PGA Tour FedEx Cup update: Did Sepp Straka's Truist victory close him in on Rory McIlroy?
Sepp Straka has held the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup points lead twice this season.
The first time was after a victory at the American Express and a tie for seventh at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which enabled him to overtake the first leader of the season, Hideki Matsuyama.
After Ludvig Åberg knocked Straka into second place by winning the Genesis Invitational, Straka came back to regain the lead with a tie for fifth place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Rory McIlroy then shot up to No. 1 with his victory in The Players Championship, and Straka dipped as low as fifth a month ago. Now, he's inching back towards the top after his victory in the Truist Championship on May 11, at the Philadelphia Cricket Club Wissahickon Course.
Straka was rock-solid down the stretch in holding off Shane Lowry to win the PGA Tour Signature Event and the chunk of 700 FedEx Cup points that went with it. That enabled him to rise from fourth to second and he's 521 points behind leader Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy tied for seventh to add 187 points and has a lead of 521 points over Straka. But there could be a new leader, based on what happens at the PGA Championship this week at Quail Hollow, since there will be 700 points offered up to the winner.
Who else moved up on the FedEx Cup points list?
Shane Lowry jumped from 17th to eighth with his tie for second. Tommy Fleetwood tied for fourth to go from 24th to 13th. And Jacob Bridgeman's tie for fourth with Fleetwood resulted in a jump of 12 spots to 21st.
Here were some other big moves, both in the Truist Championship and the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic:
Ryan Fox, 76 spots (138th to 62nd), won in Myrtle Beach
Harry Higgs, 51 spots (163rd to 112th), tie for second in Myrtle Beach
Rickie Fowler, 28 spots (125th to 97th) tie for 15th at Truist
Cameron Young, 26 spots (81st to 55th) tie for seventh at Truist
Keith Mitchell, 24 spots (71st to 47th) tie for seventh at Truist
PGA Tour FedEx Cup points through Truist Championship
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
FedExCup Playoffs: Kurt Kitayama plays his way into the postseason with 3M Open win
After a dominant weekend in the Twin Cities, Kurt Kitayama appears to have played his way into the FedExCup Playoffs. Kitayama held on to win the 3M Open on Sunday afternoon outside of Minneapolis, just one day after he matched the course record with an 11-under 60. He nearly fired a 59 on Saturday, too, but he slipped and bogeyed the par-3 17th. The win marked the second of his career, and his first since he won the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational. Perhaps most notably, though, was the jump in the FedExCup standings that Kitayama made after his win. The 32-year-old entered the week at No. 97 in the Official World Golf Rankings and No. 110 in the FedExCup race — which had him significantly out of the 70-man cutoff for the FedEx St. Jude Championship. The win, however, moved him up 57 spots to No. 53. Barring something major happening next week in the final event of the PGA Tour season, Kitayama should now be safely into the postseason. The top 70 golfers in the FedExCup standings will earn entry into the FedEx St. Jude Championship next month, which marks the first of the Tour's three playoffs events. This is the third year of the Tour's new postseason system, which cut the field size down from 125 to 70 for the first playoff event. After the tournament in Memphis, the top 50 golfers will earn entry into the BMW Championship the following week. Those who make it into the BMW Championship will also earn automatic entry into the eight signature events on Tour next season. From there, the top 30 will qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta. That tournament is set to kick off on Aug. 21, and will feature a traditional start this season, rather than the staggered starting strokes format it's used in the past. The Wyndham Championship next week is the final opportunity for golfers to make a move into the playoffs. Here's a look at where things stand entering Sedgefield Country Club in North Carolina: FedExCup standings: Top 10 As of Sunday, July 27 The top 10 remained unchanged after the 3M Open. Position Name Points 1 Scottie Scheffler 4,806 2 Rory McIlroy 3,444 3 Sepp Straka 2,595 4 Russell Henley 2,391 5 Justin Thomas 2,280 6 Harris English 2,232 7 Ben Griffin 2,212 8 JJ Spaun 2,144 9 Tommy Fleetwood 1,738 10 Keegan