Year Two of the Aon Next 10 and Swing 5 is now underway with the completion of the Sony Open in Hawaii. These rankings help round out the season’s elite, 72-man Signature Event fields. Remember, the top 50 players from the prior year’s FedEx Cup rankings gain entry into these eight prestigious tournaments, which leaves roughly 20 spots up for grabs.
Despite Sony Open meltdown, J.J. Spaun in terrific position atop PGA Tour’s Aon Swing 5
J.J. Spaun is in a terrific position to qualify for the first Signature Event of the season at Pebble Beach.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
If you are unfamiliar or need a refresher, here is how the Aon Next 10 and Swing 5 works:
The Next 10 ensures that the best 10 players from the season gain entry into the Signature Event fields. It ranks the top 10 FedEx Cup points earners not otherwise exempt from these high-profile tournaments. Since we are barely into the new season, the top 10 finishers from the FedEx Cup Fall comprise the initial Aon Next 10 for the first two Signature Events of the season.
Meanwhile, the Swing 5 identifies the players who have the best form. Two or three full-field events typically sit between Signature Events, and from those sets of tournaments, the five best players earn invites to the Signature Events via the Swing 5. So, after the season-opening Sentry at Kapalua, the top five point-earners from the Sony Open in Hawaii, the American Express in Palm Springs, and the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines combined will earn a spot at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am—the season’s second Signature Event.
Here are how the current Aon Swing 5 standings currently look following Nick Taylor’s remarkable playoff win in Honolulu:
1. J.J. Spaun — 162.5 points
T2. Patrick Fishburn — 88.75
T2. Adam Schenk — 88.75
T2. Jackson Suber — 88.75
T5. Harry Hall — 63.67
T5. Lee Hodges — 63.67
T5. Paul Peterson — 63.67
T5. Jesper Svensson — 63.67
Swing 5 Projected Cutoff Line
T9. Webb Simpson — 49 points
T9. Alex Smalley — 49
T9. Gary Woodland — 49
T12. Lucas Glover — 35.83
T12. Mark Hubbard — 35.83
T12. Zach Johnson — 35.83
T12. Matt Kuchar — 35.83
After the Sony Open in Hawaii, J.J. Spaun has a sizeable advantage over the others in the Aon Swing 5 — a nice consolation prize considering he squandered an opportunity to win.
Spaun entered the final round holding a one-shot lead at 13-under. He got off to a nice start, making three birdies on the front nine to jump to 16-under for the championship. It looked like nobody would catch him as he made his way to the back nine, but that proved not to be the case. Spaun stalled on Waialae’s back side, failing to convert an array of birdie opportunities. He instead made seven straight pars before making an inexcusable bogey on the par-3 17th. The pressure of leading a PGA Tour event got to him in the greenside bunker on 17, as he hit a poor sand shot that landed 15 feet short of the hole. What should have been a routine up-and-down resulted in a bogey, dropping him back to 15-under.
While that happened, Taylor chipped in for an eagle on the 18th hole, which vaulted him up to 16-under and into a tie with Nico Echavarria after 72 holes. Spaun needed to birdie the par-5 18th — a severe right to left dogleg — to join the playoff, but he tugged his 3-wood into the trees left of the fairway bunker.
“I’ve hit 3-wood [on 18] every day,” Spaun said.
“I can’t draw my driver to save my life, so it’s a 3-wood all day on that hole.”
His second shot then raced up to a precarious position short and right of the putting surface, but he failed to get up and down. His 10-footer for birdie slid by on the high side.
Despite that, Spaun remained positive after the round.
“It was a great week overall. Proud of how I battled all day,” Spaun said.
“Hung in there with Stephan [Jaeger] and Nico [Echavarria] and Nick [Taylor] putting the pressure on. Unfortunately, it didn’t go my way there at the end. You know, it is what it is. Hopefully, I use this momentum going into the rest of the West Coast.”
If he can keep posting top-10 finishes — or at the very least make the cut — at The American Express and the Farmers Insurance Open, Spaun will be a lock to make it to Pebble Beach for the first Signature Event of the season. A bevy of cash and FedEx Cup points would be available to him there, which would go a long way toward securing status for the 2026 season. Only 100 players will receive PGA Tour cards next year, a new development as a part of a sweeping set of changes implemented by the board. That makes all of these events even more important, especially for those players among the Aon Swing 5, who do not have exemptions into Signature Event fields.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
