The Wyndham Championship has long benefitted from the drama of players trying to make a final surge to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
The additional allure of the CBS weekend broadcast is being able to watch the “bubble” players as their playoff positions shift with every hole. The drama has been heightened further this year, with the playoff field trimmed from 125 to just 70 players.
That has drawn more big names than usual to Greensboro, N.C., with former major champions Justin Thomas, Adam Scott and Shane Lowry among those currently below the playoff cut line.
“I think it’s hard to like it when you’re on the outside, honestly,” Scott said of the reduced playoff field. “But I think it certainly intensifies the competition throughout the year, and that’s probably a good thing.”
The PGA Tour released a list of players entering the final regular-season event on the bubble. Based off “historical trends and data,” the tour provided a guideline of what each player must do this week to qualify for the first leg of the playoffs at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
The first number is each player’s current rank, followed by the minimum finish he needs to have a chance to move into the top 70 and then what he would need in order to qualify based on the projections.
RK. PLAYER | MINIMUM | PROJECTION
65. Matt NeSmith | N/A | Solo-33rd
66. Vincent Norrman | N/A | 2-way T29
67. J.J. Spaun | N/A | 2-way T21
68. Ben Griffin | N/A | 2-way T20
69. Cam Davis | N/A | 2-way T14
70. Austin Eckroat | N/A | 2-way T11
———————————————
71. Ben Taylor | 2-way T75 | Solo-11th
72. Garrick Higgo | Solo-51st | Solo-10th
73. K.H. Lee | 2-way T30 | 2-way T6
74. David Lingmerth | 2-way T26 | Solo-6th
75. Davis Thompson | Solo-25th | 2-way T5
76. Shane Lowry | 2-way T23 | 2-way T5
77. Justin Suh | 2-way T19 | 3-way T4
78. S.H. Kim | 2-way T18 | 3-way T4
79. Justin Thomas | Solo-18th | 3-way T4
80. Matt Wallace | Solo-14th | 2-way T4
81. Adam Scott | 2-way T9 | 3-way T3
82. Joel Dahmen | Solo-9th | 3-way T3
83. Danny Willett | Solo-8th | 2-way T3
84. Kevin Streelman | Solo-7th | 2-way T3
85. Dylan Wu | 2-way T6 | 2-way T3
86. Harry Hall | Solo-6th | 2-way T3
88. Callum Tarren | 2-way T4 | Solo-3rd
89. Robby Shelton | Solo-4th | | 3-way T2
90. Zac Blair | Solo-4th | 3-way T2
91. Michael Kim | 3-way T3 | | 3-way T2
92. Aaron Baddeley | 3-way T3 | | 3-way T2
93. Nate Lashley | 2-way T3 | 2-way T2
94. Kevin Yu | 2-way T3 | 2-way T2
95. Will Gordon | 2-way T3 | 2-way T2
96. David Lipsky | 2-way T3 | 2-way T2
97. Gary Woodland | 2-way T3 | 2-way T2
98. Chez Reavie | 2-way T3 | 2-way T2
99. Akshay Bhatia | 2-way T3 | 2-way T2
100. Justin Lower | Solo-3rd | 2-way T2
101. Tyson Alexander | Solo-3rd | 2-way T2
102. Alex Noren | Solo-3rd | 2-way T2
103. Nico Echavarria | Solo-3rd | 2-way T2
105. Greyson Sigg | Solo-3rd | 2-way T2
106. Andrew Novak | 3-way T2 | Solo-2nd
107. C. Bezuidenhout | 3-way T2 | Solo-2nd
108. Carson Young | 3-way T2 | Solo-2nd
109. Tyler Duncan | 3-way T2 | Solo-2nd
110. Ben Martin | 3-way T2 | Solo-2nd
111. Martin Laird | 2-way T2 | Solo-2nd
112. Lucas Glover | 2-way T2 | Solo-2nd
113. Taylor Pendrith | 2-way T2 | Solo-2nd
114. Chad Ramey | 2-way T2 | Solo-2nd
115. Peter Malnati | 2-way T2 | Win
116. Billy Horschel | 2-way T2 | Win
117. Doug Ghim | Solo-2nd | Win
118. MJ Daffue | Solo-2nd | Win
121. Patton Kizzire | Solo-2nd | Win
Nos. 122-163 | Win | Win
Nos. 164-188 | Win | N/A
Thomas was the 2017 FedEx Cup champion and has reached the playoffs in each of his previous eight seasons on the PGA Tour. He has finished no worse than seventh in each of the past six years.
Scott is one of only two players who has reached the playoffs every year since their inception. The other is Matt Kuchar, who is currently 59th in the standings.
Lowry enters the Wyndham in the best position of the three. The 2019 Open Champion said the revamped schedule around the new designated events led him to play in some tournaments he typically skips and to miss courses he traditionally enjoys. He has only one top-10 this year, but three of his nine top-25 have come at majors, so Lowry could potentially reach the playoffs with a tie for 23rd this week — depending upon how others around him fare.
“At this stage, I’m sitting here and I still feel like I can make the Tour Championship, so that’s an exciting place to be,” he said. “I think, obviously, I would prefer if I was in a better spot coming in here, but I’m not.
“It is what it is now, and I’m going to need a good week this week.”
–Field Level Media
