Who is safe, who is in trouble with FedExCup playoffs on the horizon
With the final signature event of the season in the books and just one major championship left on the calendar, the PGA Tour has reached its home stretch.
Only six weeks – and eight tournaments – remain until the start of the FedExCup playoffs.
Here's a quick playoff refresher: The top 70 players in points will qualify for the playoff opener, the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, after which the top 50 will advance to the BMW Championship at Caves Valley in Maryland. There is no more staggered-start format for the Tour Championship, though the top 30 players through the BMW will still move on to East Lake, where it will be winner takes all after 72 holes of stroke play.
So, what does the playoff picture currently look like? Thanks to some research by X's @Robopz, we have a clearer idea.
Playoff and 2026 Projected Status Update
As per these projections... 48 of the 70 playoff spots are already set with another 10 within 100 of the projected 700 points needed to make Memphis
Only 10 players have reached the projected threshold to make the Tour Championship so… pic.twitter.com/TMi0BiVyfY
Who's clinched what?
Entering this week's Rocket Classic in Detroit, 10 players have already clinched spots in the Tour Championship: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Sepp Straka, Russell Henley, Justin Thomas, Ben Griffin, J.J. Spaun, Keegan Bradley, Harris English and Tommy Fleetwood.
Another 16, including Ludvig Åberg, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay and Viktor Hovland, already have BMW berths locked up.
And a grand total of 48 players have earned enough points to likely qualify for the playoffs, including the current No. 48 in points, Stephan Jaeger.
Mac Hughes, at No. 49 in points, is the first player still with work to do, per @Robopz, though Hughes and eight others right behind him are guaranteed to finish in the top 100, which starting this year serves as the post-fall cutoff to maintain fully exempt status on the PGA Tour. Most of this group, including No. 51 Tony Finau and No. 53 Xander Schauffele, already have their cards guaranteed through at least next season, but Hughes and Patrick Rodgers need to stay inside the top 100 to avoid losing their full cards.
On and around the bubble
Karl Vilips is the current playoff bubble boy, right at No. 70, and just four points ahead of current first man out, Erik van Rooyen.
Other notables just outside the playoff cutoff include No. 74 Matt Fitzpatrick, No. 75 Wyndham Clark, No. 78 Billy Horschel (out for season after hip surgery), No. 80 Adam Scott, No. 84 Tom Kim, No. 87 Nicolai Hojgaard, No. 88 Joel Dahmen and No. 98 Zach Johnson.
No. 116 Max Homa and No. 126 Sahith Theegala (currently on the shelf with a neck issue) are among the bigger names outside the top 100.
65. Gary Woodland, +36
66. Nico Echavarria, +31
67. Ryo Hisatsune, +18
68. Davis Thompson, +15
69. Rickie Fowler, +14
70. Karl Vilips, 471 points
—
71. Erik van Rooyen, -4
72. Christiaan Bezuidenhout, -19
73. Aldrich Potgieter, -30
74. Matt Fitzpatrick, -32
75. Wyndham Clark, -48
A tall (re)order
Vilips is one of just three reorder-category players inside the top 70 right now, along with No. 37 Ryan Gerard and No. 56 Brian Campbell – and he's one of just nine reorder guys inside the top 100. Kevin Roy is right on the bubble at No. 100.
Last year, the reorder players – specifically the group that includes DP World Tour, Korn Ferry Tour and Q-School grads, and minus the medical extensions – kept their cards at a 48% clip (21 of 44). That number was helped by the DPWT guys, who went 6 for 9. And, of course, that was with the top 125 in FedExCup points maintaining full status. This year, the current percentage is right at 20%.
Churn, baby, churn
As for this year's signature crop of players, 29 of them are currently inside this year's top 50 in points. Another five of them (34 total) are inside the top 70. Eight are sitting outside the top 100, though five of those players, including Homa, Theegala and Nick Dunlap, are exempt through at least next season. Will Zalatoris is No. 111 and out for the season after back surgery, though he will certainly have a good-sized major medical extension. As will No. 151 Alex Noren, who missed the first several months of this season with multiple injuries. No. 112 Adam Hadwin is the third signature player outside the top 100 and with no status to fall back on.
Beyond 100
Here is the full list of players outside the top 100 who have status through at least next season:
101. Chris Kirk
102. Emiliano Grillo
116. Max Homa
126. Sahith Theegala
129. Nick Dunlap
130. Brice Garnett
132. Kurt Kitayama
152. Matthieu Pavon
169. Webb Simpson
180. Rafa Campos
181. Patton Kizzire
192. Peter Malnati
NR. Tiger Woods
And here are some names outside the top 100 who don't (aside from a potential career-money exemption being activated):
104. Brandt Snedeker
110. Michael Thorbjornsen
113. Matt Wallace
119. Charley Hoffman
131. Doug Ghim
132. Matt Kuchar
138. Danny Willett
172. Nick Hardy
174. K.H. Lee
175. Taylor Montgomery
178. Vincent Norrman
187. Zac Blair
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