After a wildly successful inaugural year, the Aon Next 10 is back for the PGA TOUR’s 2025 season. This unique eligibility pathway qualifies the top 10 players in the FedExCup standings who are not already exempt to play in PGA TOUR Signature Events. As a result, players have entered more events, earned more money, and generated a lot more excitement. In the program’s first year, 48 different players participated 114 times in the Signature Events after The Sentry via the Aon Next 10 and Aon Swing 5, and earned $22,640,231.79 in official prize money.

When the RSM Classic concluded on Sunday, it also wrapped up the PGA TOUR FedEx Cup Fall and a final opportunity for players to secure their spot in the 2025 standings heading into January. The Aon Next 10 currently includes some familiar names, as well as some hot up-and-comers. Check out more on these 10 players below.

Maverick McNealy had six top-10 finishes that included a season-finale win at The RSM Classic. He gained the most strokes via his driving (23rd best on TOUR) and around the green (10th best) in 2024.

Mackenzie Hughes finished in the Top 10 six times in 2024, including at the Procore Championship and Sanderson Farms Championship. His excellent short game at those two events helped him finish T4 and T8, respectively. His 0.688 Strokes Gained – Putting was third best on TOUR.

Patrick Rodgers had five Top 10 finishes, including 5th place at the RBC Heritage and Barracuda Championship. He was one of the TOUR’s better bunker players with a 60.36 percent sand save average and negotiated par-5 holes more efficiently than most with a 4.54 average.

Nico Echavarria catapulted into the Aon Next 10 by winning the ZOZO Championship in late October. At the event, he recorded 24 birdies and an eagle, and averaged just 1.55 putts per Greens in Regulation. That collectively helped him best the field in Strokes Gained.

Harris English made 13 of his first 14 cuts to start the year before struggling in the second half. Then he turned a corner and scored Top 10 spots at the Black Desert PGA TOUR Championship and the Shriners Children’s Open, gaining nearly two strokes per round due to his putting (+1.25 strokes gained) and short game (+0.9 strokes gained).

Seamus Power’s nice year peaked with a 10th place finish at the FedEx St. Jude Championship where he was the field’s most accurate off the tee. In fact, driving has been one of his strengths all season – he was 37th in total driving.

Ben Griffin’s five Top 10 finishes included 2nd at the RBC Canadian Open. His secret weapon: accuracy. Griffin’s approach shots have been stellar all year, but particularly from 50-to-75 yards out where he’s 8th-best on TOUR and lands shots to an average of 10’ 8” from the cup.

Kevin Yu landed in the Top 10 five times including a T3 at the American Express and T6 at the Farmers Insurance Open, which qualified him for the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational Signature Events via the 2024 Aon Next 10. He secured his first career win at the Sanderson Farms Championship, where he gained eight shots on the green throughout the week.

Tom Kim twice landed in the Top 10 – highlighted by a playoff loss to Scottie Scheffler at the Travelers Championship. That alone catapulted Kim 22 spots up the FedExCup standings.

Nick Taylor had three Top 10 finishes. His best performance? Capturing the WM Phoenix Open, where he was top in Strokes Gained Putting (8.94), Total Strokes Gained (16.258), Sand Saves (100%) and Scrambling (92.31%) – let alone carding the most birdies (26) and fewest bogies (3).

The competition has been fierce, and 2025 is already shaping up to be an even more exciting ride. Tune in as these pros compete in the first Signature Events in January — AT&T Pebble Beach and the Genesis Invitational. Visit pgatour.com/aon-better-decisions to follow along and see real-time standings.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com