The Five: Players who have made most of FedExCup Fall

This week’s break in the PGA TOUR schedule offers one final breather. Next up are the final three events of the 2024 PGA TOUR season, a potentially stressful time for those looking to stay in the top 125 of the FedExCup standings. Other players will use this final trio of events to jockey for spots in two of next year’s Signature Events.

With the race for the FedExCup completed, this time of year is all about putting yourself in the best position for 2025. And now, after 10 months of competition, it all comes down to the next three weeks.

The stakes are high, especially for those players hovering around the top 125 in the FedExCup standings. The top 125 at season’s end earn full status for 2025 and a spot in THE PLAYERS. Those who find themselves on the wrong side of that line are looking at a trip to PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, where only five PGA TOUR cards are available.

As we prepare for next week’s World Wide Technology Championship, here’s a look at five players who have made the most of the FedExCup Fall thus far, setting themselves up for success in 2025 and beyond.

1. Matt McCarty

How quickly Matt McCarty’s life has changed. It’s a testament to how quickly a few good weeks can transform a player’s life. In mid-July, McCarty was ranked 22nd on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, looking at a stressful few weeks as he tried to lock up his first PGA TOUR card.

McCarty has been on a tear ever since. He won his first Korn Ferry Tour title the following week, then added two more in his next five starts to secure the Three-Win Promotion from the Korn Ferry Tour and the top spot on that tour’s season-long points list. McCarty quickly made the most of his PGA TOUR status, winning in his second start, at the inaugural Black Desert Championship.

McCarty, who began the year ranked 430th in the world, now is inside the top 50, with spots in the first three majors of 2025 secure, as well as trips to THE PLAYERS and the season-opening The Sentry in Maui.

“Yeah it’s crazy,” McCarty said in his pre-tournament press conference at the Shriners Children’s Open, just three days after his victory at Utah’s Black Desert Resort. Within the first four questions, he used the words "crazy," "whirlwind," "unreal," "insane" and "surreal."

There was no thesaurus present, just a 26-year-old who still hadn’t wrapped his mind around his new situation. By winning in his third career TOUR start, he equaled the feat of Russell Henley, Seve Ballesteros and Bob Gilder. Only Garrick Higgo (second) and Jim Benepe (first) won faster.

There is no doubt about who has gained the most over this stretch; it’s the wide-eyed lefty who has taken the TOUR by storm.

2. Lucas Glover

It’d be easy to make this list entirely out of the winners of the FedExCup Fall, but that would ignore the intriguing subplots developing on the periphery – one of which is Lucas Glover’s return to form. Glover can catch fire with the best of them, a fact on full display in 2023 when he won the Wyndham Championship and FedEx St. Jude Championship back-to-back, pushing himself into Ryder Cup consideration and nabbing a spot on the TGL’s Atlanta Drive alongside Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay and Billy Horschel.

Glover’s 2024 was a reminder that form can be fleeting. Hoping to parlay last year’s late-summer resurgence into a sustainable season-long run in 2024, Glover came up short. The six-time TOUR winner failed to register a top 10 in the FedExCup Regular Season and missed the FedExCup Playoffs entirely, rendering him unable to defend his title at TPC Southwind. With a forced break between the Wyndham and the FedExCup Fall, Glover prioritized weight loss, shedding a few pounds and finding his game in the process. He finished T13 at the Procore Championship then notched back-to-back T3s at the Sanderson Farms Championship and the Black Desert Championship, by far his best performances since his two victories in 2023.

Glover has jumped 15 spots in the FedExCup Fall to No. 63, putting him in contention for one of the 10 spots available in next year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational. Nos. 51-60 in the FedExCup Fall season at the conclusion of the season will earn spots in those events via the Aon Next 10.

He also has leapt from 58th in the world ranking to No. 47; the top 50 at year’s end earn invitations to the Masters.

Regardless of the end result, Glover has re-kindled his game this fall and has to feel good about where he’s headed in 2025.

3. Gary Woodland

Everyone is playing for something. That’s a common refrain at this point in the season. Some are trying to reach the top 60 and punch their ticket into two early-season Signature Events. Some are just trying to crack the top 125 and keep their card, while others are already secure for next season and just want a free spin at the wheel, hoping it lands on a victory.

