Scottie Scheffler enters the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs as the points leader for the regular season for the second year in a row.
As we learned last year, that’s not a guarantee of anything.
Scheffler has a 794-point lead over Matt Fitzpatrick and 963 points over Cameron Young entering this week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic at the TPC Southwind. The tournament begins on Aug. 13, with 69 players battling for 50 spots to qualify for the BMW Championship Aug. 20-23 at Bellerive in St. Louis.
The top 30 after that advance to the Tour Championship Aug. 27-30 at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Other Tour stars in the field will be the four major champions, Wyndham Clark (U.S. Open, fourth in points), Rory McIlroy (Masters, 12th in points), Ryan Fox (Open Championship, 22nd in points) and Aaron Rai (PGA, 35th in points), plus three-time 2026 winner Chris Gotterup (fifth) and defending FedEx Cup champion Tommy Fleetwood (ninth).
How did Scheffler fare in the 2025 playoffs?
Scheffler was dominant in 2025, winning the PGA and Open Championship and holding a commanding lead in the points race for most of the season. Scheffler led by 1,362 points after the regular season concluded.
Scheffler tied for third in the St. Jude Classic (Justin Rose beat J.J. Spaun in a playoff to win) and then won the BMW to take a lead of 3,764 points over McIlroy in the standings.
But the points were wiped clean entering the Tour Championship, unlike previous years under the “assigned strokes” format. Scheffler tied for fourth and Fleetwood won his first PGA Tour title to win the FedEx Cup.
Who’s not playing in the St. Jude Classic?
The only player eligible for the playoffs who is opting out of the first event is Daniel Berger, who is 60th on the points list.
Berger, who has missed four of his last five cuts, did not enter the tournament as of the 5 p.m. deadline on Aug. 7 and did not cite a reason. According to PGA Tour regulations, players don’t need to officially tell the Tour why they aren’t playing unless they withdraw after tournament week begins.
By not entering, Berger also is punting on the final two events, since he would need to be among the top 50 to qualify for the BMW.
The PGA Tour refers to playoff events as having a “hard field,” which means there are no alternate lists. Therefore, Berger will not be replaced and the tournament will have a field of 69 players.
Who made the biggest FedEx Cup moves at the Wyndham Championship?
PGA Tour FedEx Cup qualifiers
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Scottie Scheffler has commanding FedEx Cup points lead entering St. Jude
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
