After a long grind, we have made it to the playoffs, folks. The PGA Tour is ramping up the stakes this week, as the first of three FedEx Cup events will get underway in Memphis at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
This is the 19th edition of the FedEx Cup playoffs, a series of tournaments that has grown and shrunk and changed formats to crown a season-long winner and put more money in the golfers' pockets.
Rory McIlroy is returning to TPC Southwind this year, as 69 of the top 70 in the FedEx Cup rankings will be teeing it up this weekend (sorry to all the Daniel Berger fans out there). The playoff events do always seem to deliver some sort of excitement, probably due to the concentration of talent in these events.
Despite any of the detractors saying that the FedEx Cup doesn't have any meaning or is a waste of time, at least the golf is good. It could always be worse; you could be begging investors to keep your golf tour aLIVe.
After taking a week off due to travel, we're ready to bring the rankings back and hit the playoffs hard. I'll be honest; even if I did have rankings for the Wyndham last week, I don't think I would've had Michael Brennan on the list, so let's move forward and try to run the table coming into the end of this season.
Honorable Mentions: Ryan Gerard, Viktor Hovland, Jackson Koivun, Collin Morikawa, Michael Thorbjornsen
9. Alex Smalley
Okay, so hear me out. In 2011, Bill Haas entered the FedEx Cup playoffs ranked 15th, hung around and entered East Lake at 25th, and won the whole thing. His 2011 wasn't spectacular, not winning a tournament before the Tour Championship, but he did play well at that year's PGA Championship.
If you're connecting the dots with me, you're going to be circling the man who is currently 25th in the FedEx Cup rankings, Alex Smalley. Smalley has been very solid recently, including having an outside shot at the Wyndham last week. I've been a big fan of Smalley all year, and I think he could make a Cinderella-type run through the playoffs, starting this week in Memphis.
8. Tom Kim
While Sunday at the Wyndham didn't go his way, Tom Kim has to be happy with yet another strong finish in this resurgence. The 24-year-old will be happy to make his return to the FedEx Cup playoffs after missing out last season.
In his previous starts at TPC Southwind, Kim has played well, posting a couple of top-25 finishes. His driving accuracy and recently improved putting numbers should play really well around this track, and a Tom Kim contention this weekend wouldn't be surprising in the least.
7. Patrick Cantlay
This guy lives for the FedEx Cup playoffs. Remember last year, where we almost had a second Patrick Cantlay FedEx Cup win hit the golf world? Cantlay's DataGolf results for the playoff events through the years is a sea of green, so he feels like a safe bet to play well this weekend.
He's coming off a T8 at the Rocket Classic in his last start as well, so some form has been rediscovered. Cantlay also hasn't won a tournament since the 2022 BMW Championship, so at this point, he may just be due for a win.
6. Xander Schauffele
Another guy who lives for the FedEx Cup, Xander may be the best golfer not to have won the season-long race in his career. This season has been super strange for the star, as he's never felt like a real part of any of the key storylines in golf this year.
Schauffele has just drifted along under the radar, which should not have been the case for someone who has consistently been a top-five golfer in the world when he's been healthy. After a solo second at the Rocket Classic, Xander might be ready to break the door back down and reassert himself on the scene.
5. Matt Fitzpatrick
In spite of his poor major form this year, Matt Fitzpatrick is still a good golfer. We haven't seen him since missing the cut at The Open, and I think Fitz has been recalibrating to make a big run through the FedEx Cup this year. He still sits second in the rankings, so he could theoretically coast until he gets to East Lake this year, and still have a great shot at winning the title.
While 2026 has been great, there has to be a sense of disappointment from Fitzy's side of things, not being able to get it done in any of the bigger events. Maybe this year's playoffs can be the setting where the Englishman can take full control of the Player of the Year race.
4. Hideki Matsuyama
Hideki Matsuyama has quietly been red-hot for the last month and a half. In his last five starts, Matsuyama has not finished outside of the top-15 in any of those starts. Matsuyama is also a past champion, having won the 2024 edition of this tournament.
I think a lot of people are going to be on Matsuyama this week, between his recent form and his history here. Call me one of the sheep, because I'm following right along with that thinking. This is the best I've felt about Hideki in a while, so let's hope he can capitalize.
3. Rory McIlroy
Big question: are we going to get the Rory McIlroy that cares about the FedEx Cup this year? He's a three-time winner of the FedEx Cup (the most ever), but it seems like everything that has to do with the regular season on the PGA Tour, Rory has become completely disillusioned with.
That being said, McIlroy loves to win, and I think that will end up trumping his general malaise towards the FedEx Cup. This is the only playoff event he's never won, so maybe he can complete another Slam this week by picking off the FedEx St. Jude.
2. Sam Burns
Much like Hideki, Sam Burns has been on a tear in his last five starts on Tour. Burns gets the upper hand in these rankings because all of those last five events have been some sort of elevated status event (outside of Canada). The Texan has competed well at TPC Southwind in the past, both in the playoffs and when it served as the host of a WGC event. He contended at multiple majors this year, he keeps finding himself at the top of the leaderboard, why can't Sam Burns pull out the win this week?
1. Scottie Scheffler
Even though the FedEx Cup really doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of golf history, it feels like Scottie needs the Cup this year to salvage his season. He got backed down by Jackson Koivun at the 3M, and now I think Scottie is going to be well and truly mad at his season going into this week. If anyone could clean sweep the playoffs, it would be Scottie. Then again, he could also have an existential crisis and not try at all this week. At this point, who knows what we're going to get?
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