The FedEx Cup Playoffs commence this week with the top 70 in the standings, except for Rory McIlroy, heading to Memphis for the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Shane Lowry comes into the week ranked 17th in the FedEx standings, and, barring a disastrous two weeks, should find himself among the 30 players in with a chance of being crowned Tour champion at East Lake.
This three-week stretch used to culminate in a 30-man field vying for $100 million in prize money. But this year, the PGA Tour has altered how it allocates the FedEx Cup prize pool by separating it into three sections. After last week’s Wyndham Championship, the Tour paid out $20 million to the top 10 in the standings. Scottie Scheffler earned $10 million (plus another $8 million from the Comcast Business Top 10). The Tour will hand out $23 million more to the top 30 after the BMW Championship, and the remaining $57.08 million will be up for grabs at the Tour Championship at East Lake.
The FedEx Cup Playoffs have several subplots to pay attention to outside of who adds the most zeroes to their bank account.
Ryder Cup Closing Arguments
Ever since McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam at the Masters, players on both tours have been pelted with questions about the event looming over 2025: the Ryder Cup.
This next three-week stretch can serve as a key closing argument for players looking for a captain’s pick. Likewise, poor play could help remove them from consideration.
Team Europe seems mostly settled. With McIlroy guaranteed his place in the automatic qualifiers and Lowry currently ranked fifth of the six, we’re virtually certain to have two Irishmen in attendance. In fact, 11 of the 12 spots feel set, and with both Rasmus and Nicolai Højgaard missing the FedEx Cup Playoffs, captain Luke Donald only needs to be tuned in if Harry Hall, Aaron Rai, or Thomas Detry get blisteringly hot and try to kick down the door.
Things are different for Team USA.
Captain Keegan Bradley’s team has what feels like two to three spots up for grabs.
Cameron Young, who just won the Wyndham Championship, and Chris Gotterup, who won the Genesis Scottish Open, are trying to elbow their way past stalwarts like Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay. Continued stellar play from Young or Gotterup in the playoffs could help give them an edge over some of the other bubble boys.
Spieth is an interesting case. If you take the name away, you see a player who has just three top-10s this season and doesn’t rank inside the top 15 in any of the true strokes gained categories on Data Golf. And yet, it feels like if Spieth can put together a good week in Memphis and back it up at the BMW, he can solidify his case to be on the team.
However, the biggest Ryder Cup question mark comes in the form of Bradley and the dilemma he has created for himself.
After Bradley won the Travelers, it felt like he was a lock to be the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer. But since that win at TPC River Highlands, Bradley has gone T41-T30-CUT and no longer feels like a set-in-stone pick. If Bradley continues to play subpar golf in the playoffs, it could allow him to take himself out of the equation and open up a spot for Young, Gotterup, or someone else.
The playoffs also provide an opportunity for someone like Wyndham Clark or Brian Harman to get hot and knock off an event or two and put themselves more firmly in the discussion.
Big Names in Danger of Key Cut-Off
The top 70 players made it to Memphis, but several of the sport’s most popular players are in danger of not making it past TPC Southwind.
Spieth (No. 48), Clark (No. 49), Tony Finau (No. 60), and Rickie Fowler (No. 63) are all either on the top-50 bubble or outside of it. The top 50 after this week will earn spots in all of next year’s Signature Events. Those who do not will have to rely on sponsor exemptions or try to play their way in via the AON Swing pathway.
Per PGATour.com, Fowler needs at least a two-way tie for 17th this week to jump into the top 50. Finau needs a two-way tie for 20th at minimum. Spieth and Clark can theoretically tread water and survive, but they will likely need to do something more to hold off Fowler, Finau, and others behind them who are trying to leapfrog them and get into the exclusive, big-money events next season.
Can Xander Schauffele Finish Strong?
A year after winning two majors, Xander Schauffele’s season has been plagued by frustration.
A rib injury cost him the first two months, and he has been trying to grind bad habits out of his swing ever since. At the Players Championship, Schauffele and coach Chris Como spent a long time after each weekend round grinding to get back to the desired swing feel.
At the Genesis Scottish Open, Schauffele admitted that anger has been his overriding emotion on the course this year as he continues to tinker with a swing that needed little polishing last year.
“Trying to get into some sort of contention to try and feel something again, other than upset,” Schauffele said of his goals for his two-week stint in the UK. “I think I’ve just been angry-ish. That’s been the biggest emotion of this is frustrating, versus why we love playing to be in contention and kind of see what you can do. But you know, that part’s been humbling. So you know, it’s a battle, and I’m going to try and win it.
“What would make me really happy is that I can just play freely,” Schauffele said. “I think the obstacles of trying to play really good golf and then playing bad golf and then just fiddling all day long is really what drives me nuts. It’s why we love the game but it’s what’s driving me crazy. So if I can just get out of my own way, that would be the thing that would make me happiest right now more than even winning a tournament. That would just be the result.”
Can Schauffele, who has great history at the Tour Championship at East Lake, salvage a lost season?
So, What’s Up with Collin Morikawa?
It has been a strange year for the World No. 6.
Morikawa opened the season with runner-up finishes at the Sentry and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
But since the Players Championship in mid-March, Morikawa has just one top-10 finish, which was a T8 at the Rocket Classic.
Since the Masters, Morikawa has parted ways with long-time caddie J.J. Jakovac, hired Joe Griener, fired Joe Griener, switched putters, switched putters again, hired Billy Foster for a two-week stint, got into a tiff with the media, and is now closing in on two years without a win.
Morikawa remains one of the PGA Tour’s best players. He ranks fifth this season in strokes gained: approach and is 10th off the tee. But he ranks 129th in putting and 89th around the green.
The two-time major champion has been searching for something ever since Russell Henley tracked him down on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He has said he wanted to take more ownership of his game, he wanted a new feel with the putter, and he played parts of rounds without a glove to find a better feel with his irons.
Is that search nearing an end? Or just beginning?
Does Scottie Finish with a Bang?
McIlroy owned the first part of the season, but even the five-time major winner admits that his three-win run came when Scheffler was still trying to get back to full strength after suffering a puncture wound in his right hand.
However, since a T20 at the Players that had Scheffler fuming on the weekend, he has not finished worse than T8 in 11 starts. That includes four wins and two majors. Scheffler just ran away from the field at the Open Championship. His competitive drive will undoubtedly have him wanting to finish the season with a resounding statement that can help secure him the Player of the Year award. He’ll be the favourite at each playoff event, including at the Tour Championship where …
Starting Strokes Are Gone
That’s right. The PGA Tour, in concert with top players like Scheffler, has ended its six-year era of granting players starting strokes that corresponded to their FedEx Cup Playoff rank. The season finale will be a 72-hole stroke play event with everyone starting at even.
The Tour has also said it plans to make the course harder after getting feedback from fans.
The PGA Tour has spent almost two decades trying to find the right formula for the Tour Championship. Starting strokes didn’t work. Neither did having a tournament winner and a FedEx Cup winner both lift trophies on the 18th green. We’ll see whether these changes help, hurt, or do little to move the needle.
This article originated on Golf.com
