Scottie Scheffler takes control of the FedExCup Playoffs following his victory at the 2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Scottie Scheffler just sent a message to the rest of the PGA Tour: the road to the FedExCup still runs through the world’s No. 1 player.
Scheffler captured the 2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship on Sunday at TPC Southwind in Memphis, delivering a dominant eight-shot victory in the opening event of the FedExCup Playoffs.
Now the postseason gets even more serious.
The field has been reduced from 70 players to 50 for this week’s BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. After that, only the top 30 in the FedExCup standings will advance to the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
And one important clarification: the final East Lake field has not been determined yet.
That happens after the BMW Championship.
Scheffler Runs Away With St. Jude
Scheffler entered Sunday with the lead and ultimately removed nearly all the drama from the championship.
He finished the tournament at 17-under par, closing with a 66 and beating runner-up Si Woo Kim by eight shots. The victory was Scheffler’s 21st PGA Tour title and his second win of the 2026 season.
Scheffler also collected $3.6 million from the tournament’s $20 million purse.
More importantly for the postseason, the victory strengthened his already commanding position atop the FedExCup standings.
Scheffler now heads to St. Louis ranked No. 1 with 4,873 FedExCup points, well ahead of No. 2 Matt Fitzpatrick.
The FedExCup Playoffs: What Happens Next?
The FedExCup Playoffs consist of three tournaments, with the field shrinking after each of the first two events.
The opening FedEx St. Jude Championship featured the top 70 eligible players.
Now the top 50 advance to the BMW Championship.
Then comes the biggest cut of all.
Only the top 30 in the FedExCup standings after the BMW Championship advance to Atlanta for the TOUR Championship at East Lake.
Remaining 2026 FedExCup Playoff Schedule
BMW Championship
August 20–23
Bellerive Country Club
St. Louis, Missouri
Field: 50 players
TOUR Championship
August 27–30
East Lake Golf Club
Atlanta, Georgia
Field: 30 players
Who Made It Through Memphis?
The biggest drama outside Scheffler’s victory came around the top-50 bubble.
Sungjae Im produced one of the week’s most important performances. He entered Memphis ranked 53rd in FedExCup points but finished tied for fifth and jumped all the way to No. 40, earning a trip to the BMW Championship.
His move came at the expense of Keith Mitchell, who fell from No. 49 to No. 51.
Matt McCarty grabbed the final BMW Championship position at No. 50.
Jordan Spieth’s Season Is Over
One of the biggest names eliminated was Jordan Spieth.
Spieth entered the week outside the top 50 and needed a strong performance in Memphis to keep his postseason alive. He finished tied for 19th but ultimately ended up 52nd in the FedExCup standings, just outside the BMW field.
That means there will be no BMW Championship and no East Lake appearance for Spieth this season.
Other notable players eliminated after Memphis include Max Homa, Shane Lowry, Harris English, Corey Conners, Brian Harman and Keith Mitchell.
Who Is Currently Inside the East Lake Top 30?
Nobody has officially survived the final cutoff yet because the BMW Championship still has to be played.
However, these are the current top 30 in the FedExCup standings entering the BMW Championship, meaning they occupy the East Lake qualifying positions right now:
- Scottie Scheffler
- Matt Fitzpatrick
- Cameron Young
- Si Woo Kim
- Wyndham Clark
- Sam Burns
- Chris Gotterup
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Collin Morikawa
- Ludvig Åberg
- Xander Schauffele
- Jacob Bridgeman
- Rory McIlroy
- Russell Henley
- Akshay Bhatia
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Ryan Gerard
- Min Woo Lee
- Kristoffer Reitan
- Alex Fitzpatrick
- J.J. Spaun
- Viktor Hovland
- Alex Smalley
- Justin Rose
- Ryan Fox
- Tom Kim
- Adam Scott
- Kurt Kitayama
- Bud Cauley
- Rickie Fowler
That No. 30 position is going to be one of the biggest stories in St. Louis.
Rickie Fowler Sits Directly on the Bubble
Rickie Fowler enters the BMW Championship in the most uncomfortable position possible: No. 30.
Fowler currently has 1,258 FedExCup points, putting him in the final projected position for East Lake.
Immediately behind the top 30 are players who still have four rounds to change the standings.
That means one great week could send a player to Atlanta — and one bad round could potentially end someone else’s season.
Kurt Kitayama and Bud Cauley were among the players who made significant moves into the current top 30 during the St. Jude Championship, while Alex Noren jumped to No. 34 and Jake Knapp moved to No. 35.
Those are exactly the kinds of players who could create chaos at Bellerive.
Rory McIlroy Advances Despite a Rough Week
Rory McIlroy is also moving on, but Memphis was hardly the postseason start he wanted.
McIlroy finished 66th out of 68 players who completed the tournament, ending the week at 8-over par and 25 shots behind Scheffler.
Despite the poor performance, McIlroy’s season-long FedExCup position keeps him comfortably alive. He enters the BMW Championship ranked 13th.
McIlroy is chasing history as he attempts to win a fourth FedExCup title.
Scheffler, meanwhile, is trying to add another championship to his résumé and continue his remarkable run at the top of professional golf.
East Lake Will Be Different
There is another major storyline waiting in Atlanta.
The TOUR Championship no longer uses the controversial staggered Starting Strokes format.
Instead, all 30 players who qualify for East Lake begin the tournament on equal footing.
Everyone starts at even par.
The TOUR Championship becomes a traditional 72-hole stroke-play tournament, meaning the golfer who performs best over four rounds at East Lake can win the FedExCup.
That makes qualifying for the top 30 even more important.
Once a player gets to Atlanta, the season-long points advantage disappears.
$10 Million Awaits the FedExCup Champion
The financial stakes are enormous.
The 2026 TOUR Championship carries a $40 million purse, with the champion earning $10 million.
Second place receives $5 million, while third takes home $3.705 million.
Scheffler may arrive as the overwhelming favorite, but under the current format, simply reaching East Lake gives every player in the field an opportunity to win the championship.
Scheffler Is Exactly Where He Wants to Be
The FedExCup Playoffs began with 70 players.
Now there are 50.
After four rounds at Bellerive, there will be only 30.
Scheffler enters that next stage in complete control after dismantling one of the strongest fields of the season in Memphis.
But the BMW Championship presents a different kind of pressure.
For Scheffler, it is another opportunity to keep building momentum before Atlanta.
For players near the top-30 bubble, it could determine whether their season continues.
And for everyone who eventually reaches East Lake, the math disappears.
Thirty players.
Four rounds.
Everyone starting at even par.
And $10 million — along with the FedExCup — waiting for the player who finishes the job.
The next stop is St. Louis.
Then, for the final 30 standing, it’s on to Atlanta.
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