FedEx Fall Offers Second Chance For Fowler; Signature Events May See Woods Play

Fowler, like Jordan Spieth, didn’t have a good 2024 on the golf course. As a result, he is out of the Signature Events on points, at least at the start of the year. Only the top 50 in FedEx points are guaranteed a place in the first Signature tournament. 

One reason for Fowler’s situation is that he has been enjoying being a father for the second time. As a result, his finish in 2024 put him at 108 on the FedEx points list. 

But with the Fall Series, Fowler can, if he chooses, get back to the Signature Events early in the 2025 season by winning in the FedEx Fall Series or earning enough points to get into position for the Aon Next 10.  Because tournament winners from this year’s regular season and from the fall are included in the field of the Signature Events, even the Sentry, Fowler and others have two ways to advance.

In another category, there are players like Jordan Spieth, who was injured. Speith did not play up to his standards last season due to a wrist injury. He’s now recovering from surgery he had at the end of his season to address the issue. His estimated time to return is not known, although in August, on Sirius XM Radio, he said he expected to return to play early in 2025. Will he start at Sony? It’s a long flight to play just one event.

The good news for Spieth is that he’s exempt into four majors and all the regular season tournaments. As soon as he can play, he can start to build points to get back to the Signature Events.

Adding to the puzzle are the PGA Tour players who finished outside the top 50.

Players outside of the Top 50 will compete in the FedEx Fall Series

They can all play in the FedEx Fall Series to add to their FedEx points between this week and the last event of the season, the RSM Classic, the week before Thanksgiving.  If they can get into the top 70 by then, they will be in better shape to get into future Signature Events. That’s because those eight tournaments have a 72-player minimum. There are a couple of extra considerations for Signature contests, too.

The Signature Events in 2025 will use the Aon Next 10 to fill the field to 72 players. Last season, all Signature Events experienced qualified PGA Tour members who chose not to play, typically one player per event. It left them with uneven numbers. Having the Aon Next 10 will allow the tournaments to fill the field as designed. 

The Aon Next 10 are the 10 players in the FedEx Cup standings who are not already qualified for the event by some other method.   

Finally, one very important player has been granted a Sponsor Exemption for Lifetime Achievement.  Of course, it’s for Tiger Woods. 

If Woods chooses, he can play in any Signature Event where the sponsor invites him. That includes his own, the Genesis, which he played last year until he had to withdraw due to illness.  

Regarding the exemption for Woods, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said, “Being able to give him the opportunity to compete in these events, any event he's ever played in, he's made it bigger, he's made it better. He's drawn more eyeballs to it. I think just as an organization, we wanted to celebrate his exceptionalism in that manner."

Adding the special exemption for Woods, according to Monahan was important to the members of the PGA Tour. It was discussed with the Players Advisory Council and with the Player Directors. The board thought it was the right thing to do.

That doesn’t mean that Woods will play in all of the Signature Events, even if invited to do so, but it gives him the opportunity to play. It also gives fans an opportunity to see him hit shots, including some who were perhaps not born when Woods was at the height of his career.

How many events will he play? That will be the first question he is asked when he has his next press conference, which may be for the Hero World Challenge or the PNC Championship which Woods plays with his son as his partner. Both of those events are in December, so we have to wait a little more than two months to get an answer.