There are just 50 tour pros left in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, and they’ll venture out to Olympia Fields for a chance to clinch one of the coveted East Lake spots. The last FedEx Cup event in Chicago required a 66-foot birdie putt from Jon Rahm to beat Dustin Johnson in 2020. And after Lucas Glover’s playoff victory at the St Jude Championship, it seems like we’re setting up for yet another down-to-the-wire finish.

Speaking of Glover, the journeyman will have a chance to go back to back to back if he’s able to win the BMW Championship. It’s happened just twice on the PGA Tour since 2004. Patrick Cantlay is also looking to make some history as he’ll have a chance to win his third-straight BMW Championship, despite all taking place on different courses.

Looking to put a stop to Glover and Cantlay’s magic are some of the best tour pros the PGA has to offer, featuring 10 of the top 11 golfers in the world. Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Matt Fitzpatrick and Wyndham Clark will all be teeing off this week. The top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings at the end of the BMW Championship will cement a bid for East Lake and the Tour Championship.

The winner will receive 2,000 FedEx Cup points and a $3.6 million share of the $20 million purse.

Tee Times (all times EDT)
THURSDAY
First tee
9.26am JT Poston, Brendon Todd
9.37am Adam Svensson, Matt Fitzpatrick
9.48am Adam Hadwin, Byeong Hun An
9.59am Sahith Theegala, Justin Rose
10.10am Jordan Spieth, Sungjae Im
10.21am Emiliano Grillo, Sepp Straka
10.32am Xander Schauffele, Adam Schenk
10.43am Russell Henley, Nick Taylor
10.54am Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa
11.10am Rory McIlroy, Lucas Glover
11.21am Brian Harman, Tommy Fleetwood
11.32am Hideki Matsuyama, Tom Hoge
11.43am Cam Davis, Cameron Young
11.54am Andrew Putnam, Eric Cole
12.05pm Seamus Power, Lee Hodges
12.16pm Kurt Kitayama, Denny McCarthy
12.27pm Chris Kirk, Sam Burns
12.43pm Corey Conners, Tyrrell Hatton
12.54pm Jason Day, Collin Morikawa
1.05pm Si Woo Kim, Tom Kim
1.16pm Tony Finau, Taylor Moore
1.27pm Viktor Hovland, Wyndham Clark
1.38pm Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler
1.49pm Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler
2pm Harris English, Patrick Rodger

The post FedEx Cup Playoffs: BMW Championship tee times,  and preview guide appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

While most of the focus Sunday at the FedEx St Jude Championship was on the top of the leaderboard, with the joy and jubilation of Lucas Glover winning for the second time in two weeks, there was heartache and emotion toward the bottom.

Nick Hardy, winner of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Davis Riley back in April, entered TPC Southwind right on the 50th spot in the FedEx Cup standings with the top 50 advancing to the BMW Championship later this week at Olympia Fields outside Chicago.

Hardy is a native of Northbrook, Illinois, which is 50 miles north or Olympia Fields and the 27-year-old so desperately wanted to qualify for the second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He got off to a hot start during the final round with birdies on his first three holes and was in prime position to advance. But he bogeyed Nos. 7, 8 and 9, then double-bogeyed the par-3 11th to fall back. More birdies came at 13, 14 and 17 but Hardy drove it in the water left of the 18th fairways and his season was over. He shot a final-round 70 to tie for 49th and drop to 52nd in the FedEx Cup standings, two positions shy of Olympia Fields.

So much to be proud of.

An emotional @NickHardy8 reflects on his season coming to an end. pic.twitter.com/51XaeMwg07

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 13, 2023

“Super tough,” an emotional Hardy told the PGA Tour afterward. “I really wanted to play Chicago. Just sucks. It really sucks. It stings right now.”

The emotion then started to hit more, in an interview that lasted two minutes.

“I’m definitely just proud of my career so far,” Hardy continued. “I’m proud of how I know I’m getting better. Sometimes it’s hard to see growth in this game, but I know I’m seeing it. I hope to be out here for a long time and I know I’ll have many more opportunities. But it stings right now.”

Mackenzie Hughes was the other man to drop from the top 50 after Memphis. The two-time tour winner started the week at No. 47 and fell to No. 51, a third-round 75 the culprit. He ended the FedEx St Jude Championship in a tie for 58th place.

With two falling out, inevitably, two had to move into the top 50. Hideki Matsuyama moved from 57 to 47 in points, thanks to a final-round 65 at TPC Southwind where he played the last four holes in four-under to tie for 16th place. Cam Davis made the biggest jump, rising from 62nd to 45th in points with a sixth-place tie.

