The reformatting of the FedEx Cup playoffs has brought a new dynamic to the PGA Tour’s run-in, with Justin Thomas admitting the final three tournaments – starting with the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis – will determine how he will look back on his season.
Thomas, a winner of the RBC Heritage earlier in the year, has improved from 25th at the end of 2024 up to his current fourth position on the official world rankings, but is keen to add further wins in the coming weeks, and to book his US Ryder Cup spot for the match in Bethpage next month.
“I’m definitely not going to make any judgments or assess anything for the time being. With three big events left and three tournaments, I feel like I could have a good chance to go out and try to win and put myself in contention.
“That’s the goal, just to try to do that each week. I’m teeing it up these next three, and hopefully we can try to get a couple of them and ultimately the FedExCup,” said Thomas of the run-in that takes in the St Jude, next week’s BMW and finally the Tour Championship where, unlike in recent years, each of the 30 players who make it to East Lake will start off level.
READ MORE
Thomas is currently seventh in the US Ryder Cup standings and is aiming to get into the top six to earn an automatic place in Keegan Bradley’s team: “I want to be in that top six. Just for me personally, it just would mean a lot to me to get that done because having been picked, or having to rely on a pick a couple times. I definitely like the level of low stress and just the sense of calm knowing that you’re qualified versus waiting for that phone to ring.”
With Rory McIlroy opting to skip the St Jude, it means that Shane Lowry is the only Irish player in the 69-player field which does not have a cut.
Lowry is currently 17th on the FedEx Cup standings and on course for a return to the Tour Championship later this month, with the top-30 earning their spots in East Lake.
Lowdown
Purse: $20 million (€17.2 million)/$3.6 million (€3.1 million) to the winner.
Where: Memphis, Tennessee.
The course: TPC Southwind – designed by Ron Prichard – is a 7,288 yards, par 70 layout that also had inputs from former tour players Fuzzy Zoeller, Hubert Green and Loren Roberts. There are just short of 100 bunkers strategically located throughout the layout, while 10 water hazards come into play. There are two outstanding par-3s on the homeward run: the 168 yards 11th hole, considered a shorter version of the 17th island hole at Sawgrass, and the 205 yards 14th, which traditionally ranks as one of the toughest holes on the PGA Tour. Some fairways were recontoured in the past year to facilitate a new drainage system while new greens have also been constructed since Hideki Matsuyama’s win last year.
The playoffs: This is the first of three tournaments to close out the PGA Tour season. The FedExCup playoffs feature a progressive cut, with fields of 70 (69 here given Rory McIlroy’s absence) for the FedEx St Jude Championship, 50 for the BMW Championship (Caves Valley Golf Club, Owings Mills, Maryland) and 30 for the Tour Championship (East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia), where the FedExCup champion will be determined.
The field: The 69-player field, with no cut, has nine of the top-10 from the world rankings playing, headed by world number one and recent Claret Jug custodian Scottie Scheffler. McIlroy has opted to skip this tournament at a course where he traditionally has fared poorly, with the Northern Irishman having a busy schedule ahead that sees him play the final two events of the FedEx Cup playoffs before returning to Europe for the Irish Open and the BMW Championship ahead of the Ryder Cup.
Irish in the field: Shane Lowry is the lone Irish player in the field and has been paired with Cameron Young – last week’s winner of the Wyndham Championship – for the opening round (3.15pm Irish time). Lowry is playing for the first time since The Open and currently lies in 17th position in the FedEx Cup standings.
Betting: No surprise that Scheffler – a four-time winner on the PGA Tour this season, including the PGA Championship and The Open – has been installed as a strong 11-4 favourite, with Xander Schauffele rated 16-1. Justin Thomas has shown improved form of late and is available at 22-1. Cameron Young’s breakthrough win last week should attract some interest at 35s while another in-form player, Chris Gotterup, is also available at 35-1.
On TV: Live on Sky Sports (from 1pm) and on Sky Sports Golf (from 6pm).
