The Drive to Atlanta
Preparing for The TOUR Championship at Eastlake
The official start of summer is often marked by the last days of school and the first cold plunges into the neighborhood pool. For some, it’s designated by dates on a calendar like the Summer Solstice or the Fourth of July. For others, summer doesn’t begin until they see the pros pouring sweat and cursing stimped greens at the U.S. Open in June. Regardless of the indication you use, the arrival of summer in professional golf always means that we are nearing playoff time.
But what exactly does that mean? How do playoffs apply to such an individual sport like golf? Aren’t the majors considered their own version of a championship? There are a lot of new golf fans out there thanks to an increase in the game’s popularity during COVID, the ever growing golf-core fashion trends, and the efforts of new golf centered media like our friends at St. André and Full Swing. The format for playoffs on the PGA TOUR can be confusing for fans who are following along for the first time. Even for fans who have been around for a while, there have been some changes over the years that can be hard to keep up with as format and sponsor names change over time.
Whether you are going into it as a first-timer or a veteran fan, here’s what you need to know as we head into the PGA TOUR Playoffs:
Hey, that’s me in the red dress! We had a front-row-seat for Patrick Cantlay’s FedEx Cup win at Eastlake in 2021.
The Highlights
The FedEx Cup is a season-long competition. There are 36 events starting in January with The Sentry and ending in August with the Wyndham Championship. All players start in January with zero points. As they compete in events throughout the season they earn points, which can vary by their performance and the tournament itself. Some tournaments, like majors and signature events, give more FedEx Cup points than others. So player performance in these tournaments is more important than others.
After the Wyndham Championship wraps in August, only the top 70 players will advance to the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The playoffs consist of three events with a progressive cut. This means there is no cut at the tournament itself; you don’t run the risk of buying a Sunday ticket and not seeing your favorite player because they missed the cut on Friday. The cuts are made after each round of the playoffs.
The FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, TN is the first playoff event and will start with the full playoff eligible field of 70 players. After this event, only the top 50 players will move onto compete in the BMW Championship. Then the field is cut again, down to only the top 30 players, to advance to the finale in Atlanta at the TOUR Championship.
The TOUR Championship
The final round of the playoffs is typically where the most confusion comes in. Starting in 2019, the PGA Tour implemented a strokes-based system for the finale. Think of it as a head-start; the higher your ranking going into the tournament the better score you start with. The lower your ranking, the better you have to play to make up that deficit in both point and stroke-advantage in order to be crowned FedEx Cup Champion.
The player with the most FedEx Cup points at the start of the TOUR Championship will tee off at 10-under par. The No. 2 player will start at 8-under. The No. 3 player starts at 7-under; the No. 4 player starts at 6-under; the No. 5 player starts at 5-under. Players 6-10 start at 4-under; players 11-15 start at 3-under; players 16-20 start at 2-under; players 21-25 start at 1-under; and players 26-30 start at even par.
Current Standings
This format can be confusing - for both new and existing fans. We will do our best to keep you updated week-by-week and let you know where your favorite players are standing and what their chances are of either making or missing the playoffs.
| Ranking | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | S. SCHEFFLER | 5768 |
| 2 | X. SCHAUFFELE | 3257 |
| 3 | R. MCILROY | 2445 |
| 4 | C. MORIKAWA | 2241 |
| 5 | W. CLARK | 2088 |
| 6 | L. ÅBERG | 1992 |
| 7 | H. MATSUYAMA | 1893 |
| 8 | S. THEEGALA | 1845 |
| 9 | P. CANTLAY | 1717 |
| 10 | B. AN | 1620 |
| 11 | A. BHATIA | 1606 |
| 12 | S. LOWRY | 1592 |
| 13 | T. FINAU | 1579 |
| 14 | M. PAVON | 1558 |
| 15 | S. IM | 1500 |
| 16 | J. THOMAS | 1412 |
| 17 | S. STRAKA | 1410 |
| 18 | T. HOGE | 1406 |
| 19 | R. HENLEY | 1371 |
| 20 | C. BEZUIDENHOUT | 1370 |
| 21 | B. HARMAN | 1362 |
| 22 | C. KIRK | 1290 |
| 23 | S. JÄGER | 1207 |
| 24 | T. FLEETWOOD | 1203 |
| 25 | S. BURNS | 1181 |
| 26 | M. HOMA | 1175 |
| 27 | T. DETRY | 1173 |
| 28 | J. DAY | 1173 |
| 29 | J. POSTON | 1165 |
| 30 | C. YOUNG | 1162 |
| 31 | T. PENDRITH | 1152 |
| 32 | A. HADWIN | 1133 |
| 33 | S. KIM | 1123 |
| 34 | C. CONNERS | 1121 |
| 35 | M. FITZPATRICK | 1049 |
| 36 | K. BRADLEY | 1030 |
| 37 | R. MACINTYRE | 1023 |
| 38 | W. ZALATORIS | 1019 |
| 39 | T. KIM | 1001 |
| 40 | C. DAVIS | 979 |
| 41 | N. TAYLOR | 964 |
| 42 | A. ECKROAT | 963 |
| 43 | D. MCCARTHY | 944 |
| 44 | J. KNAPP | 942 |
| 45 | H. ENGLISH | 938 |
| 46 | B. HORSCHEL | 937 |
| 47 | A. NORÉN | 866 |
| 48 | V. HOVLAND | 846 |
| 49 | P. RODGERS | 835 |
| 50 | M. HUGHES | 832 |
| 51 | D. THOMPSON | 818 |
| 52 | G. MURRAY | 802 |
| 53 | E. VAN ROOYEN | 799 |
| 54 | P. MALNATI | 791 |
| 55 | M. LEE | 780 |
| 56 | E. COLE | 751 |
| 57 | T. MOORE | 741 |
| 58 | A. RAI | 696 |
| 59 | J. SPIETH | 688 |
| 60 | M. HUBBARD | 684 |
| 61 | B. GRIFFIN | 668 |
| 62 | M. MCNEALY | 636 |
| 63 | E. GRILLO | 633 |
| 64 | D. RILEY | 621 |
| 65 | S. POWER | 604 |
| 66 | L. LIST | 601 |
| 67 | L. HODGES | 586 |
| 68 | A. SCHENK | 578 |
| 69 | A. SCOTT | 576 |
| 70 | B. TODD | 573 |
| 71 | V. PEREZ | 568 |
| 72 | L. GLOVER | 559 |
| 73 | A. PUTNAM | 556 |
| 74 | N. HØJGAARD | 511 |
| 75 | J. ROSE | 506 |
| 76 | K. MITCHELL | 490 |
| 77 | A. SVENSSON | 487 |
| 78 | B. KOHLES | 485 |
| 79 | K. KITAYAMA | 472 |
| 80 | B. HOSSLER | 465 |
Next On The Tee
We also want you to stay informed of what’s coming up! We’ll be adding information on the tournament to come and the number of points that will be awarded to the winner each week.
John Deere Classic
TPC Deere Run - Silvis, Illinois
500 FedEx Cup Points