“I would say the last three Sundays in a row have all been about the same level of stress and the same level of achievement for me,” Davis said. “I’ve managed to put really good clean rounds together when the pressure has been on to keep moving forward, and yeah, it’s really satisfying to be able to know that I’ve got a tee time next week, so I can start looking forward to that.”

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While Byeong Hun An was having a fine season up until last month, things took a serious turn for the better in late July and early August. The 31-year-old picked up a T-3 at the Genesis Scottish Open and a T-2 at the Wyndham Championship to finish off the regular season, positioning himself to make a legitimate run at the FedEx Cup crown during the playoffs.

This week at the FedEx St Jude Championship, An is back near the top of the leaderboard, shooting rounds of 67 and 68 at TPC Southwind to reach five under (T-18). The man is running hot, so hot that he’s now been “randomly” drug tested for a second time in a rather short period of time. File this under things that make you go “hmmmm…”:

Getting drug tested twice in last three events. Totally random right?

— Byeong Hun An (@ByeongHunAn) August 11, 2023

Per the tour’s policy, players may be selected at any time or place, both inside and outside of tournament competition. All testing is without prior notice. Surely, An being selected twice in three events, events he happens to be playing very well in, is purely coincidental.

As one Twitter user pointed out, An is smashing the ball these days, ranking top five on tour in driving distance. No, we’re not suggesting that’s why he’s being randomly selected, just pointing out the facts:

Do u know how hard it is to pee when they ask u to pee? https://t.co/kTFr0I10FO

— Byeong Hun An (@ByeongHunAn) August 11, 2023

An is having plenty of fun with the whole thing on social media, even joking that the top three finishes on tour each week should be drug tested every Sunday. He also knows he has nothing to hide, though that doesn’t make the test itself any easier to take:

Stage fright is a very real thing.

The post FedEx Cup contender questions timing of ‘random’ drug tests during recent hot stretch appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Until Wednesday, Matt Kuchar didn’t fully appreciate being the last man standing — the last player on the PGA Tour to have qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs every year since its inception in 2007 — because it was an accomplishment realised through the most mundane of purposes. At least that’s way he sees it.

“I laughed originally,” he said of learning the news. “It was 17 straight years of keeping my job. I thought that’s what we were supposed to do.”

Kuchar, 45, did what he was supposed to do yet again this season, and amid a more challenging competitive framework. Only the top 70 advanced to this week’s FedEx St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind, whereas in many of the previous years the top 125 on the points list advanced to the postseason. Largely forgotten is that the playoff field was 144 players for the first two seasons.

Thanks to four top-10 finishes, all before the Masters, Kuchar finished 60th in the standings to keep his streak intact. Adam Scott fought to join him with a furious finish at last week’s Wyndham Championship, but eventually ended up 72nd for the season.

2007 vs. 2023

Matt Kuchar is the only player to qualify for the #FedExCup Playoffs in every season of its existence. pic.twitter.com/TS4jGRppQw

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 9, 2023

Kuchar wasn’t inclined to pat himself on the back too much until he arrived at TPC Southwind and received a fair bit of affirmation from his peers. “I had a bunch of players congratulate me in the locker room as I walked through,” said the nine-time tour winner. “I was going, holy cow, that’s really cool. It hit home a little more when kind of had some peers say something.

“I think when I heard it basically through the media, I chuckled a bit at it because it’s not a goal of anyone’s to be in this position and make this streak. Certainly, it’s a nice feather in the cap, but today to hear from players was a great feeling, kind of put a little more perspective to the accomplishment.”

Kuchar said he expects a few current players will surpass his streak but acknowledges that no one else can trace the mark to the beginning of the playoff concept. And even though he’s dismissive of the feat in general, the Florida native and former US Amateur champion figures that he’ll remain in select company for years to come.

“There’s only so many players out here that have that potential. So the pool of us is small. It’s not like there’s thousands of guys with this chance,” he said.

A secret to his longevity and his consistency, he said, is having the right kind of goals. As you can probably guess, those goals centred on intangibles as opposed to wins or status on a points list.

“I’ve kept most things pretty simple throughout my career, and in that simplicity, the constant goal has always been to get better,” he explained. “I’ve never been one to set sights on, I want multiple wins or a major or putting definite numbers on it. My goal is to try to get better every year. If it’s one percent better, it’s better, and if you multiply that over a 20-some-odd-year career, hopefully it’s a lot better. I certainly feel like a better player now than I was. Haven’t had the results, but I’ve certainly enjoyed the process, and that continues to be the process.

