FedExCup Playoffs scenarios ahead of FedEx St. Jude Championship

The FedExCup Playoffs have arrived, with this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship marking the last chance for players to move inside the season-long top 50 and qualify for both the BMW Championship and next year’s eight Signature Events.

It’s a high-pressure situation, with various scenarios set to unfold across 72 holes of stroke-play competition at toasty TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

The FedEx St. Jude Championship features a starting field of 70 players, as the top 70 on the FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List after last week’s Wyndham Championship secured Playoffs berths. No players moved inside the top 70 last week, with France’s Victor Perez hanging onto the final spot over a hard-charging Davis Riley, who finished No. 71, and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune, who finished T3 while needing a solo-second finish to bump Perez.

The top 50 after the FedEx St. Jude Championship will qualify for the BMW Championship, contested at Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock, Colorado, outside Denver. The top 30 after the BMW Championship will qualify for the TOUR Championship at a recently renovated East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

The top 50 after the FedEx St. Jude will also qualify for all eight Signature Events in 2025, and the top 30 after the BMW will qualify for the 2025 Masters (and likely the U.S. Open and The Open Championship). The stakes are high for advancing in the FedExCup Playoffs, and those outside the top 50 into the FedEx St. Jude Championship, contested at water-logged TPC Southwind, will face an emotionally charged week in potentially adverse conditions.

PGA TOUR rookie Jake Knapp holds down the No. 50 spot into the FedEx St. Jude Championship, fractions of a point ahead of No. 51 Harris English. (Knapp holds 969.516 FedExCup points into the week; English holds 969.275 points). Notables outside the top 50 into the week include 2023 FedExCup champion Viktor Hovland (No. 57), three-time major winner Jordan Spieth (No. 63) and two-time winner this season Nick Dunlap (No. 67), who earned his first title at The American Express as an amateur and hence did not receive FedExCup points for that victory.

The FedEx St. Jude Championship features 72 holes and no cut, meaning slow starters will have ample time to play their way back into the mix. All finishers will receive FedExCup points, with quadruple points available (compared to a Full-Field Event) and hence increased potential volatility in the standings, particularly on the leaderboard’s upper portion.

Last year, two players moved inside the top 50 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship: Cam Davis, who finished T6 to jump from 62nd to 45th, and Hideki Matsuyama, who finished T16 to move from 57th to 47th. They surpassed Mackenzie Hughes and Nick Hardy, who each fell outside the top 50 at TPC Southwind.

Here’s a look at scenarios for players outside the top 50 into the FedEx St. Jude Championship – the minimum finish needed for a chance to finish inside the top 50. Endless permutations are in play, but one thing is for sure: the FedEx St. Jude Championship will be a wild, if muggy, ride.

Minimum finishes required to have a chance to make the top 50