FedEx Cup Watch: Rahm maintains top spot, Spieth on the outside?
Jon Rahm maintains the top spot in the FedEx Cup standings despite Scottie Scheffler’s win at last week’s Players Championship.
The race for the FedEx Cup and earning a spot at East Lake for the season-ending Tour Championship has always been a top priority for PGA professionals with the massive prize on offer for the winner, but perhaps more than ever before, holding a place in the upper echelon of the competition will mean everything.
That’s because of the recent announcement that the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings at the end of the season will earn a spot in next season’s new designated events.
Events such as the Genesis Invitational, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club, will each be assigned designated event status for the 2024 PGA Tour season.
These no-cut, limited-field events will consist of fields ranging from 70-78 players; 50 of which will come from this season’s top 50 finishers in the FedEx Cup. Now, the race to Olympia Fields, site of this season’s BMW Championship, will be every bit as important as the race to the Tour Championship and East Lake.
It’s never too early to get a gauge on the race for the FedEx Cup, especially with everything that is now at stake for the pros.
Jon Rahm maintains FedEx Cup top spot.
The three-time winner this season already, maintains his top spot in the current FedEx Cup standings despite his unfortunate withdrawal from last week’s Players Championship.
Scottie Scheffler moved up to third in the FedEx Cup standings following his win at the Players Championship, he still trails Max Homa (2nd) and sits 383 points behind leader Jon Rahm at this stage of the season.
The rest of the top 10 remains relatively unchanged following the conclusion of this season’s Players Championship, the 20th event of a 64-event PGA Tour schedule.
Current FedEx Cup Top 10
- Jon Rahm – 2,013 pts
- Max Homa – 1,719 pts
- Scottie Scheffler – 1,630 pts
- Keegan Bradley – 1,077 pts
- Seamus Power – 943 pts
- Kurt Kitayama – 939 pts
- Chris Kirk – 909 pts
- Tony Finau – 893 pts
- Tom Kim – 846 pts
- Rory McIlroy – 810 pts
Elsewhere, a few of the biggest movers following the Players Championship included Tyrrell Hatton whose second-place finish at TPC Sawgrass saw him soar from 69th all the way up to 26th in the standings.
David Lingmerth climbed fourteen spots to 52nd following his T6 finish at the Players, while Hideki Matsuyama jumped some 30 places in the FedEx Cup standings up to 60th after the 2021 Masters winner produced a 68 on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass en route to a top 5 finish.
Is Jordan Spieth outside of the crucial top 50?
If the season finished today, Jordan Spieth would find himself on the outside looking in when it comes to locking up his designated event status for next season and a trip to this year’s BMW Championship.
He moved up six spots in the standings from 71st to 65th following his T19 finish last week. Jordan took advantage of the bit of good fortune that broke his way on Friday at TPC Sawgrass when he narrowly made the cut.
Other notable names who currently find themselves outside of the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings at this stage of the season include:
- Hideki Matsuyama (60th)
- Jordan Spieth (65th)
- Justin Thomas (66th)
- Sam Burns (68th)
- Cameron Young (79th)
- Will Zalatoris (85th)
- Matt Fitzpatrick (92nd)
- Shane Lowry (96th)
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With the four majors still to come, starting the Masters in less than a month, there is still plenty left to be determined.
But clearly, some of the biggest names in the game have some work to do between now and August if they hope to secure their designated event status for next season and a trip to East Lake for the Tour Championship later in the year.