“This is not something that anybody as a player shoots out to try to do,” he added. “But, certainly in my case, I love doing what I do. I love being able to play golf for a living, be out and play PGA Tour events week in and week out, and to do it for this many years has been a treat. It’s flown by, I assure you. I still feel like a kid. I still feel like I’m fresh out of college, but here I am in the 17th straight playoffs.”

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After a season that involved 47 PGA Tour stops, including 11 first-time winners, seven players winning multiple times and two first-time major champions, we’ve arrived at the finish — the FedEx Cup Playoffs. And with that, it’s time to determine a season-long champion and hand out quite a bit of dough as well.

Masters champion Jon Rahm leads the way in the FedEx Cup standings with Scottie Scheffler, 2022 FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy, Max Homa and Wyndham Clark rounding out the top five. All four won multiple times this year.

In 2022, McIlroy entered the final round of the Tour Championship six shots behind Scheffler, but rallied with a closing 66 to win his third FedEx Cup title and the $18-million winning prize.

For a refresher on how the playoffs work, here are answers to some questions that will help you understand what’s in store as the PGA Tour crowns its next FedEx Cup champion.

When are the FedEx Cup Playoffs played?
Here is the three tournament schedule:
FedEx St. Jude Championship, TPC Southwind, Memphis, August 10-13
BMW Championship, Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club, August 17-20
Tour Championship, East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, August 24-27

How many golfers will play in each of the three events?
The top 70 players off the FedEx Cup eligibility points list are in the field at the FedEx St Jude Championship. This is the first year that number is so low; previously it was the top 125 who got into the Playoffs. The top 50 then after that event move on to the BMW Championship (previously the cut was to the top 70). The top 30 after BMW then advance from Wilmington Country Club to Atlanta for the Tour Championship, the traditional conclusion of the season.

The 2023 FedExCup Playoffs begin at next week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Field: pic.twitter.com/A9R0L3xCnm

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) August 7, 2023

Remind us again: How is the actual FedEx Cup winner decided?
OK, so instead of all 30 players starting with the same score when they compete at the Tour Championship, players are now staggered by strokes based on where they stand in the FedEx Cup points list coming into East Lake. The No. 1-ranked player begins the final tournament at 10-under, with the No. 2 player at eight-under, and then seven-under, six-under and five-under for Nos. 3-5. Nos. 6-10 start at four-under; Nos. 11-15 start at three-under; Nos. 16-20 start at two-under; Nos. 21-25 start at one under; and Nos. 26-30 start at even par. The individual with the best score after the stroke adjustment — not merely the best 72-hole score — will be the winner of the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup.

So there are no separate winners of the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup anymore?
Nope … that’s why the change was made, to help eliminate the confusion of somebody winning the tournament at East Lake but not being the actual FedEx Cup champion. In fact, there is no longer a separate purse for the Tour Championship.

Were there two winners a lot?
In the first 12 years of the playoffs, it happened four times, including 2017 and 2018. Remember Tiger Woods’ win at the Tour Championship in 2018? Well, it was Justin Rose who took home the FedEx Cup. Given how frequently this was happening, PGA Tour officials decided they needed an alternative to simplify the race for the FedEx Cup title.

Does winning the Tour Championship count for a player’s victory total?
Yes. It still counts for the PGA Tour’s records.

Jon Rahm. Ross Kinnaird

Who were the players in the lead at the start of this year’s playoffs?
At the end of the PGA Tour’s regular season — after the Wyndham Championship — Jon Rahm had 3,320 points, followed by Scottie Scheffler (3,146), Rory McIlroy (2,304), Max Homa (2,128) and Wyndham Clark (1,944).

Click here for a complete list of the rankings.

Do points from the regular season carry over into the playoffs?
Yes. And then any points earned in the first two FedEx Cup playoff events are added to a players’ regular-season points to get their new place on the FedEx Cup points list each week.

How are the points earned different in the playoffs compared to the regular season?
As you might imagine, a premium is given to players who win/play well in playoff events. If you won a regular-season PGA Tour stop, you earned 500 points. For a playoff win, you get 2,000 points. Similarly, all players earn four times the points for their performances in playoff events compared with regular-season tournaments.

Who is the defending FedEx Cup champion?
Rory McIlroy entered the Tour Championship 10 shots behind Scottie Scheffler at the start of the tournament and six shots back entering the final round. But with a closing 66, the Northern Irishman pulled out the victory by a shot over Scheffler and Sungjae Im.
McIlroy shot rounds of 67-67-63-66 for an aggregate 17 under that was the lowest score of the week regardless of the staggered-stroke start. Im finished at 16 under with Max Homa at 15 under (he finished T-5 in the FedEx Cup standings).