Gary Woodland is playing the FedExCup Fall to feel like himself again. Sure, he’d love to win or crack the top 60, but he doesn’t have to worry about his card. The 2019 U.S. Open champion is exempt through next season after COVID extended many exemptions by a year. More than anything, Woodland just wants to feel good and start playing well as he continues his recovery from brain surgery late last year.

Woodland’s T16 finish at Sanderson Farms was his best result in 23 starts on TOUR this season, only to be usurped by his finish the next week – a T9 at the Shriners Children’s Open. It was Woodland’s first top-10 since The Genesis Invitational in February 2023 and, most importantly, his first since he underwent brain surgery last September.

“Everything is starting to come together. I feel a lot better for one. That's A1. That's a huge help. But I've seen some signs,” Woodland said in Las Vegas, revealing he’s also reunited with longtime swing coach Randy Smith, who also coaches Scottie Scheffler, after more than a decade apart. “I am starting to drive it better, iron play, controlling the golf ball like I haven't in a long time, which is nice. Then putts start going in, start putting some good scores up.”

4. The winners

There’s a lot on the line in the FedExCup Fall, but as always, winning takes care of everything. The biggest benefits come to those who lift the trophy each Sunday. Winners in the FedExCup Fall earn spots into tournaments like The Sentry, THE PLAYERS and the Masters. They also earn world ranking points and FedExCup points that could help them crack the Aon Next 10 for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational. Oh, and while many of their fellow competitors are concerned with keeping their status for the 2025 season, the winners get to enjoy two-year exemptions.

That’s why we could have comprised this list with just the players who won in the FedExCup Fall – Patton Kizzire (Procore Championship), Kevin Yu (Sanderson Farms Championship), McCarty (Black Desert Championship), J.T. Poston (Shriners Children’s Open) and Nico Echavarria (ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP) – but we will lump them together here to make room for more of the top storylines from the FedExCup Fall.

Yu and McCarty each earned their first PGA TOUR win this fall and will start their season at The Sentry for the first time. That pair, plus Echavarria, will make their Masters debut in April.

Kizzire’s card was in question before his win, as he started the FedExCup Fall at No. 132 in the standings. McCarty already had PGA TOUR status for 2025 because of his three Korn Ferry Tour wins in 2024, but now he will start his first full PGA TOUR season with the security of a two-year exemption. That is a rare luxury, indeed. Yu is now 59th in the FedExCup Fall standings, giving himself the opportunity to add two Signature Events to his schedule next year.

5. Ian Gilligan

Gilligan isn’t a PGA TOUR member, or even a pro, but his performance at the Shriners Children’s Open still carried great import. Finishing T16 in at TPC Summerlin was an impressive showing for the University of Florida senior. More importantly, it moved him up the PGA TOUR University rankings.

Gilligan arrived in Las Vegas ranked 11th in the standings. He moved up four spots after his top-25 at TPC Summerlin. Gilligan made the cut on the number, then shot 66-65 on the weekend.

Gilligan, the world’s ninth-ranked amateur, got into the field by winning the Southern Highlands Collegiate, one of the top titles in college golf. He also won this year’s Western Amateur. And he showed again at the Shriners why he’s one of the top prospects for the upcoming class of new pros.

The PGA TOUR U standings won’t be finalized until after this year’s NCAA Championship in May, so a lot of golf remains, but Gilligan’s Shriners performance could prove key to accessing some of the benefits available via PGA TOUR U. The top 10, which Gilligan has placed himself in, earn varying degrees of Korn Ferry Tour status.

The top player in the standings earns immediate PGA TOUR status, while the top five are exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour for the remainder of the season and into the final stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry. Nos. 6-10 get conditional Korn Ferry Tour status, while Nos. 11-25 get into the North America Swing on PGA TOUR Americas. Nos. 6-25 also get into the Second Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.

We’ve seen players like Adrien Dumont de Chassart and Karl Vilips parlay the Korn Ferry Tour status earned via PGA TOUR U into PGA TOUR cards in just a matter of weeks. Gilligan’s impressive play on the PGA TOUR this fall could help him follow in their footsteps.