The PGA Tour’s mega-money post season kicks off this week with the top 70 players set to scrap over US$140 million (A$215m) available in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Memphis plays host to the first playoff tournament, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, this weekend at TPC Southwind, where players will fight for the right to progress to the top-50 event that follows, the BMW Championship.
It all then leads to the 30-player Tour Championship at East Lake, an event worth US$100 million (A$154m) alone — and one which has been overhauled once more.
But the biggest talking point at the start of the playoffs concerns Rory McIlroy, who has made a bombshell decision that’s sent shockwaves through the Tour.
Here’s everything you need to know about the McIlroy news, and the FedEx Cup playoffs.
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SCHEDULE
August 7-11: FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee
August 14-18: BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland
August 21-25: Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta
HOW DO THE PLAYOFFS WORK?
In a way, the playoffs started last week with the final tournament of the regular season, the Wyndham Championship, which serves as a de facto play-in tournament for those on the bubble top-70.
It was here earlier this week where the drama started with some big names, like Adam Scott and Max Homa, failing to play their way in. There was also the drama of Davis Thompson three-putting on the 72nd hole to miss a spot in the lucrative post-season.
It’s a brutal game.
Which brings us to this week’s event in Memphis which marks the start of the playoffs proper.
The 70 players who have accumulated the most FedEx Cup points — by way of their performances in tournaments across the calendar year — have qualified.
That’s not to say all 70 will tee up… but there’s more on that controversy below.
Following the St. Jude Championship, the players inside the points tally’s top-50 progress to the BMW Championship, before the field is whittled down again to 30 for the season-ending Tour Championship.
It’s important to reiterate that progression in the playoffs relies on season points tally, and not leaderboard position at each playoff event — though the higher you place, the more points you earn.
Thompson misses simple putt & playoffs | 00:47
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP?
It’s back to the future for the Tour Championship, which reverts to a 72-hole stroke-play event, with all players starting at even par like every other tournament.
Between 2019 and 2024, the FedEx Cup leader was given a headstart at 10-under, second-place was afforded eight starting strokes, and the advantages shrunk down until 26-30th who began at even-par.
The starting strokes format was introduced to stop the situation where the winner of the Tour Championship was not necessarily the winner of the FedEx Cup.
For example, in 2018, when Tiger Woods sensationally won the Tour Championship, it was actually Justin Rose who won the FedEx Cup and a much larger pay cheque.
People only really remember the former.
The starting strokes format made it truly a winner-takes-all tournament that aimed to offer some level of advantage to the season’s better players, but it remained somewhat disorientating and offered little clarity over who was actually playing the best at the event.
At the end of the day, it was deemed to be too convoluted for fans.
Scottie Scheffler, the season leader who won’t get the advantage of a 10-stroke lead, said earlier this year that reverting the format was the best course of action.
“Shifting the Tour Championship to a more straight-up format with a tougher course set-up makes it easier for fans to follow and provides a more challenging test for players, which brings out the best competition,” he said.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement that the decision was made after an evaluation of fans’ opinions.
“The Player Advisory Council led a thorough process to respond to what our fans are asking for: The most competitive golf in the world, played for the highest stakes, in the most straightforward and engaging format,” he said.
Cameron Young finally PGA Tour winner | 00:56
SO WHY ISN’T RORY PLAYING?
This is where things get really interesting.
In reverting the Tour Championship to its old format, the PGA Tour failed to close a massive loophole that McIlroy will this week exploit.
The reigning Masters champion will sensationally not play the St. Jude Championship, knowing that his spot at No.2 on the rankings is already enough to put him through to the BMW Championship.
Depending on results, he may not even need to play the BMW Championship either.
Under the previous Tour Championship format, McIlroy would have been incentivised to play the St. Jude and BMW so he had the most starting strokes possible for the Tour Championship.
But since all 30 players will start at even-par, and with McIllory not exactly wanting for prize money, he’s decided he’s happy enough to take his chances with a week off.
The move understandably has PGA Tour headquarters worried.
“Very concerned,” player director on the PGA Tour Policy Board, Peter Malnati, said on Tuesday about the decision.
“I think there is stuff in the works (to keep it from happening again) and I’ll leave it at that.”
Social media has swiftly described any such ruling as the ‘Rory Rule’.
Fellow board member Webb Simpson was more at ease with McIlroy’s decision, but suggested that closing the loophole completely would be difficult.
“I think it’s too hard of a thing to make guys have to play. We’re still a sport where you can play when you want to play,” Simpson said.
It’s worth noting that for all its controversy, it’s not a move without precedence.
Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk have both previously skipped the first playoff event and still won the FedEx Cup.
Jordan Spieth, a former player director on the policy board, said he didn’t expect playoff absences to become a widespread issue.
“You might have one, two guys do that for an event, but I don’t think it will become a thing because they are still huge events against the best players in the world,” Spieth said.
“I think they’re trying to figure out how to make sure you don’t skip both of them and ideally neither of them.”