Who has won the most FedEx Cups?
With his win in 2022, McIlroy captured his third title, having also claimed the victory in 2016 and 2019. Only one other player — Tiger Woods, perhaps you’ve heard of him — has won the playoffs more than once, in 2007 and 2009.

Past champions include:
2007: Tiger Woods
2008: Vijay Singh
2009: Tiger Woods
2010: Jim Furyk
2011: Bill Haas
2012: Brandt Snedeker
2013: Henrik Stenson
2014: Billy Horschel
2015: Jordan Spieth
2016: Rory McIlroy
2017: Justin Thomas
2018: Justin Rose
2019: Rory McIlroy
2020: Dustin Johnson
2021: Patrick Cantlay
2022: Rory McIlroy

How much FedEx Cup prize money will be handed out?
The short answer: A lot. Starting in 2019, the FedEx Cup winner earned $15 million from an overall prize money payout of $60 million. It was then increased again in 2022, with the total payout being $75 million and the winner taking home a whopping $18 million.
Here’s the breakdown for what each player will earn at the Tour Championship:
1: $18,000,000
2: $6,500,000
3: $5,000,000
4: $4,000,000
5: $3,000,000
6: $2,500,000
7: $2,000,000
8: $1,500,000
9: $1,250,000
10: $1,000,000
11: $950,000
12: $900,000
13: $850,000
14: $800,000
15: $760,000
16: $720,000
17: $700,000
18: $680,000
19: $660,000
20: $640,000
21: $620,000
22: $600,000
23: $580,000
24: $565,000
25: $550,000
26: $540,000
27: $530,000
28: $520,000
29: $510,000
30: $500,000

The post FedEx Cup Playoffs 2023: Frequently Asked Questions appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Time flies when you’re having fun … and trying to qualify for the 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs. With Lucas Glover claiming victory at the Wyndham Championship, the last of 44 regular-season events are in the books nearly 11 months after the 2022-23 season’s first tournament. And now the PGA Tour’s post-season begins with the top 70 players in the rankings starting the three-event playoff series that ends at the Tour Championship on August 24-27.

For all regular-season PGA Tour events, 500 FedEx Cup points were awarded to the winner, with points also being earned by every player making the cut. In World Golf Championships and other “designated” events, 550 FedEx Cup points went to the winner, while 600 points were given to the champion of the four majors and the Players. Lastly, 300 points were given to the winner of any event played in the same week as a major or “designated” event.

Here are the final standings of the 70 players headed to the Playoffs (Justin Thomas was the odd man out at No. 71, with another major winner, Adam Scott, at No. 72). The top 50 players after the first Playoff event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis at TPC Southwind, advance to the second event, the BMW Championship outside Chicago at Olympia Fields. Those top 50 players also will qualify for the majority of the PGA Tour’s designated events for 2024. The top 30 after the BMW advance to the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta where they compete for the FedEx Cup title and $75 million overall purse, with $18 million going to the eventual winner.

Following the core FedEx Cup season, official PGA Tour events will be conducted in the autumn, where all players with status for the 2022-23 FedEx Cup season will be eligible to compete. Those outside of the top 70 will compete for FedEx Cup points to secure playing status for 2024.

RANK, PLAYER, POINTS
1: Jon Rahm, 3,320
2: Scottie Scheffler, 3,146
3: Rory McIlroy, 2,304
4: Max Homa, 2,128
5: Wyndham Clark, 1,944
6: Brian Harman, 1,827
7: Viktor Hovland, 1,795
8: Keegan Bradley, 1,774
9: Rickie Fowler, 1,732
10: Tony Finau, 1,655
11: Jason Day, 1,506
12: Nick Taylor, 1,463
13: Patrick Cantlay, 1,443
14: Tom Kim, 1,422
15: Sepp Straka, 1,413
16: Xander Schauffele, 1,406
17: Tyrrell Hatton, 1,381
18: Si Woo Kim, 1,372
19: Sam Burns, 1,335
20: Russell Henley, 1,296
21: Emiliano Grillo, 1,275
22: Collin Morikawa, 1,246
23: Kurt Kitayama, 1,216
24: Adam Schenk, 1,213
25: Taylor Moore, 1,193
26: Tommy Fleetwood, 1,184
27: Denny McCarthy, 1,179
28: Chris Kirk, 1,161
29: Seamus Power, 1,133
30: Corey Conners, 1,103
31: Jordan Spieth, 1,099
32: Sungjae Im, 1,098
33: Justin Rose, 1,088
34: Sahith Theegala, 1,065
35: Lee Hodges, 1,052
36: Matt Fitzpatrick, 1,049
37: Byeong Hun An, 1,041
38: Adam Svensson, 1,014
39: Brendon Todd, 973
40: Eric Cole, 950
41: Andrew Putnam, 918
42: Harris English, 914
43: Patrick Rodgers, 914
44: Adam Hadwin, 908
45: JT Poston, 907
46: Tom Hoge, 897
47: Mackenzie Hughes, 890
48: Cameron Young, 889
49: Lucas Glover, 885
50: Nick Hardy, 868
51: Alex Smalley, 864
52: Thomas Detry, 851
53: Taylor Montgomery, 823
54: Davis Riley, 768
55: Brandon Wu, 763
56: Hayden Buckley, 754
57: Hideki Matsuyama, 742
58: Keith Mitchell, 698
59: Mark Hubbard, 697
60: Matt Kuchar, 695
61: Stephan Jaeger, 692
62: Cam Davis, 685
63: Sam Ryder, 675
64: Sam Stevens, 670
65: Aaron Rai, 670
66: Beau Hossler, 658
67: Matt NeSmith, 642
68: Vincent Norrman, 636
69: JJ Spaun, 634
70: Ben Griffin, 617

