The race to the FedExCup Playoffs is shaping up to be a sprint to the finish.
If the PGA Tour season is able to resume June 11 at Colonial, players will have 11 tournaments over a 10-week span to jockey for position on the FedExCup points list before The Northern Trust begins Aug. 20, one week later than originally scheduled.
If all goes as planned, there will be 36 events played for the 2019-20 season, which would make it a “credible season,” according to Andy Pazder, the PGA Tour’s executive vice president and chief of operations.
However, the final two months or so of this shortened regular season, while featuring increased field sizes, would include just one major (PGA Championship, Aug. 6-9) and one World Golf Championship (FedEx St Jude. Invitational, July 30-Aug. 2). The Tour also has already announced it would not adjust point allotments for those events, though it is considering such for the first two postseason events.
Playoff points are typically four times the value of regular-season events, excluding majors and WGCs. A potential change would decrease their value to three times that of a normal event.
The field sizes for the postseason are also still under discussion, though as of now, the top 125 in points remains the cutoff for the playoff opener at TPC Boston, which means several notable names will have some work to do if they’re able to get back on the golf course as currently anticipated.
(For the players currently overseas, the international travel ban will be something to keep an eye on, as well, since those players wouldn’t be able to compete in U.S.-based tournaments until that ban is lifted.)
Here are 10 players who sit outside the top 125 in FedEx Cup points at the moment:
Shane Lowry
Lowry only played four times on Tour before the season was suspended in March, which is why he sits 140th in points. The reigning Open champion also won’t get to defend his claret jug this July. Luckily for Lowry, he’s waiting out the pandemic not in Ireland but in Florida.
Francesco Molinari
Molinari, No. 169 in points, earned only 84 points in six starts before the stoppage. He had also missed three of four cuts before withdrawing with a back injury from the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which would’ve been his last event played since The Players was canceled after one round.
Si Woo Kim
Kim hasn’t made it to the weekend in seven of his past eight starts, which explains why he sits a spot below Molinari, at No. 170. He’s played 13 events this season, too.
C.T. Pan
One spot behind Kim is the 2019 Presidents Cup rookie, who earned just 80 points in his first 10 starts this season. Pan made headlines when he withdrew from The Players before it was officially canceled, citing coronavirus concerns.
Sergio Garcia
At No. 179, Garcia has collected 69 points in five starts. He does have three top-10s in his last seven worldwide starts, but those have all come on the European Tour.
Henrik Stenson
The former FedExCup champ is nearly outside the top 200, at 197th in the standings, but he’s made just three starts this season. His win at the Hero World Challenge last December doesn’t count toward FedExCup points.
Matt Wallace
The Englishman, who is No. 202 with only four starts logged, had been gearing up for a U.S. run, playing four straight PGA Tour events capped by The Players, which obviously was canceled. He also will have to make do without three major starts this season, as thee Masters and U.S. Open were moved to the fall – also known as next season.
Justin Rose
Another former FedExCup champ, Rose is No. 205 through five starts this season as he’s battled some equipment issues, taking out his Honma clubs for a mostly TaylorMade bag at Bay Hill, where he missed his third cut in four starts.
Patton Kizzire
Kizzire has earned an average of less than three points per start as he’s played 12 times and currently sits 207th in points. Kizzire, who won twice in the early part of the 2017-18 season, finished No. 122 in FedExCup points last season.
Brooks Koepka
Koepka is way down the list at No. 213, ahead of just 30 players, as he’s made five starts and racked up only 21 points. However, has made just three Tour starts since withdrawing from the CJ Cup in October after re-tearing the patella tendon in his left knee. Mr. Major also will be bummed with only one major left on this season’s slate, though it is one he’s won in each of the past two years.