Hughes, Yuan benefit from Rahm suspension
Mackenzie Hughes of Canada and Carl Yuan of China got an unexpected bump in the end-of-season FedEx Cup standings when the PGA Tour suspended Jon Rahm this week. The PGA Tour sanctioned the Spanish superstar for switching allegiances to LIV Golf, even as the tour negotiates with LIV's financiers, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, to hammer out a final version of their so-called framework agreement. "In accordance with PGA Tour Tournament Regulations, Jon Rahm was suspended and no longer eligible to participate in PGA Tour tournament play due to his association with a series of unauthorized tournaments," the PGA Tour said in a release. Rahm's suspension took him off the board entirely after he finished the Tour Championship 18th. Hughes moved from No. 51 to No. 50 as a result, which makes him eligible for all signature events in 2024. Hughes picked up his second career PGA Tour win in October at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Alex Smalley went from No. 61 to No. 60, which granted him entry into the first two signature events of the new season, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational. Yuan narrowly missed the top 125 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings; finishing No. 126 meant he would only have conditional PGA Tour status along with full status on the Korn Ferry Tour. Now he's at No. 125 and will receive a full-time PGA Tour card as a result. Paul Haley II got conditional status on the PGA Tour by sliding up from No. 151 to No. 150. And Sweden's Jonas Blixt bumped up from No. 201 to No. 200, which made him eligible for membership on the DP World Tour. The tour said eligibility for the 2024 season would be finalized on Dec. 31, and any other changes that occur before then will be reflected in the FedEx Cup standings. (Reuters)