The post The 70 players who made it to the FedEx Cup Playoffs appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Adam Scott has a PGA Tour card locked up for 2024 no matter what happens at the Wyndham Championship. Exactly when he might be playing again, however, is up in the air depending on his fate this week at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The 43-year-old Australian is No. 81 on the FedEx Cup points list heading into the week, with only the top 70 qualifying for the Playoffs that begin next week in Memphis. Scott has to finish no worse than a two-way tie for T-9 to move on and more comfortably needs a three-way T-3 finish. Otherwise, for the first time since the advent of the FedEx Cup in 2007, Scott will be missing out on post-season action. Along with Matt Kuchar, Scott is one of just two players who have qualified for Playoffs all previous 16 seasons.

“At this point, you know, it is what it is,” says Scott, having been outside the top 70 bubble for much of the summer. “I feel like when I come out to play golf, I’m there to give it my best shot and if I make it, I make it. And if I don’t, I don’t.”

But with an opening-round five-under 65 that led the early scoring at Wyndham, Scott looks like he is plenty motivated to keep the streak alive.

Asked what his mindset is this week, Scott offered a simple but focused strategy.

“If I can be the low man every day, I’ll be just fine for winning the tournament and getting through to the playoffs,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ve got a few more good ones in me.”

Starting off the 10th tee and dodging the morning rain drops, Scott bogeyed the 11th hole, but bounced back with birdies on Nos. 12 and 13. Then came two more on the 15th and 17th holes.

“It’s that thing of how you start and getting under par early and feeling like you’re moving in the right direction is definitely a … definitely a settling feeling in a tournament,” Scott said. “When you’re a couple over early, you start finding the golf course much more difficult than it probably really is and hard to find that momentum. So those early birdies were good.”

Scott has come to terms with not making the Playoffs, which might actually free him up this week, too. “I’ve had a lot of years having a go at the FedEx Cup Playoffs, and all these kind of things come to an end at some point.”

If it did this year, though, it’s unclear when Scott might then play his next PGA Tour event. The Aussie often plays a sparse autumn schedule and without the need to earn any points during the Fall Series events this year to keep a card for 2024, Scott potentially might have played his last tour event for the year.

The post Here’s the mindset you have to take when you’re on the FedEx Cup bubble, says major champ Adam Scott … on the bubble appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Well, it’s here. Somehow. The PGA Tour regular season will end this week, and many of the best players in the game — looking at you, Justin Thomas — are hoping that they can sneak into the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, will be the site of all the late-season drama as only the top 70 tour pros on the FedEx Cup points list at week’s end will make it to the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee and the start of the Playoffs. On the bubble this year are the aforementioned JT, Shane Lowry, Adam Scott and Akshay Bhatia.

Last year’s defending champ, Tom Kim, will not be teeing off at Sedgefield Country Club as the already-into-the-playoffs pro is nursing an injury. Kimwithdrew due to a Grade 1 tear in his right ankle that he suffered at the Open Championship and said that he is “very gutted” to not have a chance to repeat.

Major champions Hideki Matsuyama, Lowry and Gary Woodland will be in the field this week, as will both Ryder Cup captains Luke Donald and Zach Johnson.

The winner will receive 500 FedEx Cup points and a $1.368 million share of the $7.6 million purse.