Mimi Rhodes “Hole in one, & an assist?!” | 01:11
WHO ARE THE AUSSIES IN THE MIX — AND HOW COULD THEY FARE?
2025 has been a quieter year on Tour for the Australian contingent, as evidenced by the fact that there are only three players from these shores in the playoffs: Jason Day, Min Woo Lee and Cam Davis.
In truth, we could well see a scenario where no Australian makes it to the Tour Championship with none of the trio currently inside the top-30.
Day is the highest-ranked at 37th following four top-10 finishes this year, but he comes into the post-season off consecutive missed cuts at The Open and John Deere Classic.
Lee needs to perform well at the St. Jude as he is ranked 50th, on the cusp of dropping out of the BMW Championship the week after.
He does, however, have a PGA Tour win under his belt this year after clinching the Houston Open. But his form has been up-and-down of late with three missed cuts in his past six starts, with his best finish in that stretch being his T13 at the Rocket Classic.
Meanwhile, Davis will need to play himself into the BMW Championship having only scraped through to the playoffs ranked 69th.
He has just one top-10 finish this year and has missed 50 per cent of cuts from 22 events this year.
HOW MUCH MONEY IS UP FOR GRABS IN TOTAL?
The total bonus pool handed out after the Tour Championship is US$100 million (A$154m), with the winner now earning US$10 million (A$15.4m).
Those who reach the Tour Championship only play for the ‘bonus pool’, meaning there is no additional prize money for the event itself.
The St. Jude and BMW, however, have US$20 million (A$30.7m) prize pools of their own.
As such, when you combine the bonus pool with the prize funds of the St. Jude and BMW, the FedEx Cup playoffs become worth US$140 million (A$215m) across the three weeks.
Minjee Lee almost hit by stray ball! | 00:22
WHO QUALIFIED FOR THE FEDEX CUP PLAYOFFS?
Rank — Name — FedEx Cup points
1: Scottie Scheffler, 4806
2: Rory McIlroy, 3444
3: Sepp Straka, 2595
4: Russell Henley, 2391
5: Justin Thomas, 2280
6: Ben Griffin, 2275
7: Harris English, 2232
8: J.J. Spaun, 2144
9: Tommy Fleetwood, 1783
10: Keegan Bradley, 1749
11: Maverick McNealy, 1672
12: Andrew Novak, 1625
13: Corey Conners, 1620
14: Ludvig Aberg, 1559
15: Robert MacIntyre, 1488
16: Cameron Young, 1464
17: Shane Lowry, 1438
18: Nick Taylor, 1438
19: Collin Morikawa, 1427
20: Brian Harman, 1413
21: Hideki Matsuyama, 1309
22: Chris Gotterup, 1306
23: Patrick Cantlay, 1275
24: Sam Burns, 1266
25: Justin Rose, 1220
26: Viktor Hovland, 1210
27: Lucas Glover, 1191
28: Sam Stevens, 1182
29: Sungjae Im, 1172
30: Daniel Berger, 1167
31: Ryan Gerard, 1158
32: Ryan Fox, 1126
33: Jacob Bridgeman, 1111
34: Brian Campbell, 1104
35: Thomas Detry, 1080
36: Michael Kim, 1080
37: Jason Day, 1070
38: Taylor Pendrith, 1035
39: Denny McCarthy, 1034
40: Tom Hoge, 1026
41: Matt Fitzpatrick, 1017
42: Xander Schauffele, 953
43: Aldrich Potgieter, 941
44: Harry Hall, 929
45: Akshay Bhatia, 909
46: Si Woo Kim, 882
47: Jake Knapp, 871
48: Jordan Spieth, 865
49: Wyndham Clark, 853
50: Min Woo Lee, 851
51: J.T. Poston, 850
52: Kurt Kitayama, 842
53: Bud Cauley, 831
54: Joe Highsmith, 828
55: Aaron Rai, 811
56: Jhonattan Vegas, 783
57: Max Greyserman, 768
58: Stephan Jaeger, 726
59: Mackenzie Hughes, 704
60: Tony Finau, 690
61: Chris Kirk, 682
62: Nico Echavaria, 672
63: Patrick Rodgers, 668
64: Rickie Fowler, 656
65: Davis Riley, 652
66: Kevin Yu, 645
67: Emiliano Grillo, 628
68: Erik van Rooyan, 634
69: Cam Davis, 625
70: Matthias Schmid, 620
PAST FEDEX CUP WINNERS
2024: Scottie Scheffler
2023: Viktor Hovland
2022: Rory McIlroy
2021: Patrick Cantlay
2020: Dustin Johnson
2019: Rory McIlroy
2018: Justin Rose
2017: Justin Thomas
2016: Rory McIlroy
2015: Jordan Spieth
2014: Billy Horschel
2013: Henrik Stenson
2012: Brandt Snedeker
2011: Bill Haas
2010: Jim Furyk
2009: Tiger Woods
2008: Vijay Singh
2007: Tiger Woods
