PGA Tour: FedEx Cup Update Heading Into John Deere Classic
The FedEx Cup Playoffs begin with The Barclays on August 25, but what does the state of play look like heading into the John Deere Classic?
Only two tournaments remain on the PGA Tour’s regular season schedule before the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin. In an Olympic and Ryder Cup year, the playoffs fall pretty low on the totem pole in terms of popularity, but money talks and the Tour Championship, as we know, will shell out a lot of it.
When one of the strongest fields in golf competes for the $10 million FedEx Cup championship at East Lake, I don’t care if the drama is a bit manufactured, it’s the last relevant stroke play event before basketball and football dominate the sports landscape until February. I’m going to be tuned in.
So, who’s sitting pretty heading into The Barclays? Who needs a good showing at the John Deere Classic or the Wyndham Championship? Let’s dive right in.
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To little surprise, Jason Day leads the pack with 2,735 FedEx Cup points (500 are awarded for a standard PGA Tour victory, 550 at a World Golf Championship and 600 for a major championship). Marginally behind Day is Dustin Johnson at 2,701.
Both are multiple-time winners on tour this year and are the leading Player of the Year candidates. A solid playoff showing from Henrik Stenson (No. 13 in FedEx Cup with 1,387 points) could also vault him into the discussion.
Russell Knox at No. 4 is the biggest surprise toward the top. The Scot is having a career year with two wins and two runner-ups to go with a bevy of top-25s. His spot in the Tour Championship is all but locked up and he sits above some guys you may have heard of like Jordan Spieth (No. 5), Phil Mickelson (No. 7) and former FedEx Cup champion, Brandt Snedeker (No. 8).
The Olympic Games in Rio do not count toward the FedEx Cup and not many near the top of the points race tend to play the Wyndham, so I would expect the top 10 to be virtually locked in at this point. The drama now relies on those looking to make a late-season push to squeeze into the playoffs.
Before moving on further, here’s a refresher of the field sizes for each playoff event: 125 make The Barclays, 100 for the Deutsche Bank Championship, 70 for the BMW Championship and 30 for the Tour Championship.
Now, let’s take a look at who is hovering near the bubble.
Johnson Wagner currently sits at No. 125, but the margin is pretty slim. Only one point separates him from Matt Jones at No. 126 and nine more players are within 25 points.
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All ten players within five spots on both sides of that coveted 125th spot will be at the John Deere Classic this weekend, so expect a bit of a shakeup before the mad dash for points next week at the Wyndham.
This is the time of year where examples like a missed four-footer at the Honda Classic or a disastrous round at the Frys.com Open to miss out on a few FedEx Cup points can come back to haunt players.
Here are some notables names looking to make amends for a slow start this season: No. 129 Kyle Stanley, No. 131 Padraig Harrington, No. 132 Scott Stallings, No. 146 Camilo Villegas, No. 158 Ernie Els.
Even if it’s not the biggest deal for players to make the playoffs at the conclusion of a long season, there’s something refreshing about having to see big names earn their way into the playoffs each and every year, proving why golf is arguably the most merit-based professional sport.
Next: John Deere Classic Top 10 Power Rankings
It’s nowhere near as gut-wrenching as watching players compete for their actual tour card, but seeing the last dash for points on Wyndham Sunday is an underrated spectacle. The top players understandably get the love most of the year, but now it’s time for the bubble boys to grab the spotlight.