Tee times (all times EDT)

FIRST ROUND

First tee
6.50am Troy Merritt, Ryan Moore, Brandon Wu
7.01am Michael Kim, Harry Higgs, Stephan Jaeger
7.12am Chesson Hadley, Tommy Gainey, Eric Cole
7.23am Chez Reavie, Jim Herman, Brendon Todd
7.34am Nico Echavarria, Trey Mullinax, Brian Gay
7.45am Matt Wallace, Chad Ramey, Robert Streb
7.56am Davis Riley, Brandt Snedeker, Scott Stallings
8.07am Jimmy Walker, Peter Malnati, Sam Ryder
8.18am Doug Ghim, Kramer Hickok, David Lipsky
8.29am Ryan Palmer, Max McGreevy, Tyson Alexander
8.40am Rory Sabbatini, Cameron Percy, Hank Lebioda
8.51am Austin Cook, Charley Hoffman, MJ Daffue
9.02am Zecheng Dou, Augusto Núñez, Jon Mayer
12.05pm Danny Willett, Nick Watney, Mark Hubbard
12.16pm Robby Shelton, Justin Suh, Sam Stevens
12.27pm Austin Eckroat, Ben Griffin, Carson Young
12.38pm Chris Kirk, Harris English, Zach Johnson
12.49pm Si Woo Kim, JT Poston, Webb Simpson
1pm Russell Henley, Hideki Matsuyama, Cam Davis
1.11pm Vincent Norrman, Luke Donald, Alex Noren
1.22pm Kevin Tway, Zac Blair, Justin Lower
1.33pm Ben Martin, Jonathan Byrd, Denny McCarthy
1.44pm Adam Schenk, Taylor Pendrith, SH Kim
1.55pm Ryan Armour, Patrick Rodgers, Byeong Hun An
2.06pm Scott Harrington, Trevor Cone, Brandon Matthews
2.17pm Matti Schmid, Brent Grant, Peter Kuest

10th tee
6.50am Adam Long, Harry Hall, Harrison Endycott
7.01am Jason Dufner, Russell Knox, Kevin Yu
7.12am Aaron Baddeley, David Lingmerth, Dylan Wu
7.23am Akshay Bhatia, Sam Burns, Stewart Cink
7.34am Billy Horschel, Gary Woodland, Kevin Streelman
7.45am Justin Thomas, Adam Scott, Shane Lowry
7.56am Taylor Moore, Mackenzie Hughes, Joel Dahmen
8.07am Nick Hardy, KH Lee, JJ Spaun
8.18am Beau Hossler, Thomas Detry, Callum Tarren
8.29am Nate Lashley, Ben Taylor, Davis Thompson
8.40am CT Pan, Brice Garnett, Matthias Schwab
8.51am Tano Goya, Nicolai Hojgaard, Ryan Gerard
9.02am Ludvig Aberg, Carl Yuan, Sam Bennett
12.05pm Doc Redman, Austin Smotherman, Paul Haley II
12.16pm Scott Piercy, James Hahn, Andrew Novak
12.27pm Patton Kizzire, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Greyson Sigg
12.38pm Cameron Champ, Martin Laird, Matt Kuchar
12.49pm Adam Svensson, Ryan Brehm, Lucas Glover
1pm Garrick Higgo, Richy Werenski, Andrew Landry
1.11pm Sungjae Im, Erik van Rooyen, Tyler Duncan
1.22pm Dylan Frittelli, Henrik Norlander, Aaron Rai
1.33pm Andrew Putn, Wesley Bryan, Matt NeSmith
1.44pm Kelly Kraft, Alex Smalley, Will Gordon
1.55pm Adam Hadwin, Brian Stuard, Kyle Reifers
2.06pm Michael Gligic, Nicholas Lindheim, Trevor Werbylo
2.17pm Kevin Roy, Kyle Westmoreland, Joey Lane

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We’re down to the final regular season event, the Wyndham Championship, with this one last tournament left to qualify for the 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs and get the chance to win the FedEx Cup title.

The season-long FedEx Cup points standings largely determine who keeps their PGA Tour cards, who’ll be eligible for the Playoffs come August and who will have invites to the PGA Tour’s designated events in 2024.

The 2022-23 season includes 44 regular-season events before the start of the three-event playoff series that ends at the Tour Championship August 24-27. For all regular-season PGA Tour events, 500 FedEx Cups are awarded to the winner, with points also being earned by every player making the cut. In World Golf Championship and other “designated” events, 550 FedEx Cup points goes to the winner, while 600 points are given to the champion of the four majors and the Players. Lastly, 300 points are given to the winner of any event played in the same week as a major or “designated” event.

