ST SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – In any other year, Joel Dahmen would have found himself on the charter plane out to Bermuda, eager for a good result in the penultimate event of the FedExCup Fall.

His absence was notable, given he’s still in need of one, periously outside the top-100 bubble in the FedExCup Fall standings that determines who has full status for 2026. Now we know why. Something much more important was happening back home.

Dahmen and his wife, Lona, welcomed their second child over the weekend, a boy named Dawson. Dahmen revealed the news in a PGATOUR.COM interview on Thursday at The RSM Classic.

“We knew we were going to have a kid sometime this fall, was kind of one of those things,” Dahmen said. “She’s happy, she’s healthy, kid’s doing well. So, yeah, there was like a piece of me that knew I should have played or needed to play, but there's nothing more important than your family and especially a birth of a child, so I wouldn't miss that for the world.”

The Dahmen’s now have two boys: Riggs and Dawson. They are back home in Arizona with Dahmen out at The RSM Classic by himself – excited to get back home regardless of what happens this week.

“My mind’s at home a lot, honestly, this week. You know, if I’m not playing 25 weeks a year, then I get to hang out with a couple amazing kids and my wife,” Dahmen said. “So there’s no real downside to it. It’s just less golf.”

Dahmen has been in a similar position before. He entered The RSM Classic last year just inside the cutoff (then the top 125). Dahmen sank a nervy par putt on his 18th hole Friday to make the cut, then holed out for eagle as part of a low round Sunday to maintain his position and his card.

He finds himself needing an even better result this year, outside the top 100. Dahmen, No. 117 to begin the week, needs to finish in a two-way tie for sixth, at minimum, to have a mathematical chance to crack the top 100. Dahmen doesn’t know the specifics and doesn’t care to know. He just knows he needs a really good one.

Dahmen’s opening round on Thursday began rocky, 2-over by the time he reached his fourth hole, but the veteran TOUR pro battled his way back with a slew of birdies in the middle of the round. Dahmen made four birdies on his outward nine to make the turn in 2-under and added another birdie on his 17th hole of the day to shoot 3-under 69. He’s seven back of the co-leaders. He’s five strokes out of a tie for sixth.

The fall has not been particularly kind to Dahmen, who felt he played better than the scores suggested. Dahmen began the fall at 93rd in the standings but missed three of five cuts and finished no better than tie for 40th.

“There's times when you're playing bad and you don't feel like you're playing that bad, or you don't feel like you're getting-, maybe you need one good bounce or you need a putt to lip in and it’s a lip out, and I just haven't had great results, but I feel like I've been playing okay,” Dahmen said. “When you play golf long enough, there's going to be, you know, ebbs and flows of at all.”

Those ebbs and flows have unfortunately left Dahmen with little margin for error. It was hard to tell when talking with Dahmen, who smiled off the early mistakes and bemoaned not grabbing one more birdie coming in, but spoke like a full season was still in front of him. Shirt untucked, Dahmen took off for the practice area to hit a few chips and then take some full swings. He’s focused on the task at hand, but he’s not burdened by it. Not after his last week.

"I mean, I've got a five-day-old baby at home,” Dahmen said. “I'm worried about that way more than anything else.”