Major season is officially over.
Now, it’s nearly playoff time.
This week’s 3M Open is the penultimate event before the PGA Tour’s FedExCup Playoffs begin in two weeks in Memphis, which means players have two tournaments, including next week’s Wyndham Championship, to improve their places in the FedExCup standings.
There are several races to keep an eye on:
• Top 70 – qualify for FedExCup Playoffs
• Top 50 – exempt into next year’s signature events (following conclusion of 70-man FedEx St. Jude Invitational)
• Top 30 – qualify for Tour Championship (following conclusion of 50-man BMW Championship)
• Top 125 – maintain full membership on Tour (following conclusion of fall series)
Currently, the FedExCup top 50 includes 17 players who did not finish in the top 50 last season. That’s a 34% churn from a year ago, right at the low end of the Tour’s projection. Of course, the 17 players who are churning in as of now include just three players who began the season in the reorder category (No. 16 Matthieu Pavon, No. 17 Bob MacIntyre and No. 46 Jake Knapp) with Knapp being the only Korn Ferry Tour graduate.
Speaking of KFT grads, Knapp is the only one currently inside the top 70, and just 13 of the 35 KFT/Q-School guys would keep their cards if the season ended today.
In the 3M field are 14 players currently in the top 50. Also in the field are nine top-50 guys from a season ago who currently find themselves outside the top 50 – Patrick Rodgers (51), Taylor Moore (61), Seamus Power (65), Emiliano Grillo (66), Lee Hodges (72), Andrew Putnam (73), Adam Schenk (74), Kurt Kitayama (77) and Adam Svensson (78). Justin Rose (52) and Lucas Glover (71) were initially in the 3M field but withdrew on Monday.
Here is a look at the 3M competitors around the top 50-bubble:
45. Cam Davis
46. Knapp
48. Austin Eckroat
50. Mac Hughes
51. Rodgers
56. Erik van Rooyen
57. Peter Malnati
58. Ben Griffin
Here is a look at the 3M competitors around the top-70 bubble:
65. Power
66. Grillo
67. Mav McNealy
69. Davis Riley
70. Luke List
72. Hodges
73. Putnam
74. Schenk
75. Keith Mitchell