Here is the updated FedEx Cup points list through the 3M Open. All players inside the top 70 at the end of the regular season earn their PGA Tour cards for the 2024 season and get into the playoffs. The top 50 players after the first Playoff event, the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis at TPC Southwind, advance to the second event, the BMW Championship outside Chicago at Olympia Fields. Those players also qualify for the majority of the PGA Tour’s designated events for 2024. The top 30 after the BMW advance to the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta where they compete for the FedEx Cup title and $75 million overall purse, with $18 million going to the eventual winner.

Following the core FedEx Cup season, official PGA Tour events will be conducted in the fall, where all players with status for the 2022-23 FedEx Cup season will be eligible to compete. Those outside of the top-70 will compete for FedEx Cup points to secure playing status for 2024.

Top 70
RANK, PLAYER, POINTS
1: Jon Rahm, 3,320
2: Scottie Scheffler, 3,146
3: Rory McIlroy, 2,304
4: Max Homa, 2,128
5: Wyndham Clark, 1,944
6: Brian Harman, 1,827
7: Viktor Hovland, 1,795
8: Keegan Bradley, 1,774
9: Rickie Fowler, 1,732
10: Tony Finau, 1,655
11: Jason Day, 1,506
12: Nick Taylor, 1,463
13: Patrick Cantlay, 1,443
14: Tom Kim, 1,422
15: Sepp Straka, 1,413
16: Xander Schauffele, 1,406
17: Tyrrell Hatton, 1,381
18: Si Woo Kim, 1,351
19: Sam Burns, 1,284
20: Emiliano Grillo, 1,275
21: Collin Morikawa, 1,246
22: Kurt Kitayama, 1,216
23: Adam Schenk, 1,209
24: Tommy Fleetwood, 1,184
25: Denny McCarthy, 1,179
26: Chris Kirk, 1,161
27: Taylor Moore, 1,156
28: Seamus Power, 1,133
29: Corey Conners, 1,103
30: Jordan Spieth, 1,099
31: Justin Rose, 1,088
32: Sahith Theegala, 1,065
33: Lee Hodges, 1,052
34: Russell Henley, 1,051
35: Matt Fitzpatrick, 1,049
36: Sungjae Im, 1,047
37: Adam Svensson, 934
38: Patrick Rodgers, 914
39: Adam Hadwin, 908
40: Eric Cole, 899
41: Tom Hoge, 897
42: Brendon Todd, 893
43: Harris English, 893
44: Mackenzie Hughes, 890
45: Cameron Young, 889
46: Andrew Putnam, 889
47: Alex Smalley, 864
48: Nick Hardy, 839
49: JT Poston, 827
50: Taylor Montgomery, 823
51: Thomas Detry, 808
52: Byeong Hun An, 796
53: Davis Riley, 768
54: Brandon Wu, 758
55: Hayden Buckley, 754
56: Hideki Matsuyama, 742
57: Keith Mitchell, 698
58: Mark Hubbard, 697
59: Matt Kuchar, 680
60: Sam Stevens, 670
61: Aaron Rai, 670
62: Sam Ryder, 660
63: Beau Hossler, 658
64: Stephan Jaeger, 641
65: Matt NeSmith, 637
66: Vincent Norrman, 631
67: JJ Spaun, 619
68: Ben Griffin, 617
69: Cam Davis, 605
70: Austin Eckroat, 594

The post 2022-23 FedEx Cup points list standings appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The PGA Tour’s regular-season finale is this week at the Wyndham Championship. Depending on your perspective, this year’s edition has more or less drama than past iterations.

Because of changes to the PGA Tour’s infrastructure, those who don’t make the tour’s post-season will have the autumn portion of the calendar to earn status for 2024, subtracting some of the inherent theatre the Wyndham historically had. However, rather than 125 players earning an invite into the FedEx Cup playoffs, only 70 players will move on next week to the first post-season event in Memphis. That reduced field makes for a tighter and bigger playoff bubble, and a number of marquee names are currently on the outside looking in. Here are 11 notable players that need to have a good week in North Carolina in order to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs.

No. 75 Davis Thompson

Thompson looked to have the inside track on Rookie of the Year honours in the first quarter of the season with a T-9 at the Fortinet Championship and runner-up finish at the American Express. But in 17 starts since that second-place showing, Thompson has just one finish inside the top 25 with eight missed cuts. The University of Georgia golfer has tons of power (22nd in SG/off-the-tee), but his second-shot prowess (161st in approach) is what has held him back in his debut season on tour.

No. 76 Shane Lowry

Consider this standing more a by-product of a limited schedule than his performance. Still, Lowry has not won on tour since his 2019 Open triumph at Portrush, and though he hasn’t been bad in 17 starts this season (29th in strokes gained, 21st in SG/tee-to-green), he never truly has contended either, with just one top-10 finish on the year. Lowry’s position is an interesting case that FedEx Cup points are weighted too heavily towards a great finish rather than a good finish, as Lowry does boast nine top-25s — three of which came at majors — this season.

