things that piss me off? Yes, there are–I’m human. I don’t know what else to do.”
The Stakes at Play
Pressure has been intense at Sea Island Golf Club. Only the top 100 players in the FedEx Cup standings will be fully exempt next season; those falling between 101-125 will only have conditional status. Lower came into the event needing to move significantly up the standings to stay in the safe zone. According to one point breakdown, he was 87 points behind the cut-off for 100th place.
Lower opened the week strongly in Georgia, carding a 69 in Round 1 and following it with a solid 68 in Round 2.
For Lower and others in his position, simply making the cut and finishing well would likely have been enough to preserve full status. With the cut missed, his season ends with that painful punctuation mark, and the prospect of reduced status or needing to go through qualifying again looms.
“God, I am just so mad right now. If I could have just somehow turned it around this year … obviously I couldn’t, and this game is just really hard. I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to say. I need to figure out how to get better.”
The Journey of Justin Lower
Lower’s story is one of hard work and persistence. Originally from Akron, Ohio, he didn’t arrive at the Tour by magic or instant success. For many years, he worked through smaller circuits and Monday qualifiers, and when he finally earned full PGA Tour status in 2021, it was the result of sustained determination.
In terms of victories, Lower hasn’t yet broken through with a major tour title, but he does have two professional wins to his name–both at the Ohio Open in 2012 and 2015. However, his resume shows steady production: 124 events played, 70 cuts made, 1 runner-up finish, 3 third-place finishes, 7 top-5 results, and 13 top-10 finishes. Since officially joining the PGA Tour in 2022, Lower has earned over $5.8 million in official money, a testament to how often he’s managed to fight through despite the challenges of maintaining full playing status.
Last weekend, Lower was also competing in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal, a tournament where he’s shown promise in the past–including a top-five finish in 2024. However, this year didn’t pan out how he had hoped. Lower posted rounds of 74 and 71 before missing the cut.
“I work really hard in this game, I work really hard at it. Sometimes I think I never would have gotten this far, and I’ve been through a lot in my life and it’s just, I don’t know, it’s just a lot of fun. …,” Lower said. “Yeah, it just means a lot to me. I just want to see how good I can do and prove to myself that I can actually do something in this game.”
What’s Next For Lower?
With a full card lost, Lower faces some difficult decisions. Financially, fewer starts means fewer earning opportunities, and less access to the bigger, higher-purse tournaments. The path back becomes heavier: conditional starts, mini-tour options, possibly needing to go to Q-School or the Korn Ferry Tour route to regain status.
From a career-momentum standpoint, this is a setback. But it’s far from the end. For a player like Lower, the opportunity exists to regroup, refocus, and rebuild. His game still has enough in it to fight back.
“My life is about to change dramatically in about like three, four months. I have twins on the way,” he said. “I have no idea what to expect. So that’s really all I’m thinking about right now along with how I can improve in the game of golf and how I can prolong my career.”
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