It’s crunch time for many PGA Tour players with the final tournament of the regular season, the Wyndham Championship. After that, the qualifiers for the first FedEx Cup Playoff event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, will be set.
With so much to be decided over the coming days, here are some of the big names facing a pivotal week.
Kurt Kitayama - 74
Kitayama made headlines in 2023 when he won one of the biggest events on the PGA Tour calendar, the Arnold Palmer Invitational. That helped see him safely into the Playoffs, but there’s been no repeat of it this year and he’s currently 74th in the standings.
Still, all is not lost, and something similar to his T6 at his most recent outing, the 3M Open, should be enough.
Lucas Glover - 76
Glover came good at just the right time last season, with his fifth PGA Tour win at the Wyndham Championship before following that up with victory in the first Playoff event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He’s been solid enough this time round too, and currently sits just six places beneath the cut-off and 72 points adrift.
A top-five finish would likely be enough at the Wyndham Championship, and he may even get away with finishing a few places lower. Can he recreate his form of last year?
Keith Mitchell - 79
The season began brightly for Keith Mitchell with two top-10 finishes in his first seven starts and only one missed cut, but it's been more of a battle since, despite another top-10 at the RBC Canadian Open.
The 2019 Honda Classic champion is still within reach of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, just nine places adrift of the cut-off, and he'll be confident that, if he can rediscover his form of earlier in the season, he could claim his place this week.
Nicolai Hojgaard - 80
The Dane is no stranger to success, having won three times on the DP World Tour and played a key role in Team Europe’s 2023 Ryder Cup win at Marco Simone, but he’s found it tougher on the PGA Tour this season after an encouraging start where he finished runner-up at the Farmers Insurance Open.
At 80th in the standings and a place in the field this week, there’s every chance he could still have involvement in the Playoffs, and he’ll be hoping to take inspiration from a solid Olympics performance, where he finished seventh at Le Golf National.
Charley Hoffman - 86
Hoffman came agonizingly close to a fifth PGA Tour win at the WM Phoenix Open before eventually succumbing to Nick Taylor in a playoff. However, that set him up nicely for the possibility of making the FedEx Cup Playoffs, with 300 points.
Further top-10 finishes came at the Corales Puntacana Championship and Barracuda Championship, and with 171 points to make up on 70th in the standings, he'll need to finish in the top three this week.
Matt Kuchar - 113
The cut-off for making the FedEx Cup Playoffs is currently 668 points, with Brendon Todd occupying the final position, and nine-time PGA Tour winner Kuchar has less than half that heading into the last regular event of the season.
With 500 points on offer to the winner of the Wyndham Championship and only 300 to the runner-up, he’s going to need a 10th PGA Tour win to make the Playoffs.
Kuchar will hope to take his form from the 3M Open, where he finished T3, into this week’s event to stand a chance and continue his run as the only player to reach every Playoff since they were introduced in 2007.
Matt Wallace - 114
A T4 at the CJ Cup Bryon Nelson was comfortably the highlight of Wallace's season so far, but he'll need to do even better if he's to reach the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
With over 300 points to make up on the top 70 in the standings, only a second PGA Tour win will do for the Englishman. He'll be hoping that comes at the Wyndham Championship, to add to his victory at the 2023 Corales Puntacana Championship.
Joel Dahmen - 117
Dahmen’s struggles with his form in 2023 were documented in the second season of Full Swing, and sadly for the popular American, it’s not been an easy ride this year either.
He is currently 117th in the standings and needs to win this week to make it to the Playoffs.
Webb Simpson - 149
The 2012 US Open champion can still mathematically make the Playoffs, but only his eighth PGA Tour win would do, and it’s now over four years since his seventh.
Depending on how Simpson starts at the Wyndham Championship, it’s likely that he could spend much of the tournament focusing on moving highter than149th in the standings to improve his chances of retaining full playing privileges for next season once the FedEx Cup Fall part of the season has taken place.
Which Big Names Have Already Missed Out?
For some big names, the chance of making the FedEx Cup Playoffs is already over. Here are four who won't be involved at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Rickie Fowler - 104
The popular American had an excellent 2023 when, helped by legendary coach Butch Harmon, he emerged from a slump of several years to storm back into the world’s top 30, including claiming his sixth PGA Tour win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
However, it hasn’t gone quite as well in 2024, with Fowler without a top-10 finish. As a result, he’s currently 104th in the FedEx Cup standings, well short of reaching the first Playoff event.
Fowler has already decided to draw a line under his chances of getting there, too, as he’s not in the field for the Wyndham Championship.
Zach Johnson - 152
For 2023 Team USA Ryder Cup captain Johnson, reaching the FedEx Cup Playoffs is already out of the question as he’s currently on 181 points, meaning even a win this week wouldn’t be enough to jump from 152nd in the standings to 70th.
Of more pressing concern will be retaining his full playing privileges for next season, although that's very possible as he’s currently less than 100 points beneath the threshold.
Johnson used a one-time exemption to retain his full card for 2024 based on his career money earnings, but he won’t have that option this year, meaning he could do a strong performance this week before needing to consider other options.
Cameron Champ - 165
At more than 500 points below the player in 70th, even a win at the Wyndham Championship won't be enough to see Champ into the Playoffs. However, like many others, he'll be focusing on climbing the standings to give himself a better chance of being in the top 125 at the end of the FedEx Cup Fall stage of the season.
Francesco Molinari - 205
The Italian’s 2018 Open win handed him a PGA Tour card for five years, but that’s now expired.
At 205th in the FedEx Cup standings and no place in the Wyndham Championship field, not only will Molinari not make the Playoffs, but he won’t make the top 125 to keep his full card.
At 104th on the career money list, Molinari is also well short of the top 50 needed for a one-time exemption via that route, leaving the FedEx Cup Fall events as a potential route to the top 125. Failing that, as a Major champion and Ryder Cup hero he may be afforded some sponsor invites, otherwise he may opt to play more on the DP World Tour next season.
