The 2021-22 PGA Tour season has reached the playoffs, meaning there’s only three events left before crowning the season-long champion. First up in the FedEx Cup Playoffs is the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.
The layout is a par 70 measuring at 7,243 yards. Ron Prichard was the course architect in 1988 with Hubert Green and Fuzzy Zoeller as consultants. The city of Memphis has hosted a PGA Tour event every year since 1958.
Next week, the playoffs move to Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware, before a champion is crowned at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta in two weeks.
FedEx St. Jude: Tee times, TV info | PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ | 5 things to watch
Here are five things to know about the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship:
Larger purses
There’s going to be a lot more money handed out throughout the FedEx Cup playoffs this year.
The purse at TPC Southwind is $15 million, with $2.7 million going to the winner. The purse will be the same next week, as well, but the prize money at the Tour Championship is going up.
The winner of the FedEx Cup is going to receive $18 million this year, and all golfers who qualified for the playoffs will earn additional bonus money compared to years past.
The FedEx Cup bonus pool is also going up 25%, from $60 million to $75 million, meaning more money for the Tour’s top players.
Examining the field
Only 125 golfers qualified for the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship, all of those punching their ticket via FedEx cup points accumulated during regular-season events.
All but three of those golfers are listed in the field. Daniel Berger (No. 77 in FedEx Cup rankings) and Lanto Griffin (No. 68) won’t compete because of injury, and Tommy Fleetwood (No. 46) will miss because of personal reasons.
The top 17 golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking will tee it up at TPC Southwind.
Three golfers who are suspended from the PGA Tour, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones, are seeking an injunction as part of a lawsuit to be allowed to play in the tournament. The PGA Tour filed its response to that Monday.
Rory searching for history
In his first appearance since the Open Championship, Rory McIlroy is teeing it up in Memphis this week, and history is within his grasp.
McIlroy, who has captured FedEx Cups in 2016 and again in 2019, is looking to become the first three-time FedEx Cup winner. He and Tiger Woods are the only golfers with two FedEx Cups. McIlroy is in sixth in the FedEx Cup standings, sitting more than 1,400 points behind leader Scheffler.
McIlroy has two victories this season and finished second at the Masters and third at the Open Championship.
New venue
This is the first time TPC Southwind will host a FedEx Cup playoff event.
Previously, the first FedEx cup playoff event was the Northern Trust, and before that, the Barclays. Ridgewood Country Club and Liberty National Golf Club have hosted the playoff opener four times each. Bethpage Black and Plainfield Country Club has hosted it twice.
The last three years, TPC Southwind hosted a World Golf Championship event: the FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Abraham Ancer beat Sam Burns and Hideki Matsuyama on the second playoff hole with a birdie to win last year.
Looking at the top 70
Last week, the focus was on getting inside the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings. This week, it’s on making the top 70.
Brandon Wu, who finished T-8 at the Wyndham Championship, is in the No. 70 spot. Matthew NeSmith is currently the first player out, trailing Wu by a little more than 10 points.
Some other names on the outside looking in are: Gary Woodland (No. 72), Adam Scott (No. 76), Joel Dahmen (No. 79), Justin Rose (No. 93), Jason Day (No. 112) and Webb Simpson (No. 121).
