PGA Tour Playoffs: The Race for the FedEx Cup Begins
The PGA Tour playoffs kick off this Thursday with the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee. This will be the first of three consecutive tournaments that will determine the FedEx Cup champion.
Almost all of the top 70 golfers in the season’s points standings will seek to dethrone the world’s number 1, Scottie Scheffler, who will try to become the first back-to-back FedEx Cup winner at the Tour Championship in Atlanta from August 21-24.
It’s the time of year when everyone obviously wants to be at their best and play their best.
Justin Thomas
Scheffler, who dealt with a hand injury at the beginning of the season, hasn’t had as many victories as last year, but his four wins this season include triumphs in major championships like the PGA Championship and The Open.
FedEx Cup Playoffs Tournaments
Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire
FedEx St. Jude Championship
When: Thursday to Sunday
Where: TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tennessee
Purse: $20 million ($3.6 million for the winner)
Defending Champion: Hideki Matsuyama
The top 70 golfers in the FedEx Cup points standings return to TPC Southwind for the first leg of the playoffs. However, Masters champion Rory McIlroy will be absent from the tournament.
McIlroy, comfortably in second place in the points standings, has practically secured his place in the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship. He has achieved three top-10 finishes in eight appearances at TPC Southwind, but finished in 68th place last year.
There is a greater sense of urgency for golfers who are just inside or outside the top 50, including Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau, who have reached the Tour Championship in eight consecutive seasons, the longest streaks on the tour.
Schauffele, who battled a rib injury earlier in the season, is 42nd in the points standings, while Finau is 60th. Finau needs at least a tie for 20th to enter the top 50. Rickie Fowler (64th) needs at least a tie for 17th.
Other golfers in the “bubble” to qualify for the BMW Championship are: Harry Hall (No. 44), Akshay Bhatia (No. 45), Si Woo Kim (No. 46), Jake Knapp (No. 47), Jordan Spieth (No. 48), Wyndham Clark (No. 49), Min Woo Lee (No. 50), J.T. Poston (No. 51), Kurt Kitayama (No. 52), Bud Cauley (No. 53), Joe Highsmith (No. 54) and Aaron Rai (No. 55).
Gary Woodland (No. 72), Adam Scott (No. 90), Tom Kim (No. 94), Max Homa (No. 111), and Sahith Theegala (No. 146) were some of the most notable names who failed to qualify for the playoffs.
BMW Championship
When: August 14-17
Where: Caves Valley Golf Club, Owings Mills, Maryland
Purse: $20 million ($3.6 million for the winner)
Defending Champion: Keegan Bradley
The top 50 golfers in the points standings after the FedEx St. Jude Championship will advance to the second stage of the playoffs and earn spots in each of the eight signature events in 2026.
The BMW Championship returns to Caves Valley Golf Club for the first time since 2021. On that occasion, Patrick Cantlay defeated Bryson DeChambeau in a dramatic six-hole sudden-death playoff.
Caves Valley Golf Club, located about 20 miles northwest of Baltimore, opened its doors in 1991. It hosted the 2002 U.S. Senior Open and the 2007 Palmer Cup. The course installed a SubAir system on its greens in recent years and lengthened hole number 1.
Seven golfers finished at 20-under or better four years ago; Sungjae Im finished third at 23-under and McIlroy was fourth at 22-under.
Tour Championship
When: August 21-24
Where: East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta
Purse: $40 million ($10 million for the winner)
Defending Champion: Scottie Scheffler
Stacy Revere/Getty ImagesFor the first time since 2019, the PGA Tour is abandoning its starting strokes format for the Tour Championship, which will be a traditional 72-hole stroke play tournament, where the top 30 golfers will start at par.
The winner of the Tour Championship will earn $10 million, regardless of the golfer’s position in the points standings. The runner-up earns $5 million, third place gets $3.7 million, fourth takes $3.2 million, and fifth goes home with $2.75 million. The golfer who finishes in last place at the Tour Championship will receive $355,000.
Renovations at TPC Southwind
TPC Southwind underwent a massive renovation after last year’s tournament, with 18 new green complexes and re-surfaced tee boxes. There are also new chipping and putting practice areas.
Scheffler commented that TPC Southwind did a good job of maintaining its essence and not making too many changes during the renovation.
Harris English found that shaved edges on the greens of holes 3 and 9 will cause balls to roll back into the water if golfers come up short on their approach shots. The new back tee box on hole 5 left English hitting driver and 3-iron on the par-4 hole.
Golfers will face scorching temperatures in the 90s for four days in Memphis.
What’s at stake for the Ryder Cup?
The U.S. Ryder Cup team captain, Keegan Bradley, is tenth in the FedEx Cup points standings, so he will have a good opportunity to assess who is playing well and who isn’t during the three stages of the playoffs.
The top six golfers in the Ryder Cup point standings after the BMW Championship will automatically qualify for the U.S. team. Bradley will make six captain’s picks after the Tour Championship.
At this moment, Scheffler, Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Russell Henley, Bryson DeChambeau, and English are in the top six. Each of those six seems certain to be part of the team, regardless of where they finish in the points standings.
Thomas, who is seventh in Ryder Cup points, also seems to be in good form, although he is not risking anything.
The two-time major winner, Collin Morikawa, is in eighth place in points, followed by Ben Griffin, Bradley, Maverick McNealy, and Brian Harman.
Cantlay, a Ryder Cup veteran, is 14th in points. Cameron Young, who won for the first time on tour at last week’s Wyndham Championship, is 15th, and Sam Burns is 16th. They may need to make some noise in the playoffs to secure a spot.
The top six golfers in the European team points standings on August 24 will qualify for the team. McIlroy has already qualified on points, and Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry, and Sepp Straka complete the top six.
Rasmus Højgaard, Justin Rose, Ludvig Åberg and Jon Rahm, who is in 21st place, will be part of the team, which means that Matt Wallace, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Thomas Detry and Aaron Rai could be fighting for a place.
