The Five: See who's making a jump in the FedExCup Fall

This week at the Shriners Children’s Open marks the beginning of the second month of the FedExCup Fall. Five events remain, with plenty of ambiguity on who will fill the top 125 and earn their PGA TOUR card as well as who will qualify for the first two Signature Events of 2024.

Several players have already made significant strides in both areas. Luke List’s win at the Sanderson Farms Championship moved him 58 spots up the standings. Ludvig Åberg and Ben Griffin’s runner-up finishes also led to some notable movement.

The Five this week examines the players who have made the biggest and most essential jumps of the FedExCup Fall thus far.

Luke List

The list can’t start without List, who won last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship to make the biggest jump thus far in the FedExCup Fall standings. He began the Fall season ranked 119th but is 61st entering the Shriners Children’s Open.

The win earned him exemptions into The Sentry, the 2024 season opener, and the Masters. He has yet to earn a spot in any other Signature Events, but that could soon be on the horizon.

After the FedExCup Fall, the players ranked No. 51-60 will earn a spot in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational. List trails No. 60 S.H. Kim by just five points.

“That was the goal starting the fall in Napa, was to try to get myself in position,” List said. "Which I've done."

Whether he can repeat the putting performance he displayed at The Country Club of Jackson could be the determining factor. List has ranked inside the top 25 in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green in three of the last four seasons, but he’s never finished better than 157th in SG: Putting. He ranked sixth last week at the Sanderson Farms and credited his work with Cameron McCormick for the turnaround.

McCormick, known for his work with Jordan Spieth, helped List with the mental aspect of the putting. The two began working together in June.

“I never felt like I was a bad putter, but statistically I was, and you lose confidence based on you don't know which person is going to show up, the guy who is going to make a few or miss a few,” said List, who has also adopted the claw grip.

“That's the biggest thing is I don't need to be a No. 1 putter. I think statistically if I can just be better than average I'm going to have a really good opportunity to play well. I think that freeing myself up to think that way instead of being like, okay, I have to be the best putter has helped my mindset.”

Ludvig Åberg

It’s about more than just Åberg’s rise in the FedExCup Fall standings that has him on this list. Sure, his T2 at the Sanderson Farms Championship moved him from 135th to 113th. What’s risen even higher is his stature in the game.

There are no more questions about whether his historically dominant college career would translate to the professional game.

He finished fourth at the DP World Tour’s D+D Real Czech Masters, won the Omega European Masters and was selected for the European Ryder Cup Team the next day. He finished 2-2-0 at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club. He was undefeated in Foursomes with Viktor Hovland.

Åberg’s status for 2024 is secure, courtesy of finishing at the top of the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking. Though, it can still be improved. If he maintains his spot in the top 125, he will be eligible for all Full-Field events in 2024, which is currently not the case. Given his trajectory, finishing between No. 51-60 and securing his spot in several Signature Events cannot be ruled out either.

He is also incentivized to improve his spot in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). After the Wyndham Championship, Åberg ranked 249th in the OWGR.

After his torrid stretch this fall, he ranks 59th. He can qualify for the Masters by making it inside the top 50.

Ben Griffin

Griffin, 27, is in the driver’s seat for a spot in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational following his strong week at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

He was part of the five-man playoff that included List and Åberg. The finish moved him from 63rd to 51st in the standings, giving him pole position among all FedExCup Fall earners. So, while several other players have jumped more than 12 spots, Griffin’s improvement is among the most consequential. He has a nearly 100-point lead on List, currently 61st, meaning one more solid finish over the final six fall events would likely be enough to keep Griffin inside the top 60.

Griffin ranks second among PGA TOUR rookies in the FedExCup. Eric Cole is ranked 43rd.

S.H. Kim

While Griffin holds the top spot in The Next 10, Kim is clinging to the last. He is currently 60th in the standings, leaving himself in a rather tenuous position over the next six weeks. He must maintain a spot between No. 51-60 to earn a place in the first two Signature Events. Though it’s a much better position than Kim found himself at the start of the FedExCup Fall. The 25-year-old ranked 83rd before finishing runner-up to Sahith Theegala at the Fortinet Championship, which moved him to 57th (a missed cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship moved him down three spots).

His only other top 10 of the season came at the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open. Another strong performance at TPC Summerlin this week could push Kim into a much more comfortable position on the standings and further what’s already been a successful fall for the South Korean.

Ryan Fox

Fox’s spot in the FedExCup Fall standings hasn’t improved, but his odds of earning a TOUR card for 2024 certainly have.

Entering the fall, he had two paths toward status. He could look to improve his Special Temporary Membership performance or pursue status through the DP World Tour Eligibility Ranking. He chose the latter.

For the first time this year, the top 10 finishers on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai rankings, not otherwise exempt, earn PGA TOUR cards for 2024.

Fox was well outside the top 10 four weeks ago. Now he’s No. 1.

In September, Fox, 36, won the BMW PGA Championship, one of the flagship events on the DP World Tour and more recently finished a T2 at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last week. That has amounted to a commanding lead in the standings. He has moved from 46th to 29th in the Official World Golf Ranking, an important development for his eligibility in Signature Events next year.

If he does earn his card through the Race to Dubai rankings and maintains his position inside the top 30 of the world rankings, Fox will be eligible for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

It would cap an impressive rise for the New Zealander. Fox compiled a career year on the DP World Tour in 2022. He won twice, finished runner-up four more times and added four other top 10s. He finished second in the Race to Dubai standings and, after beginning 2023 on the DP World Tour, jumped to the TOUR in March.

He finished T14 in his first start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. He has missed just two cuts and finished inside the top 30 at THE PLAYERS Championship, the Masters and the PGA Championship.

The talent is evident. His performance this fall has further shown he is worthy of playing alongside the best on TOUR in 2024.