The Five: Notables outside FedExCup Playoffs spots competing at 3M Open

It's bubble season on the PGA TOUR, coming to the forefront at this week's 3M Open. TPC Twin Cities presents a seemingly tranquil aesthetic, yet the stakes are anything but. The 3M Open marks the penultimate event of the 2024 PGA TOUR Regular Season, as players scamper to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs and maintain their hopes of capturing the season-long prize.

The top 70 after the Wyndham Championship will qualify for the first leg of the three-event Playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis. The top 50 after Memphis will qualify for the BMW Championship at Castle Pines in Colorado and qualify for all Signature Events on the 2025 PGA TOUR. The top 30 after Colorado will qualify for the TOUR Championship at East Lake in Atlanta, which utilizes a Starting Strokes format to determine the season-long FedExCup champion.

Nick Dunlap won last week's Barracuda Championship to break inside the top 70 in dramatic fashion, moving from No. 95 to No. 64 on the FedExCup. Dunlap became the first player to win on TOUR as an amateur (The American Express) and as a pro (Barracuda Championship) in the same season; he didn't earn FedExCup points for his win as an amateur. Now he's well positioned to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs, and he'll aim to further improve his standing at the 3M Open.

Who could benefit greatly by following Dunlap's lead this week? Here are five players outside the current top 70 on the season-long standings, looking to make a push toward the FedExCup Playoffs at the 3M Open.

1. Lee Hodges (No. 72)

The University of Alabama alum won last year's 3M Open in decisive fashion, seven strokes clear of the field. It was his first TOUR title and indicative of the soft-spoken Alabama native's vast potential. Hodges showed well at this year's PGA Championship, finishing T12 at Valhalla, but the season overall has him on the wrong side of the bubble, needing to rekindle some magic at TPC Twin Cities to boost his FedExCup Playoffs chances.

That T12 matches Hodges' season-best finish thus far (also at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and Charles Schwab Challenge), and he arrives in Minnesota without a top-30 in his last five starts, drifting outside the top 70. It's an eerily similar position to this time a year ago, when he began the 3M Open at No. 74 and vaulted to No. 33 with the title. He wouldn't mind duplicating that bit of history, at a venue he clearly knows he can handle.

Hodges hails from the small town of Ardmore, Alabama, on the Tennessee border. He's beloved around those parts — when PGATOUR.COM visited Ardmore recently, a local dive bar was abuzz with Hodges-related chatter and the evening's guitarist shouted him out between songs. Ardmore is located just four hours from Memphis, site of the first FedExCup Playoffs event; those from his hometown would relish the chance to make that drive in three weeks' time.

Hodges trails No. 70 Luke List by just 5 points, the equivalent of a 60th-place finish at either of the last two Regular Season events. He's on the precipice but needs to play his way in.

2. Keith Mitchell (No. 75)

Mitchell, whose supporters range from CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, recently donned the cover of Golf Digest magazine. The magazine's Style Issue highlighted Mitchell's keen fashion sense, which includes a varied color palette and a dash of cashmere when appropriate. "Amid all the loud peacocking and stretchy slim-fitting sameness, Mitchell stands out for quietly placing intention in every article he wears," wrote Golf Digest recently.

Now he looks to match elite taste with elite play. Mitchell arrives in Minnesota at No. 75 on the FedExCup, at a crossroads as he eyes a Playoffs berth. The University of Georgia alum has made 14 of 20 cuts this season, with nine top-25 finishes, a resume that would comfortably qualify for the Playoffs' previous format (prior to 2023, the top 125 qualified). Mitchell's stats befit a Playoffs berth: he ranks fourth on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and sixth in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green. The short game has let him down, relatively speaking, as he ranks No. 126 around the green and No. 157 in putting -- perhaps holding him back from the high finishes needed to push up the FedExCup standings, as he has placed no better than ninth in 2024.

Mitchell should expect ample birdie chances this week at TPC Twin Cities. If he can convert, he might be in the running for his second career TOUR title — and/or a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs. He's currently 64 points behind No. 70; a 12th-place finish at either of the final two Regular Season events nets 65 points. It will take strong play, but it's certainly doable.

3. Harry Hall (No. 81)

The elegant Englishman captured his first TOUR title in a wild five-man playoff at the ISCO Championship earlier this month, suddenly moving to the precipice of FedExCup Playoffs contention (from No. 134 to No. 79 on the standings). He took last week off for a worthy cause, the birth of his first child, daughter Lilah.

Hall returns to action at the 3M Open, now No. 81 on the FedExCup and looking to qualify for his first Playoffs. Hall, 26, was close as a TOUR rookie in 2023, placing No. 88 on the standings after the Wyndham Championship; he had moved to No. 72 after a third-place finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge but drifted back with four missed cuts in his last five starts of the FedExCup Regular Season, including at the 3M Open.

Armed with the confidence of a TOUR winner and newly minted fatherhood, Hall looks to put on a show at TPC Twin Cities and move inside the Playoffs bubble. The UNLV alum currently trails No. 70 Luke List by 115 points, needing a fourth-place finish at either of the final two FedExCup Regular Season events (or two strong weeks). He's up for the challenge.

4. Joel Dahmen (No. 111)

Dahmen is known for his self-deprecating humor, which can sometimes overshadow his immense golf talent. This season has been a struggle at times, though, with high moments (T11 at THE PLAYERS Championship, T10 at RBC Canadian Open) juxtapositioned with a series of middling finishes and missed cuts.

Now he could be at a crossroads. Dahmen enters the 3M Open on the heels of two straight missed cuts and now stands No. 111 on the FedExCup, needing to surge in the next two events to qualify for the Playoffs and maintain his chances of qualifying for next season's Signature Events. He's 286 points off the pace (a solo second nets 300 points).

If he doesn't qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs, he'll turn his attention to the FedExCup Fall (the top 125 after the FedExCup Fall maintain exempt TOUR status for 2025). That isn't the ideal scenario, though. Dahmen has been inspired this summer by his good friend Harry Higgs, who won back-to-back Korn Ferry Tour events to secure an exempt TOUR card for 2025. Perhaps Dahmen, who has focused recently on pre-shot visualization, has some back-to-back magic in store for the coming weeks.

"Worked hard on that recently, being just very committed to what I'm doing," Dahmen said recently. "Like having a clear plan. Which sounds weird that I've played golf a long time without a clear plan maybe."

The plan now is clear: qualify for the Playoffs.

5. Michael Thorbjornsen (No. 125)

For a player just weeks removed from the college classroom, the FedExCup Playoffs could seem like a pipe dream. Thorbjornsen, though, isn't limiting his ambition.

The Stanford alum earned immediate PGA TOUR membership by finishing atop the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking, and he quickly established himself at this level with a runner-up finish at the John Deere Classic (adding to his fourth-place finish at the 2022 Travelers Championship as an amateur). The Massachusetts native turned pro with zero FedExCup points to his name, but he arrives in Minnesota at No. 125 on the season-long standings. (Also diminishing the pressure: as PGA TOUR University No. 1, he'll be exempt for 2025 regardless of his final position on the FedExCup Fall standings.)

It will be a tall task to qualify for the Playoffs; he enters the week with 232 points, trailing the all-important No. 70 by 369 points. He will need either a win or two top-three finishes (a solo third nets 190 points). But the fearless Thorbjornsen, 22, sets his sights high.

"As for something tangible, obviously we're going to try and make the Playoffs," Thorbjornsen said at the ISCO Championship. "A couple good more finishes and who knows, we'll see."

The FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List is used to determine the 70-player FedExCup Playoffs starting field.