No. 77 Justin Suh

Justin Suh. Douglas P DeFelice

The reigning Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year seemed to be in a safe position heading into the summer after a T-5 at the Honda Classic and T-6 at the Players Championship. And in his defence, we wouldn’t classify Suh’s last few months as a slump, missing just one cut in 14 starts since the Players. Conversely, he also has a lone top-20 finish in the stretch. Suh does have one of the better short games on tour (12th in SG/putting), which should translate well at the Wyndham.

No. 79 Justin Thomas

Thomas has missed six cuts this season, five of them in his last seven starts. He also failed to reach Round 3 in three of the four majors and finished a distant T-65 at the PGA Championship. According to Data Golf, it’s the short game that’s been the bane of Thomas’ existence over the past three months, losing almost half a stroke per round to the field in putting and around the green. In the last six years Thomas has finished no worse than seventh in the FedEx Cup standings, but will need a top-15 finish at Wyndham to get into the post-season.

No. 81 Adam Scott

Scott has played in every PGA Tour post-season since the FedEx Cup’s inception in 2007, but that streak is very much in jeopardy. The former Masters champ hasn’t been particularly bad in 2023, and enters the Wyndham ranked 20th in birdie average, 32nd in strokes gained and 16th in SG/off-the-tee. Scott’s problem is twofold: His approach game has been brutal, ranking 130th in that strokes gained category, and he simply hasn’t played enough, logging just 16 appearances this season. Scott had a nice month-long stretch from May to June with three top-10s, but hasn’t done anything of note since.

No. 82 Joel Dahmen

Joel Dahmen. Kevin C Cox

Dahmen ended autumn 2022 on a tear with three consecutive top-10s at the World Wide Technology Championship, Houston Open and RSM Classic. But summer has not been kind to the 35-year-old, missing the cut in seven of his past eight starts. The stats don’t paint a pretty picture either, Dahman ranked 148th in strokes gained and 136th in scoring. Dahmen doesn’t have much of a track record at the Wyndham (zero top 40s in four previous starts), so he’ll need something special this week in order to get to Memphis.

No. 97 Gary Woodland

It’s been an odd 2023 for the 2019 US Open champ. Few have been better than Woodland off the tee (11th) and in approach (10th). But those numbers underline just how bad his short game has been, ranking 117th around-the-green and 185th in SG/putting. Since a T-9 at the Genesis Invitational, Woodland has just two top-20 finishes and is now in danger of missing the post-season for the first time since 2012. Woodland essentially needs a win or runner-up to keep that streak alive.

No. 99 Akshay Bhatia

Got to feel for Bhatia. Because Bhatia was a special temporary member this season, an obscure rule prevented him from receiving points at two alternate events, one of which he won (Barracuda Championship). The good news is Bhatia does have his tour card for the next two seasons, but to get into the playoffs, he needs to finish third or better at Wyndham.

No. 116 Billy Horschel

Billy Horschel. Dylan Buell

The former FedEx Cup champ has been in a slump that stretches back to last summer, and has missed nine cuts in 21 starts this season. Most of the woes can be chalked up to Horschel’s ball-striking, ranking 154th in SG/off-the-tee and 145th in approach. Horschel is coming off his best finish in an individual stroke-play event with a T-13 at the 3M Open, so there is light at the end of the tunnel, but to avoid the autumn season he’ll need to win at Wyndham.

No. 139 Cam Champ

It’s been an extremely rough year for the three-time tour winner, missing the cut in 15 of 22 starts. Despite ranking 25th in SG/off-the-tee Champ is 154th in approach, and the short game continues to give him fits (192nd around-the-green, 170th putting). Champ, who withdrew from last week’s 3M Open to be with his wife after the birth of their first child, also failed to qualify for the post-season in 2022, but will continue to have full-time status through next season thanks to his 2021 3M win.

No. 145 Ludvig Aberg

Ludvig Aberg. David Cannon

The good news: Aberg has status next season thanks to being No. 1 in the PGA Tour U rankings when he wrapped up his senior year at Texas Tech in June. And in eight starts on tour this summer, he has more than proved his mettle, reaching the weekend seven times, including a T-4 at the John Deere Classic. Expecting to qualify for the playoffs in such a short season was asking a lot, but Aberg’s potential is so great he’s being whispered as a potential Ryder Cup captain’s pick for Team Europe. A win at the Wyndham would make that dream a reality.

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