In just a few weeks, a new champion will etch their name into golf history as the 20th installment of the FedEx Cup Playoffs promises to deliver an incredible spectacle. This landmark 20th postseason for the PGA Tour kicks off in the early days of August, featuring a trio of tournaments designed to bring maximum excitement and dramatic moments to conclude the competitive golf year.
For the second year in a row, the final event will mirror the structure of standard tournaments. Moving away from the staggered-start system to a traditional stroke-play format with no pre-tournament scoring advantages, the Tour Championship will host the 30 leading players from the regular season and initial playoff rounds at East Lake Golf Club. A massive $40 million prize purse will be up for grabs.
Because of these adjustments to the final tournament, the PGA Tour plans to hand out the rest of the $100 million bonus pool following the conclusion of the BMW Championship, given that all competitors qualifying for Atlanta will begin on equal footing at even par.
On the topic of modifications, new regulations are set to arrive on the PGA Tour by 2028, which heightens the significance of the upcoming season for players plotting their calendars. Competitors who secure a spot in the top 50 to make the BMW Championship will earn exemptions into the 2027 signature events, placing even greater weight on the playoff opener, the St. Jude Championship.
Scottie Scheffler is looking to cement his legacy alongside Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as a multi-time FedEx Cup victor, whereas McIlroy has his sights set on securing a historic fourth title. At the same time, season standouts like Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, and Chris Gotterup are eager to cap off their stellar campaigns by hoisting one final, prestigious trophy.
2026 FedEx Cup Playoffs Schedule
|
St. Jude Championship |
Aug. 13-16 |
Memphis |
TPC Southwind |
70 |
|
BMW Championship |
Aug. 20-23 |
St. Louis |
Bellerive Country Club |
50 |
|
Tour Championship |
Aug. 27-30 |
Atlanta |
East Lake Golf Club |
30 |
For the second consecutive year, the field at TPC Southwind will feature just 69 of the 70 qualified players for the St. Jude Championship, following Daniel Berger’s decision to withdraw. Sitting at the 60th spot in the standings, Berger will see his season conclude prematurely, as he cannot advance past the top-50 threshold required for the BMW Championship.
The updates introduced in the 2025 playoffs remain in place, with each of the three events consisting of 72 holes of traditional stroke play. The starting list will narrow at each stage, shrinking from 70 competitors in Memphis down to 50 in St. Louis, and ultimately to the elite 30 in Atlanta for the season-ending showdown.
During the previous year, eight competitors managed to amass more than 2,000 FedEx Cup points over the course of the regular season, a number that grew to nine players in 2026. Historically, that figure represented the point total handed out to the victors of the opening two postseason tournaments, but the system has been restructured. Now, winners of the St. Jude Championship and the BMW Championship will receive 750 FedEx Cup points, aligning the playoff events with the point distribution of The Players Championship and the four major tournaments.
2026 FedEx Cup Standings
Yet another regular season concludes with Scheffler heading into the playoffs as the undisputed top-ranked player. Although Scheffler recorded only a single win this season, his remarkable consistency set him far apart from his peers; that solitary victory was supported by five second-place finishes, an additional five top-10 appearances, and just a single missed cut out of 17 starts.
This marks the fourth occasion in the past five seasons that Scheffler has secured the top spot in the season-long standings prior to the start of the playoff rounds.
Chasing him closely are multiple-tournament winners Fitzpatrick, Young, Clark, and Gotterup—the latter securing three separate victories. Remarkably, just 11 players among the top 30 have not won an event this year, a group that includes everyone ranked from 7th through 11th.
McIlroy sits just behind that leading group, with his triumph at the Masters and a near-miss at the Genesis Invitational providing the bulk of his points, especially considering his relatively limited schedule so far.
Below is the current top 30 in the standings as the playoffs get underway. (Take a look at positions 31-70.)
|
1 |
Scottie Scheffler (4,123) |
16 |
Ryan Gerard (1,496) |
|
2 |
Matt Fitzpatrick (3,329) |
17 |
Min Woo Lee (1,470) |
|
3 |
Cameron Young (3,161) |
18 |
Kristoffer Reitan (1,464) |
|
4 |
Wyndham Clark (2,255) |
19 |
Alex Fitzpatrick (1,407) |
|
5 |
Chris Gotterup (2,254) |
20 |
Hideki Matsuyama (1,399) |
|
6 |
Collin Morikawa (2,229) |
21 |
J.J. Spaun (1,387) |
|
7 |
Si Woo Kim (2,201) |
22 |
Ryan Fox (1,342) |
|
8 |
Sam Burns (2,078) |
23 |
Viktor Hovland (1,340) |
|
9 |
Tommy Fleetwood (2,046) |
24 |
Justin Rose (1,333) |
|
10 |
Ludvig Åberg (1,929) |
25 |
Alex Smalley (1,331) |
|
11 |
Xander Schauffele (1,780) |
26 |
Tom Kim (1,244) |
|
12 |
Rory McIlroy (1,738) |
27 |
Gary Woodland (1,238) |
|
13 |
Jacob Bridgeman (1,727) |
28 |
Rickie Fowler (1,231) |
|
14 |
Akshay Bhatia (1,723) |
29 |
Adam Scott (1,218) |
|
15 |
Russell Henley (1,706) |
30 |
J.T. Poston (1,193) |
2026 Tour Championship Format
From the very beginning of the season, competitors were aware that the Tour Championship would feature a standard 72-hole stroke-play setup, moving away from the staggered-start format historically employed at East Lake. Consequently, any golfer who qualifies for the Tour Championship controls his own destiny and has a genuine opportunity to claim the FedEx Cup by the end of the week.
According to projections from Data Golf, every golfer currently in the top 18 of the standings—with Kristoffer Reitan occupying the final secure slot—is guaranteed a spot in the Tour Championship. This leaves only 12 positions up for grabs over the coming weeks. Unless a longshot player surges forward with an unexpected victory, the fight for those final berths will mostly play out among competitors ranked 25th to 40th, with notable players like Justin Thomas, Jake Knapp, and recent champion Michael Thorbjornsen currently on the bubble as the St. Jude Championship begins.
2026 FedEx Cup Playoffs Purse and Prize Money
2026 St. Jude Championship Purse and Prize Distribution
Total Purse: $20 million
- 1st: $3.6 million
- 2nd: $2.2 million
- 3rd: $1.4 million
- 4th: $960,000
- 5th: $800,000
- 6th: $720,000
- 7th: $670,000
- 8th: $620,000
- 9th: $580,000
- 10th: $540,000
2026 BMW Championship Purse and Prize Distribution
Total Purse: $20 million
- 1st: $3.6 million
- 2nd: $2.2 million
- 3rd: $1.4 million
- 4th: $990,000
- 5th: $830,000
- 6th: $750,000
- 7th: $695,000
- 8th: $640,000
- 9th: $600,000
- 10th: $560,000
2026 Tour Championship Purse and Prize Distribution
Total Purse: $40 million
- 1st: $10 million
- 2nd: $5 million
- 3rd: $3.705 million
- 4th: $3.15 million
- 5th: $2.55 million
- 6th: $2 million
- 7th: $1.45 million
- 8th: $1.07 million
- 9th: $900,000
- 10th $745,000
Last season, Fleetwood secured his maiden PGA Tour triumph at the Tour Championship, earning a $10 million payout along with the coveted FedEx Cup trophy. Due to the updated structure, the PGA Tour will award a segment of the $100 million overall bonus pool right after the BMW Championship wraps up, leaving the Tour Championship with its own dedicated $40 million prize pool.