Bradley 1,749 FedExCup standings: Just inside the bubble As of Sunday, July 27 Emiliano Grillo made the biggest move in this group. He started the week in Minnesota at No. 71, just two points shy of the cutoff for the playoffs. But a T20 finish jumped him up five spots safely to No. 66. Now, it's Matti Schmid and Ben An who are at the biggest risk of sliding out of the playoffs entering the final week of the season. Position Name Points 61 Rickie Fowler 656 62 Davis Riley 652 63 Kevin Yu 645 64 Erik van Rooyen 624 65 Nico Echavarria 628 66 Emiliano Grillo 628 67 Cam Davis 616 68 Patrick Rodgers 616 69 Ben An 595 70 Matti Schmid 594 FedExCup standings: Outside looking in As of Sunday, July 27 Nicolai Højgaard was not in the field this past week, and he ended up slipping from No. 69 to No. 71 because of it. He'll be in the field in North Carolina, though, so he'll need to make a jump to keep his season alive. Keith Mitchell will join him, as he's now just five points shy, too. Position Name Points 71 Nicolai Højgaard 590 72 Keith Mitchell 589 73 Chris Kirk 582 74 Christiaan Bezuidenhout 575 75 Gary Woodland 562 76 Kevin Roy 556 77 Alex Smalley 554 78 Davis Thompson 552 79 Eric Cole 546 80 William Mouw 527
USA Today
16 minutes ago
- USA Today
Winner's Bag: Kurt Kitayama, 2025 3M Open
A complete list of the golf equipment Kurt Kitayama used to win the PGA Tour's 2025 3M Open. A complete list of the golf equipment Kurt Kitayama used to win the PGA Tour's 2025 3M Open: DRIVER: Titleist GT3 (11 degrees), with Graphite Design Tour AD VF 7 TX shaft FAIRWAY WOODS: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX shaft, Titleist GT1 (21 degrees), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX shaft IRONS: TaylorMade P·7CB (4), TaylorMade P·7MB (5-PW), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts WEDGES: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52, 56, 60 degrees), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts PUTTER: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 BALL: Bridgestone Tour B XS
USA Today
16 minutes ago
- USA Today
Kurt Kitayama's birdie barrage leads to 2025 3M Open victory
On a sweltering hot and humid Sunday in Blaine, Minnesota, Kurt Kitayama was even hotter than the temperature. The 32-year-old pro from Chico, California, tied the TPC Twin Cities course record with an 11-under 60 on Saturday and picked up where he left off at the start of Sunday's final round. Trailing by one stroke entering the last day, Kitayama birdied five of the first six holes and toured the front nine in 29 to build a three-stroke lead. With his older brother filling in on the bag, Kitayama hung on to shoot 65 for a one-stroke victory over Sam Stevens at the 2025 3M Open. Kitayama finished with a 72-hole total of 23-under 261 for his second PGA Tour title. Kitayama opened with a 65 but barely made the cut after shooting even-par 71 on Friday when he lacked control of his ball flight. He rushed to the range, hit some balls and talked to his coach, Chris Como. 'Felt like I found something that I could go with,' he said. Kitayama made his move on Moving Day with a career-low round of 60 that was five strokes better than his previous best score this season. On Sunday, he remained red hot with five birdies in his first six holes, including stuffing a wedge inside a foot from 120 yards at No. 2, chipping in from 23 feet at No. 3 and stuffing another wedge to a foot at No. 5. He made 17 birdies in a span of 24 holes and tacked on another at the 201-yard par-3 eighth hole, sticking his tee shot to 4 feet. Kitayama had a hiccup at No. 11, bogeying the par 4 after tugging his drive into trouble. His lead was reduced to two over Jake Knapp, who finished in a tie for third with Matt Wallace and Pierceson Coody. But he bounced back with a birdie at 12 and then lifted an iron from the right fairway bunker to 2 feet at No. 14. 'Shot of the day,' CBS's Ian Baker-Finch exclaimed. Indeed, it was and he brushed in the putt to get to 24 under. He made a bogey at 17 but had enough of a cushion to hang on for the win over Stevens, who closed in 66. For the second week in a row, Kitayama had his brother, Daniel, filling in on the bag. Kitayama first started playing golf at age 5, tagging along after his older brother, who would go on to play college golf at Hawaii-Hilo. 'We've had a lot of good finishes together,' Kurt said of his brother. 'He knows my game. I think he's just getting more comfortable, too, being out here. It's nice to have him out here.' But none of those previous finishes compare to tasting victory together at the 3M Open.
